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[katara]

Title: Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #7 (Labyrinth Coronation)
Author: Simon Spurrier, Ryan Ferrier, Daniel Bayliss (Illustrator), Irene Flores (Illustrator), Joana Lafuente (Illustrator), Fiona Staples (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: November 15, 2018
Book Summary: While Maria continues to make her way through the Labyrinth, the Owl King’s plot ensnares her trusted goblin companion.
Book Review: Much like all previous issues of this limited series, we find Jareth keeping an eye on Sarah's progress throughout the Labyrinth while offering his tale to both Toby and his servant, Beetleglum. For once, Jareth doesn't hear Toby crying prompting him to confront the servant. Beetleglum, in turn, manages to get his master to leave the poor child alone and continue on with his tale of Maria and her quest to reunite with her son.

Once again we find Maria, Cible the catepillar, and Tangle the humaniod bush, are making their way through a beautiful labyrinth of greenery. During this stroll, Cible asks Tangle if he has revolution in his heart. This seems to make the humanoid bush extremely happy as he tries to hug both Maria and Cible.

It is then that they come across what looks like a little castle/cottage. The group heads in and they find that they are tiny compared to the toys that litter the room. Cible wonders if all human children have this and Maria answers that only children belonging to the rich would. Then one of the toy figures come to life and begins demanding that they name the colonies of Britannia, Until they do, there will be no play. Of course, Maria grew up poor and did not have the education as others did so she would not know any of these answers.

It is then that we find the Owl King watching from his crystal ball of a boy crying as his father yells at him. It is Albert, whom so willingly sold his son to Owl King and the reason now why Maria navigated the labyrinth to gain back her son. We learned recently that Skubbin is the son of Owl King and he really wants nothing to do with the throne. The only way for Skubbin to avoid being placed on the throne is by making sure that Maria fails in her attempts to get to her son.

Speaking of Skubbin, he arrives to save the day and they are taken down to a place below where the rest of the rebellion awaits.

I really love how this series seamlessly manages to merge from one issue into the other flawlessly. Another great thing is that we, much like Jareth, have been able to follow Sarah's progress as well. She might be in the background but we are given glimpses here and there to see where she actually is within the story and I love that.

What I have come to love is Maria's strength and determination throughout all of this. She continues to fight through the labyrinth determined to gain back the son her husband had handed off. To her, there is no failure in her determination and she won't let go of her son without a fight. It doesn't matter what she has to do to get him; only that she is willing to do it.

I also love how the secondary characters have so much personality and seem to be more out there characters rather than background characters. There is much to love about some of them and there are some that are questionable but still have enduring qualities to them.

All in all, I have really come to enjoy this series and I think I will be entirely sad when the series finally comes to its climatic end.

[ 248 ]

[katara]

Title: Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #8
Author: Simon Spurrier, Ryan Ferrier, Daniel Bayliss (Illustrator), Irene Flores (Illustrator), Dan Jackson (Illustrator), Fiona Staples (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: November 15, 2018
Book Summary: While Maria and her companions seek refuge among the Goblin rebellion, the Owl King’s plan takes a dangerous step forward bringing the second arc to a stunning conclusion.
Book Review: This story opens with Maria and her ragtag group coming down a ladder as Cible is surrounded by members of the rebellion. Cible has announced that Bunderghast the Invincible is here! This gains the goblins attention but also sends them to murmur rumors amongst themselves. Maria boosts the little catepillar up and Cible claims that it is she that is Bunderghast. Unfortunately this does not seem to impress any of the goblins. Realizing that hasn't worked, Cible makes the claim that Maria is a wizard. Maria makes a crevasse with her chalk which seems to impress the goblins immensely before they decide now is the time for some ale. Add in Tangle for some hugs and you have a bit of a chaos.

Cible has a quiet moment of disappointment. She tried to get the revolution started but it seems to have stalled at this point. Maria admits the same thing...admitting that she done the same thing in the past. She goes on to advise that have to know who you are before you allow yourself to become someone else.

Skubbin, on the other hand, has wandered off. He doesn't want to betray Maria as she has been a wonderful friend to him. A mosaic face appears and taunts Skubbin about his duties and that he cannot avoid them. It is then that Maria finds him and tells him of how she misses her old life of wealth and privilege but nothing like the feeling she has of missing her son.

We return to Jareth where we are given a brief glimpse of what Sarah is up to and apparently she has eaten the forbidden fruit of the peach. He is thrilled that he is about to ruin Sarah as he lays Toby back down in what looks like

The scene changes to Beetleglum showing up and warning that the King is coming. First Septimus appears and chaos begins. Cible urges an attack against him, which in turn caused confusion allowing both Skubbin and Maria to leave.

Maria sees a bright light up ahead of them but Skubbin tells her that it is a trap. He urges her back into the water where the gondolier awaits them. Skubbin pays for her passage just as the Owl King shows up and announces what a good son he has.

Maria sees this as a betrayal and runs into the light.....and right into a drawing room. She is finely dressed and surrounded by the wealthy. And Albert appears with a mask in hand and tells her that feels horrible for the way he has treated her...and that here they are together forever.


This story is now picking up steam as we are coming close to the final chapters of this series. Currently it seems that Maria is in the same sort of position that Sarah is in at the moment. Both are about to face a part of this game that will either make or break them. We know how Sarah's story turns out but not really anything of Maria's. Of course this is a dream. Maria spoke briefly of how much she has missed her life previously filled with wealth and power, something had not had growing up.

So how will all this lead to Maria's failure? This has yet to be seen but we know that Skubbin will have to do a lot to make up for what she has seen as a betrayal. This again seems to echo what Hoggle has done to Sarah when he gifted her the peach. So there is much parallel between Maria and Sarah with the exception of Sarah being jealous of her brother and Albert pretty much selling his son to the Owl King.

This story really is starting to shape up and I am quite looking forward to seeing how this all tidies up.