Over the years, I’ve chronicled my affection for and work within the worlds created by Jim Henson and Brian Froud here on Muddy Colors. From the official prequel novels for The Dark Crystal (which became the foundation for the Netflix series) to original works set within Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, to creating the 40th anniversary poster, and more, I’ve had the opportunity over the last 15 years to work on some amazing projects with wonderful folks.

And any chance I get to contribute a little something to those worlds is an opportunity for which I’m tremendously grateful. 

When the offer to work on a series of four interlocking covers for the Jim Henson Presents series of comics rolled along, well, nobody had to ask me twice.

BOOM! Studios, in partnership with The Jim Henson Company, is proud to bring JIM HENSON PRESENTS to life! An exciting new anthology filled to the brim with new tales set in the many worlds of Jim Henson.

Explore the far reaches of Farscape, the dangerous streets of The Goblin City, and the wacky world of Fraggle Rock with a lineup of all-star creators including Brennan Lee Mulligan, Kelly & Nicole Matthews, Aabria Iyengar, Jared Cullum, Kyla Vanderklugt, Shannon Watters, Max Sarin, Jill Tew, Daniel Bayliss, Darcie Little Badger, Danny Luckert, Christine Larsen, J.M. Lee, Nori Retherford, Corinna Bechko, Carlotta Dicataldo, Shobo, V.V Glass, Cameron Chittock, Cory Godbey, Seanan McGuire, and Countandra.

As the comics are now releasing (issue number three is on the shelf at your local comic shop right now! I think!) I thought it’d be fun to take a look at the creation of this four piece set over these next few months, continuing with a look at the second cover here.

If you’ll recall last time, I wasn’t able to show off the thumbnail roughs for all four covers just yet as the final one hadn’t been revealed. Well! The fourth issue was previewed a couple weeks back!

Ah, there we go. The fourth and final cover is The Storyteller. We’ll come to that one eventually, for now let’s take a closer look at cover two.

You may remember where we left it last time, with the working file big enough for all four covers (though by now we’re already in .psb territory).

As the tree was a major overlapping element, I needed to make sure it was finished even before beginning the second cover. From there, I set about finishing the background for cover two and thinking ahead, just a little, for the next covers.

The only real thought I had in mind for this one was that I knew I didn’t want to go too purple. Yes, that’s a major color motif for the film and yes, I tend to lean that way for anything Dark Crystal related, but I wanted something a little pulled back. Not purple or violet, rather something in the realm of a muted magenta.

Once the background was ready, I set about drawing the characters. As before, these are all traditional drawings.

The gentle Mystics, the uRru, are my favorite creatures ever put to film. And any chance I get to draw one is a delight. For this cover I wanted to quietly reference an untold story from the world of The Dark Crystal. Namely, Jen’s childhood before the events of the film.

We’re told through Kira and Jen’s dreamfast that Jen’s master, uRsu, rescued him the Skeksis and the Garthim. I’ve always loved this little shot which flashed through the memory.

Next, the scans and the color work. You can see even here I’m trying to push away from any overly-violet inclinations.

Once the characters are ready, then begins the final stage of bringing it all together.

(It would see that I can’t resist trying a bit of purple.)

And the final! Now with 33% more podling!

And a look again at the dressed cover.

Get your radishes ready because next time we’re leaving Outer Space and heading down to visit some Fraggles!