A Tale of Sand
Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl, edited by Stephen Christy, illustrations by Ramón K. Pérez and Ian Herring
Archaia
Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Themes: Weirdness
***+
Description
In a graphic novel adaptation of an unfilmed screenplay by the late Jim Henson, a man finds himself caught in a strange and desperate race through the desert to the dubious sanctuary of Eagle Mountain.
Review
Though perhaps most remembered for his achievements in puppetry, Jim Henson was a storyteller at heart, with numerous screenplays to his name. This project never made it to film, despite Henson and co-creators tinkering with it for years. It's a surreal journey, with moments of danger and humor playing out with minimal dialog. The hero, Mac, is caught up in a deadly chase, threatened and saved by the strangest turns of fate. (Being pursued by an Arab, a quarterback tackles the man out of nowhere - only for both to turn on Mac.) A patch-eyed figure serves as the main antagonist, though his motives are as unknowable as the rules of the race. It would've been interesting to see it brought to life in film, though this graphic novel adaptation does a decent job. It's intriguing for what it is, but not my cup of cocoa; my tolerance for surreality for surreality's sake is a little too low to fully appreciate it, unfortunately. Fans of Henson's more obscure work, and of surreal cinema or storytelling, will likely enjoy it more than I did.