Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Take a chilling trek to the Old Country in the pages of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts #1

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts #1Written and Illustrated by Mark Laszlo
Published by Archaia
Retail: $3.99

Jim Henson studios, the company that brought you Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Big Bird, embraces it’s dark side in this premier issue based on the British children’s series The Storyteller.

‘Ghosts’ is the seventh themed series in Archaia’s line of anthology comics based on global myths and legends. Over the course of 4 issues, fans of the Jim Henson property will be enticed by spooky stories of ghosts and phantoms from the 4 corners of the globe.

Issue #1 is based on a Scandanvian phantom called a myling. These are the vengeful spirits of infants. Mylings seek some sort of justice in order for their souls to finally be at peace. In this issue, an innocent man goes his entire life haunted by a myling. What is the sinister purpose behind this unwarranted harassment?

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts #1 was extremely eerie. The art of the baby spirit with the huge noggin’ was truly unnerving. There’s some gruesome images of the remains of a couple of characters. And the origin story of the myling was very sad.

So why in the world would I review this for a weekly column called Family Comic Friday? Because kids like to be scared! And I would much rather a young reader dive into something a tiny bit more targeted for young adults and teens than for them to get their hands on a copy of something truly upsetting like Harrow County or the deceptive chills of an Archie Horror title.

This debut issue reminded quite a bit of Alvin Schwartz’ Scary Stories. The illustrations are creepy and the tale itself is dark. But it’s a safer dark than what’s going on in our Covid-19 restricted world. If the young reader in your life is needing a fright, turn to this short story rather than turning on the evening news!

If your family is a fan of Jim Henson’s other maturely macabre properties such as The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Ghosts #1 is currently available in print and digital formats such as Comixology.

This review was concurrently published on Outrightgeekery.com.