My favorite character from the Return… manga is Hana, the stabby, snotty, snarky Faery, who fulfills the Sir Didymus function when accompanying Toby through the Labyrinth.

Other than that, I find the story an interesting retread of Labyrinth [lots of in-jokes from the Labyrinth realm and even the Dark Crystal — even gratuitous potty humor >_<]. However, Toby doesn’t capture my interest; as vapid as Sarah and even less sympathetic [she had real problems; he’s just a whiny and spoiled kid], he doesn’t engage me at all. I also have serious questions about Jareth as the window-jumping guidance counselor and then the “retiring” [kings don’t “retire” — they ABDICATE] king. I also have questions about his sexual proclivities.

Later. I’ve got to get back to work.

P.S. Despite what you may have heard, this story is not total crap. It’s not a masterpiece either. Just remember that it neither caters to the J/S romantics or the kids who just want puppetainment. Explicitly labeled “Teen,” Return… aims at people between 12 and 16, meaning those who didn’t see the original in the theaters and then spent 20 years whacking off to it. While Return… recalls enough of the original to keep the older fans happy, the primary audience consists of kids who want a blend of action and magic — i.e., people who want what the original was trying to deliver. It succeeds modestly at its goal [action/magic/romance], but adds nothing interesting, glamorous or substantive to the Labyrinth story.

I’ll still be hacking it to pieces analyzing it, though. Heh heh heh…