Heads up that tomorrow, December 14th, is the day that comic shops receive their copies of Jim Henson’s A Tale of Sand. It’s going to be a big day for graphic novels as tomorrow is also the day the latest Walking Dead and Fables volumes ship, so make sure to look for this one as well.

A Tale of Sand is a screenplay originally written in 1967 by Jim Henson (famous for creating the Muppets) and Jerry Juhl. A wiki check indicates the idea for A Tale of Sand was conceived in the 1950’s, and developed by Henson and Juhl in the 1960s and was further developed after the initial 1967 draft well into the 1970s, but was never produced as a film.

A Tale of Sand is the story of a young man named Mac, and Mac is involved in a race across an expansive desert with only a rucksack full of odds-and-ends. Mac is being pursued by a relentless, mysterious man known only as “Patch”.

In 2010, Archaia Studios Press and the Jim Henson Company announced plans to release a hardcover graphic novel adaptation of the screenplay by Toronto-based illustrator Ramon K. Perez. The graphic novel was originally scheduled to be released on September 24, 2011 (Jim Henson’s 75th birthday), but the date was later changed to January 3, 2012. Archaia is doing a “soft release” of the book this week to the direct market, and a result, Ramon Perez will be eligible for consideration for next year’s awards. As this is an adaptation I would think he’ll be up for consideration in the Cartoonist category, as it’s a similar situation to Darwyn Cooke’s adaptations of Richard Stark’s (Donald Westlake) Parker novels.

Advance reports are that the book is stunning, and based on what we’ve seen in previews, we are excited to get a chance to read the finished book. Look for it at your favourite comic shop tomorrow… and if they don’t have it, get them to order you a copy asap!

Original Graphic Novel Hardcover
Retail Price: $29.95 U.S.
Page Count: 160 pages
Format: hardcover (paper over board), 8.25” x 11.5”, full color
ISBN-13: 978-1-936393-09-1
Written by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl
Illustrated by Ramón Pérez
Cover by Ramón Pérez

Newsarama has been given an exclusive sneak peek preview of the book!