Fables #111 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller) Steve Leialoha & Shawn McManus (inkers), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Get ready to see who’ll be the new North Wind—he (or she) will blow you away!

The Review: Reading this series occasionally reminds me of something I often wondered when reading Harry Potter: for all the drama going on in the magical world, all the normals just went on their merry way, eating McDonalds and drinking Starbucks without ever becoming aware of the disaster on the verge of crossing over into their lives.  The same goes with the Fables; for all their perils, we really have no idea what tangible effect it’ll have upon the non-fictional world.

Take this choosing of a new North Wind.  The late Mr. North’s servant can talk all he wants about how “Entire worlds can live or die” depending on the choice of successor, but we don’t really know what he means by that.  “Worlds” as in other planets or fictional realms?  Why would the North Wind have such a critical effect on other worlds?  Without that information, it just seems he’s trying to play up the drama since the action is rather clearly lacking here.

At least we have assurance of real drama to come.  Spoiler alert—Winter, by reaching the Homeland of the North, reveals herself as its new “king.”  In some ways, we could have foreseen this; she bears the name of Boreas’ former wife, after all.  But as the most childlike and innocent of the Cubs, she seems totally unfit for the role.  Besides that, there’s the anxious question of how this will affect the family dynamic (aside from Darren’s obvious outrage losing kingship).

Winter’s age and personality also make her peril in her new status all the greater, as the other three cardinal winds don’t look all too enthused about the development either.  Though the East Wind seems conciliatory enough at the event, telling his fellow winds to “Mind the occasion,” don’t forget his earlier remark about the Cubs possibly killing themselves off during the testing: “[T]hat’s fewer we’ll have to winnow out when we’re compelled to step in.”  The West Wind seems determined to step in regardless, saying, “In the end we’ll still have to finish things.”

Fables #98 – Review

by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Steve Leialoha & Dan Green (inks), Lee Loughridge (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Rose Red takes control of the farm and does some restructuring while Bellflower/Totenkinder learns a secret about Mister Dark.

What’s Good: After months of lying bed, this is the first issue where Rose Red finally returns to her old self.  I hardly think that I’m the only person to have Rose Red as one of my favourite characters, so this issue should make the fans happy in that respect.  It genuinely feels good to see Rose Red back in action and even better see her, and the book, moving about again after having meandered with flashbacks for several issues.  There’s a sense of forward movement with this issue, both for the series and Rose herself, and it’s definitely welcome.

Rose’s return works well because of how quickly Willingham goes about it.  There are no moments of self-doubt and there’s no navel-gazing.  She grabs the reigns of the farm and slaps it back into order, with dissenters, the dryads in particular, being dealt with in short order.  I’m really happy that this consolidation wasn’t prolonged and it made the Farm, and Fables in general, feel suddenly more dynamic.

Better still are Rose’s changes to the power structure.  Her adopting the blue neckerchief and forming a privy council are both interesting, yet natural, developments that just feel right.  Furthermore, Rose ends up in a more politically powerful position than she’s ever been in.  After months of hiding, she’s now the most central of Fables characters.  All of this leads to promise for the future, as does the new information about Mister Dark.

Mark Buckingham’s art remains consistent, with Fables readers knowing exactly what to expect.  That said, his work on Rose’s facial expressions is particularly good, working to make her all the more lovable.

Fables #94 – Review

by Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Lee Loughridge (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Beast makes a deal with the Blue Fairy, while Rose Red reunites with an old friend.  And no, it’s not Boy Blue.

What’s Good: Continuing its recovery, Fables offers up another solid outing that asks questions and opens doors.  As the first issue of a new arc, this does its job.

What will no doubt catch eyes are the very intriguing developments regarding the ghost of Colin the Pig.  We get strong suggestions that Colin may not really be Colin at all.  Rather, he seems to be some sort of shapeshifter.  The identity of this figure has already gotten me incredibly interested, and it’s only been one issue.  It really is quite the mystery and I hope that it ultimately pays off.

However, I’m sure most Fables readers are curious about how the Blue Fairy is handled after the cliffhanger that the “Witches” arc ended on.  While I wasn’t a fan of how the situation was resolved, the character herself was well done.  Her claiming to be Pinocchio’s mother was certainly a nice little twist; it was unexpected, but it made perfect sense.  Then there’s the fact that Pinocchio actually physically attacks her.  Yes, it looks as funny as it sounds.  The image of Pinocchio repeatedly punting her in the gut was something I felt that I shouldn’t find funny, but just couldn’t help smiling at.

This is also a strong outing for Mister Dark, as Willingham reveals a new level of evil and magical deviance in the character.  Apparently, the villain’s has powers we didn’t know about which are much more subtle, and malevolent, than what we’ve seen before.  The scene is very well-executed and very creepy, essentially acting as a slice of horror comic in this otherwise standard issue of Fables.

Oh, and Mark Buckingham is back.  I liked David Lapham’s work, but this is Buckingham’s book, and he asserts that here.  His depictions of the Blue Fairy’s powers in particular were pleasing, and the ridiculous brawl between her and her “son” was done with enough slapstick and mischief to steer it away from poor taste.