Fables #114 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Shawn McManus (feature artist)

The Story: Now’s the perfect time to say, “Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat.”

The Review: Fables has such a huge, sprawling universe, populated with so many prominent characters, even prominent feature characters, that when Willingham chooses to check in with even a handful of them at once, an issue feels more like a series of vignettes than a cohesive story.  This definitely applies when none of the running plotlines seem to mesh together, making you feel more than ever like you’re reading a triple-feature.

For a while now, the title has been simultaneously following the Wolf family as they deal with their inheritance from the North Wind; Bufkin and friends and their revolution in Oz; and the rest of the Fables cleaning up after Mr. Dark’s defeat.  No matter how well Willingham paces himself, he can’t do much to prevent the pace from feeling choppy and sluggish with this kind of format.  This time around, however, he hones in on the Wolf family, with only brief departures, letting your attention stay on one track with few derailments, which is a nice feeling, after all.

As it stands, the Wolfs must face two perils.  The first, more personal and immediate, but of lesser scope, involves Therese and the toy boat she received for Christmas in #112.  At the time, the boat seemed like a cute gag Willingham threw in for fun, but here it seems more malevolent than its primary-colored appearance would have you believe.  Aside from Toy Story characters, most talking inanimate objects bode very badly for their owners.  I must say, too, that for a personification of a fictional concept, Snow White’s a little too dismissive of the idea that a toys can have feelings.

The second peril feels more like a long-term complication, as it has bearing on Winter’s ongoing training to become the new North Wind.  On the one hand, she risks turning into a tyrant and fearmonger like her predecessor (who, despite his redeeming qualities, was a crusty old despot at bottom).  Yet if she manages to avoid that destiny, as Bigby insists she can, she opens herself up to the “ascendancy” of her fellow Cardinal Winds, whatever that entails.  What this means for the balance of power, we can only guess.