Fairest #2 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Phil Jiminez (penciller), Andy Lanning (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Sleeping Beauty, you say “We’ll have to snuggle” like it’s a bad thing.

The Review: When you have a successful series, it’s natural to start thinking of spin-off opportunities.  After all, more of a good thing is always a good thing, right?  In mainstream comics, all you need is that one big hit or a character gets some sudden, widespread attention, and before you know it, you suddenly have four Deadpool titles on the stands.  Only afterwards does anybody consider whether there’s even enough material to spread that thin.

No one can deny that Fables easily ranks among Vertigo’s most popular and successful titles.  And as I’ve mentioned any number of times, the series has plenty of characters and stories to draw upon.  In theory, a second ongoing series from the property sounds like a very good idea, particularly since Jack of Fables was such a hit on its own right.

I’m just not so sure one featuring the many princesses and princes of legend has quite the same zing to it.  Jack Horner has such a complicated, twisted personality and history that Willingham can pretty much write him forever and never run out of new things to discover.  Our “fairest” folk, on the other hand, are pretty well-known to begin with and while they’ve revealed edgier sides to themselves in Fables, they make better ensemble characters than protagonists.

Like her fellow princesses, Briar Rose is more than just a pretty face, but so far she seems like an amalgamation of all the traits her peers possess: a little toughness (“I can run you into the ground on my worst day!”), a little sassiness (“Don’t get fresh.”), and a little thoughtfulness (“…if we don’t do more to get warm it won’t matter if she’s the one who gets us.  We’ll be just as dead.”).  In other words, she doesn’t feel flat as a character, but she’s just not all that striking in any way.  Her co-lead, Ali Baba, isn’t much more personable, but he proves surprisingly sensitive here.  To Rose: “[You’re] not my property.  I don’t treat women that way, nor anyone else for that matter.”  Despite this, neither he nor Rose can manage more than a rather tired, begrudging chemistry,

Fables #115 – Review

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

The Story: On the bright side, Therese, at least you’re not being made queen of Haiti.

The Review: Even though “happily ever after” doesn’t apply equally to all ye olde fairy tales, that’s generally the feeling such stories evoke.  The brilliance of Willingham’s Fables is for them, there is no “happily ever after.”  One day, perhaps, when we reach the end of this series, we’ll discover all the conflict and horror these characters have suffered through are just a heightened extension of what they must necessarily go through to earn their happy ending.

Till that day, most of the Fables have to take their joys in measured doses.  For Snow White, Bigby Wolf, and the Cubs, that means cherishing their family life, something hardly any other Fable has.  We begin with Snow looking lovingly on her kids, and singing—actually singing (“…best part of the day… / …when monsters, trolls and grumpkins are locked away.”).  Snow probably hasn’t engaged in such stereotypical fairy-tale princess behavior since the innocent days of her youth, so that should indicate the gladness coursing through her in that moment.

It all falls apart, of course, once Therese’s disappearance is finally noted (frankly surprising me no one notices sooner—didn’t anyone wonder at her absence during dinnertime?).  And where is she now?  Well might you ask, for the place she’s landed upon has many names, including Magical Land, Madland, Far Mattagonia, Discardia, but the one we’ll inevitably remember most is Toyland.  Unlike the realm you imagined in childhood, this Toyland seems quite sinister.  It’s only because broken toys which talk tend to have that effect, but it’s also because they play so perceptively on Therese’s desire to be queen of her own kingdom, like homelier sister Winter.

Fairest #1 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Phil Jiminez (penciller), Andy Lanning (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)

The Story: Hustlin’ ain’t an easy biz, even for the Prince of Thieves.

The Review: I’ve said this at least once, that Fables just has so much going on at any one time, with so many different characters in all manner of places, that it just doesn’t seem like one title can contain them all.  This series is no stranger to spin-offs, what with Jack of Fables being a successful ongoing in its own right, as well as the highly popular Cinderella minis.  A showcase title of all the non-principal Fables, however, has been long past due.

Now, taking Fairest on its face—judging by its cover, if you will—it’d be a stretch to predict whether this series will serve as that showcase.  Not that there’s anything wrong with a title of featuring all the lovely ladies (and gentlemen) from the Fables canon; as a lover of the original Kingdom Hearts, I can’t help feeling fascinated with the idea of seeing all these good-looking people, stars in their original incarnations, learn to live in peace and humility with each other.

Over time, it seems most of the Fable princesses and princes have grown enough to shrug off the cloak of their nobility.  A good thing, too; if Ali Baba, who bears only an ironic form of princeship, is any indication, the pride and self-concern of these people in their raw personalities would have been unbearable as a group.  Actually, even one on his own might not be the most tolerable person to hang around with, either.  Ali may redeem himself in part by his chops for swordsmanship and sneaking around, but such outright greed isn’t exactly a compelling quality for a protagonist—especially nowadays, when money is such a touchy issue in real life.

Another reason why this issue doesn’t quite capture your heart is the storytelling here is more straightforward than nearly everything Willingham’s ever done on Fables.  In fact, you can’t help noticing it evokes an almost Shrekish tone, mixed with a bit of Princess Bride, from its emphasis on pure action-adventure with plenty of hit-or-miss comedy thrown in.  By now, the fantasy spoof is a genre all its own, so you won’t be blown away seeing yet another series with fairy tale characters anachronistically making smart remarks using modern-day American lingo (Jonah the bottle imp: “If magic were moolah, a genie would be Bill Gates, or George Soros, where I’d be just some poor wage-slave two months behind on the car payment.”).

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.

Fables #113 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: Sit down, kids, and prepare to grow old, as I tell you about the olden days.

The Review: Bill Willingham likes to throw out these semi-out-of-continuity issues from time to time, which is all well and good.  He largely does a good job with them, and an excursion from the general flow of story can be a relief every now and then.  That said, I’m not so sure it’s entirely wise to throw in essentially a bunch of filler right after a Christmas issue that was itself a bit skimpy on the plot.  Hasn’t it been quite a while since we checked in with Bufkin?

But let’s set that aside.  Like I said, Willingham does write these sorts of things very well.  What we get is a handful of short stories, each of varying length and degrees of importance to overall Fables continuity, and with a different guest artist on each one.  Each tale has a great deal of charm, and there’s something to be said for stories that don’t require a lot of familiarity with continuity to enjoy them.

Even at his most free-flowing, Willingham’s knack for making connections between stories still pops up in the most surprising places.  He starts off with one of your classic “magic spell as a lesson” parables, though the substance is a little more sophisticated than your usual fairy tales.  It’s standard practice for people to go through some kind of physical transformation in these things to catalyze their spiritual transformation, but rarely is their soul—or entire race—at stake.  P. Craig Russell draws the feature with a fitting cutesiness, which Lovern Kindzierski’s pastels complement well.  Just as appropriate is Ramon Bachs’ cheerful, cartoonier linework (and Ron Randall’s vividly golden colors) as a father and son discuss the strange physics/superstition of their world, one which has a delightful link to the tale above.

Fables #112 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Green (inkers), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Santa, that toy boat better not have my name on it.

The Review: I have quite a few friends of diverse religion and some of no religion at all.  While most of them find the materialistic and holly-jolly parts of Christmas annoying cloying, none of them are untouched by a sincerely given gift, happy holiday wishes, or a good rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”  I suspect this holds true for most people; whatever your feelings of the holiday, it’s the time of year when you take comfort in the simple things in life.

So it goes for the exiles of Fabletown, who after a couple years of anxiety and persecution can finally return home and celebrate.  No matter how cynical you may be, I’m sure you can’t begrudge the sweet sight of this motley crew of talking animals and certified weirdos exchanging presents, making merry, and simply enjoying each other’s company.  Seeing them come together like one massive, oddball family reminds you how much they’ve grown over the years.

And speaking of growth, Rose Red does some of that in this issue as she is dragged by a cricket (who remains nameless, so hard to say if he’s the one and only Jiminy) to meet Hope’s other paladins, or at least, the ones who survived.  Seeing the paladins, the hopes they represent, and what they do to enforce them, offers plenty of the clever and compelling interpretations Willingham so excels at.  Santa Claus as the hope for justice?  Brilliant, as is his reasoning: “I reward those who do good punish those who do bad.  That’s the story of justice in a nutshell.”

Not all is fun and games in this Christmas Carol-like journey, however, as you discover that hope isn’t always strictly a positive emotion.  The meeting with the False Bride proves quite grim, a bitter antidote to the silly, even saccharine portions of the issue (including a pretty funny bit where Santa’s reindeer gossip about his having a fling with Rose Red).  Ultimately, the Bride has the most practical advice for Rose’s future career as a paladin, but she also makes it clear that sometimes the most sinister hopes are the ones that have the greatest chance of fulfillment.

Fables #110 – Review

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

The Story: If you’re an enemy of the state, prepare to be pooped by the Yoop.

The Review: Having multiple running plots can be a handy way to keep your story from stalling in one place too long, but it has its downsides too.  Split them up too much and you have the reader not only regrouping to keep track of them all, but you also risk shortchanging each plotline to the point they only inch forward with each episode.  Even worse is when they all hit that big, fat middle of exposition, which can be deadly in the best circumstances.

That is pretty much the situation Willingham brings upon himself here.  He essentially has four stories going on at once, each pretty much its own thing and not obviously related to the others.  The real problem is they all tend to hit the rises and falls of their action at the same time.  When they reach major turning points, the whole thing sings; when they reach the talky portions of the story, suddenly the whole issue becomes an endless cascade of text.

Fables #109 – Review

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

The Story: Heavy is the crown the king must wear on his noggin—or whatever.

The Review: The last couple arcs spent a lot of time building up the tension for when Mr. Dark would rain down his nightmarish power over all the Fables and destroy them all, or at least most of them.  Since all that anxious anticipation pretty much came to nothing, both for them and for us, it now just seems like the title has been spinning its wheels for a while.  While all their current antics offer the usual good times, you also wonder where the next baddie will come from.

As much as Willingham wants to direct our attention to Nurse Spratt—I mean, Leigh Duglas—the idea of her as the Fables’ newest nemesis seems a major step down from the embodiment of bogey-men everywhere.  It’s obvious she’s determined to improve herself in the art of dastardly dealings (familiarizing herself with poisons and the like), and she briefly mentions that “others” will soon join her in an ostensibly spooky way, but it all seems very mundane and unthreatening.

Also somewhat disappointingly, Rose Red and her scouting team find nothing out of sorts on the Farm.  You’d think they’d run into at least one obligatory mystical trap worthy of a panther, crow, tomcat, and redhead armed with a dagger, but no.  In short, things seem to be going swell for all our Fables at home—meaning some horrible disaster must lurk right around the corner, just out of sight, but that doesn’t really do anything for our suspense in the herenow.

Most of the action comes courtesy of Bufkin et al, still getting up to no good in land formerly known as Oz.  We know they plan to start a revolution and to do it they need to sneak out some of the goodies from a bunker full of the most powerful magical weaponry in the Homelands, but everything in between remains a mystery.  The odds certainly are stacked against them, as before they even take their first step, they run into “the Yoop!  And ravening monkey-eating kalidahs!”

Fables #108 – Review

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

The Story: Oh, they just can’t wait to be king!

The Review: If you have a series that reaches a hundred issues, and haven’t accumulated a whole slew of engaging, enjoyable characters by then, you’ve done something wrong.  Not so for Willingham, whose epic title has a cast to beat the band.  With such a huge stable to choose from, yielding an endless combination of backgrounds and personalities, it’s quite possible that Fables will never run out of stories to tell.

Of course, the emotional center of all these characters is Bigby Wolf and Snow White, who, after a close save from the armies of Mr. Dark in the previous story arc, now have to face something of a family crisis.  The loss of Bigby’s dad left a major vacancy in the hierarchy of winds, and unless someone fills it soon, things are liable to get ugly, fast.  And so the servants of the late North Wind turn to the Cubs, young and unspoiled enough to take the position with honor.

Thankfully, Willingham doesn’t give too much focus to this question of succession, allowing the family some time to express their mix of emotions at the North Wind’s passing.  Among the Cubs, Darien is unsurprisingly more fixated on the idea of becoming king, much to the chagrin of his siblings, while Ambrose mournfully reminisces on all the good times they had with their “Grampaw.”  Sweetly sincere, these scenes offer an important glimpse into Mr. North’s soft side.

Fables #107 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Terry Moore (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: One can only imagine the morning breath of several years’ enchanted sleep.

The Review: A few of Vertigo’s titles do an interesting thing where after every major story arc or so, they’ll follow up with what we would call in mainstream comics a “filler” issue.  Like most fillers, the subject and structure of these issues are usually free-form, open to anything within the series’ extended universe, but unlike the typical filler, they tend to have some impact or shed a little light on the overall plot.

For a while now we’ve been occupied by the tense showdown between Haven and Mr. Dark, to the point where the Fables’ war against the Empire, for years the most important conflict on the series’ plate, has almost faded from our minds.  This issue serves as a kind of afterword to the last major event involving the Empire, when Briar Rose (better known as Sleeping Beauty) pricked herself to shut down its crucial administrative and sorcery arms.

Itching to get his armies back on the road to conquest, General Mirant needs to first revive his bureaucratic resources to run the empire again, but to do so, he must find a way to awaken the comatose lady who keeps them out of commission.  To that end, he and his right-hand sergeant cook up a number of elaborate, at times ill-conceived plans to produce a prince whose kiss of true love might break Rose’s spell.

As far as interlude issues go, this one sets out purely to entertain, a Shrek-ish sort of story that tries to apply a contemporary business attitude to the inexplicable, arbitrary rules of fairy tales.  The results of these efforts turn out disappointing, of course, though Mirant’s sergeant devises a fairly clever (albeit a bit cruel: “…I’ll isolate them from the fairer sex.  Never so much as a local milkmaid will they see.”) system that has a Hail Mary possibility of success.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #6 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Shawn McManus (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Clean the house, Cinderelley, kill off that assassin, Cinderelley.

The Review: Perhaps the most brilliant thing about Fables is how even though it’s a serious plot and character driven series, with quite a lot of dark material, because the very nature of its characters is childish, it can easily turn itself on its head and become fun and even silly.  It’s hard to think of any title that typifies this more than Cinderella: Fables Are Forever.  Though clearly a parody of many things, it never fails to demonstrate a sullenly grim streak, a potent combo.

Look at Dorothy.  This twisted version of the famous girl-child still works incredibly well.  Roberson seems to posit that instead of longing for home after seeing the big wide world, she has tasted the endless possibilities of the world and lusts for more, until only the challenge of killing keeps her interested.  But it would’ve been more interesting had Roberson explored a little further Dorothy’s amnesiac period, when she regressed to innocence, implying there may still be a small town farm-girl under that ruthless assassin’s persona.

In the end, perhaps what turns out to be Dorothy’s real weakness is that she is still a girl, despite her raw, sordid personality and lifestyle.  She exhibits with almost childish lack of control some of the most grating flaws of many young gals: cattiness (“You complete and utter bitch…God, will you shut up, already?!”), an unnervingly fickle temperament, and self-centeredness (“You don’t even know how smart I am!”), all of which prove her undoing.

Fables #106 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (inker)

The Story: Things come to a head for the man with a tophat and the man with a fur coat!

The Review: All along Willingham has built up Mr. Dark’s street cred, what with spending so many issues having all the Fables work themselves into a veritable lather of tension and fear as they prepare for their final (literally so, since none except the Boy Blue devotees have any hope of survival) confrontation with their infallible foe.  Now that the showdown’s come at last, you can only have high hopes it’s the spectacle you’ve been led to expect.

And once you’ve turned the last page, you’ll probably think, Well, that was something of a letdown.  Last time, Bigby’s dad set himself up to take care of Mr. Dark—Duladan, as the North Wind knows him—by himself, a rather lucky midnight-hour save for the Fables.  For the same reason, it also seems like Willingham chickened out in a way, as he’d already established any battle with Dark could only lead to innumerable Fable deaths, and goodness knows he doesn’t want to depopulate his cast in one fell stroke.

That’d be fine, except the battle between the Misters North and Dark winds up as nothing more than a few splash pages of Bigby’s dad keeping his vampiric opponent in a chokehold as they twirl through an icy wind.  It’s a far cry from Dark’s claim that “a battle between two such as we would crumble this frail world in its wake,” and feels all the more anticlimactic for it.  Since North takes the trouble to drag their fight to a separate realm, you’d think they’d have more freedom to go all out on each other, living up to their formidable reputations.

It feels like Willingham set up a very easy way out for this story arc.  How convenient it is that just before the Fables’ Ragnarok, North shows up vowing to kill Bigby’s son, then changes his mind, except the only way to get out of his spontaneous vendetta is to do away with himself, which—surprise!—confronting Mr. Dark would accomplish quite neatly.  Talk about killing two birds with one stone.  It’d be a noble moment, except you have to remember he was the one who inexplicably wanted to kill off his own grandkid in the first place.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #5 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Shawn McManus (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Watch what you’re doing with that glass cat!  You break it, you bought it!

The Review: Does anything beat a good rivalry?  It’s a rhetorical question, because of course nothing does.  I’m quite a fan of the sitcom nemesis, the one who pops up every now and again to drop some mocking taunt just when the protagonist is at his lowest, but my next favorite is the ongoing, escalating face-offs between two enemies.  Done right, the stakes just get higher and the history between them even richer with each encounter.

And for an archenemy so recently introduced as Dorothy, it’s surprising how gung-ho you already feel for the big girl-fight with Cinderella to go down.  We can see from their first showdown in the past that even with Ivan’s help, Dorothy gets pretty much schooled by Cindy, who manages to take back the kidnapped Snow White and sucker-punch her freckled counterpart at the same time.  This incident will no doubt keep both women aiming for victory in their next match-up; Dorothy to avenge her defeat, Cindy to prove the last time was no accident.

The issue also calls attention to Cindy’s role as a career killer, a funny thing since the whole premise of the series revolves around that very fact.  But even in action she tends to be so darn cool and cute that you’re often inclined to overlook the grim implications of her day job.  Still, when Dorothy claims they both serve the same function, it speaks volumes that Cindy has no hesitation in denying it and making a clever distinction: one’s a mercenary, the other “a patriot”.

Fables #105 – Review

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

The Story: Who knew Mister Dark has the most effective beauty treatment regimen in all the homelands?

The Review: Of course, one of the harder parts of writing comics is creating characters who can convince us of their realism even when they may have the least realistic backgrounds in the most unbelievable situations.  With Fables, you’re dealing with some truly outlandish characters, so crafting relatable emotions or personality against our popular understanding of them can be a tricky feat, one which Willingham has done impressively.

When you really consider the fantastic nature of Bigby’s encounter with his father—the Big Bad Wolf trying to prevent the North Wind from killing his invisible son—you’d think it’d be well-nigh impossible to make the scene credible.  But Willingham tunes Bigby’s helplessness in his father’s grip just right, projecting the right mixture of subdued rage and desperation.  Even a “monster” like the North Wind gets a couple instances of honest vulnerability, the most poignant being the crouch and sniff of his subdued son just before he departs to confront Mister Dark.

But what makes these scenes most convincing is Bigby ruthlessly pointing out the hypocrisy of his father’s claim that his “nature” forces his hand (e.g., targeting Ghost for being a monster).  It’s an interesting commentary on how much the Fables are actually beholden to their original conceptions.  Most have developed beyond their childish origins, Bigby especially, so it’s fitting he calls out his father, a true force of nature, on pretending to have no control over his actions.

These scenes deliver some nice tension, but they and the rest of the issue feel like a bunch of moments strung together to kill time.  Perhaps it’s the dropped page count, but most of these moments don’t develop or have impact like they should, although some have more meaning than others.  Mister Dark’s lack of appetite and idle wondering whether Frau Totenkinder is to blame hints that the old lady’s last effort to defeat him may be not all in vain, but what significance Ozma’s stumbling onto Bigby and his father’s meeting has is a mystery.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #4 – Review

By: Chris Roberson (writer), Shawn McManus (artist), Lee Loughridge (colors)

The Story: This time, Cinderella’s taking the catfight straight to Dorothy’s face.

The Review: Fables has sprung off a lot of quality spin-offs since its conception, but none have quite the pure, unadulterated fun of the mash-up between Cinderella and James Bond.  Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love had such a strong execution of the idea that it was a pity it existed only as a limited series.  How great it is then to get another glimpse into the covert operations of Cindy—and with an even more apt title.

By now, every Fables writer has gotten to be an expert at taking our friendly, familiar fairy tales and turning them on their heads.  Roberson’s portrayal of Dorothy Gale as a professional hit woman works not only because of its twistedness, but also because of how much sense it makes when you consider the implications of her background.  After all, she was pretty much hired to assassinate the Wicked Witch; that she grew to love it shouldn’t be too implausible.

Cindy’s longstanding rivalry of sorts with Dorothy also gives us a welcome look into the former soot-covered girl’s history beyond her sordid affair with Prince Charming.  Whether she’s acting the bimbo in Fabletown or showing her real steel, Cindy’s kind of an oddball among the Fables. so it’s nice to see that in her world of allegorical espionage, she has a few counterparts—though lacking her fair appearance and disposition.

Fables #104 – Review

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

The Story: It’s up to one team of super Fables to defeat the dastardly Mister Dark—provided Boy Blue doesn’t come back to life and do it himself.

The Review: Jumping onto an ongoing title can be quite daunting, especially with one such an immensely packed history and cast as Fables.  The best way to handle the plunge is simply to roll with whatever the jump-on issue gives you, use a liberal amount of Wikipedia, and try to absorb as much as possible the most important points of the current running plot.  As an English major, I always wanted to give Fables a read, and this issue just happened to be my pick to start.

Of course, a strong, careful writer like Willingham can make things easier simply by delivering the story and characters as clearly as possible, which he does very well.  The first few pages quickly introduce you to the heroes of the moment, the band of warrior Fables known as the F-Men, and their foe in question, the formidable—scratch that—all-powerful Mister Dark.

This issue emphasizes just how dire the situation is for the fairy tale citizens, as every one of them works with the expectation that failure is the likeliest outcome.  Willingham underscores this point with both the F-Men, who become increasingly portrayed like the Fables’ Suicide Squad, and Brock Blueheart’s insistent preaching of Boy Blue’s resurrection as their savior in need.  These are characters that are facing their doom the only way we know how: struggling to the last for survival, and praying for miracles.

Fables #102 – Review

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

The Story: Ozma begins to assemble a super team under the guidance of Pinocchio as the Dark Man threatens Haven.

The Review: As weird as it seems at first, and as dubious the reasoning is behind it, this whole Super Team thing is really, really enjoyable.  It feels new and fresh for Fables and makes for some smart reading as well.  It allows Fables to discuss superhero comics and, by extension, comics as a medium.  The end result is an intelligent comic that almost feels self-conscious of its own medium.  It allows Willingham to think over some of the tropes and absurdities of superhero comics by bringing it into a comic that is anything but.

The whole superhero element also allows for a good deal of comedy as well, much of it thanks to that absurdity.  There’s also a good deal of hilarity in seeing Willingham’s piss-takes here and there, for instance, with Pinocchio’s dressing up as Professor X/Chief.  As you might suspect, it also leads to Mark Buckingham’s getting to do some really cool stuff.  His costume for Ozma is both gorgeous and humorous and quite honestly, even seeing the always-serious Ozma dressed up in such a get-up is all kinds of awesome.

As I mentioned, however, the reasoning for this whole Super Team is a bit questionable.  I can see where Willingham’s going with his reasoning, but it seems like a sort of ad-hoc explanation, as though Willingham just really, really wanted a superhero team in his comic and tried to come up with the reasons afterwards.  Furthermore, it’s a bit of a strain seeing someone like Ozma buy into the whole thing and dive in so completely.  That said, the visual and intellectual places that the comic is allowed to go as a result makes all of this fairly forgivable.

Quick-Hit Reviews: Week of Jan. 26, 2011

Got-dang! There were a lot of comics that came out last week!  Even with all the reviewers at WCBR burning the midnight oil, it’s not always possible to get a full review up on everything when Marvel decides to release all of their Avengers and X-books in one week.  Sheesh!  But, still, we endure….

Uncanny X-Men #532 – We begin the handoff of Uncanny from Matt Fraction to Kieron Gillen.  Fraction had his high moments with the Utopia and Second Coming events, but the rest of his run was pretty uneven and this issue illustrates a lot of the problems that I have.  There are three story lines in this issue, but none feel very important.  First you have Emma, Fantomex & Kitty Pryde fighting with Sebastian Shaw.  I’m very unclear on what this story is supposed to do.  It isn’t interesting and if they just wanted Shaw back in circulation (which is a good idea), there surely are more entertaining ways to do it than this.  Two, we have Lobe and the Sublime Corp who have engineered mutant pills so that regular joes can gain mutant powers.  That just isn’t interesting or threatening and it has a lot of the pseudo-science that Fraction likes to use, but doesn’t pull off very well.  It’s very much what happens when someone who doesn’t know science tries to write something that is very hip about current science topics.  Three we have this Collective Man story that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  Unclear why this title can’t copy the formula that makes Uncanny X-Force so kick ass.  And Greg Land’s art is just bad.  I don’t mind his art the first few times I see it, but he’s been on this title for a while and we know his tricks now.  Marvel would be best served to just rotate him around their titles.  Grade: D — Dean Stell

2nd Opinon: There’s a clever idea to be found in the character of Lobe, but I’m not sure that it’s being used to it’s full potential.  A character who genuinely doesn’t hate mutants but merely wants to exploit an untapped natural resource is a nice change of pace, but the entire melodramatic quarantine gambit and the cookie-cutter personalities of his wannabe X-Men are somewhat sabotaging a story with lots of potential.  Throw in the obvious space-filler of the Collective Man sub-plot and the going-on-way-too-long side-plot concerning Emma Frost’s mission to disappear Sebastian Shaw (I’mnotgoingtopickontheGregLandartI’mnotgoingtopickontheGregLandart…) and I unfortunately found myself with a strong urge to go reread this week’s issue of Uncanny X-Force. Grade: C- — Joe Lopez

Ultimate Spider-Man #152 – Bendis continues his great second wind on this title this month as we simultaneously discover just what Black Cat was doing during his battle with Mysterio many months ago and , in the present day, watch as Iron Man nearly outs Peter’s secret identity to all of Forest Hills, Queens.  There are plenty of standout moments in this issue, ranging from Aunt May’s reaction to Stark’s entrance gaff to the “Amazing Friends'” reunion with the just-returned Gwen Stacy.  Peter’s conversation with Gwen was particularly touching and felt honest and real in a way that most complicated relationships in fiction fail at.  While I do have to admit to being slightly annoyed that after three months of teasing, we still haven’t seen any actual super-hero schooling, Bendis hits the rest of the notes wonderfully and has gotten me one more invested in this comic’s cast.  Extra kudos have to go to penciller Sara Pichelli whose work here has improved greatly.  I’m not sure if it’s just a matter of her having become comfortable with the characters and their world, but this felt like an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man in a way that is usually reserved for one produced by a more regular artist.  Great stuff.  Grade: A — Joe Lopez

Thunderbolts #152 – This has been a superstar of a title over the last year.  Jeff Parker always keeps the title clicking along at a swift pace.  No drawn out, overly long 6 issue story arcs from Parker.  Here the action builds on a storyline that has been in Hulk (also by Parker) having to do with some mega-monsters that are escaping from a MODOK island and wreaking havoc on Japan.  I love how the Tbolts are all such a neat team, yet you never know when one of them might turn on the others.  Great action in this one as they fight the mega-monsters and deal with a new threat form Hyperion.  Kev Walker’s art is really tight too and perfect for this book with lots of oversized, hulking characters. Grade: B+ — Dean Stell

Secret Avengers #9 – While the kung-fu pulp element is dialed way down this month, this issue is solid if only because it’s one where the Secret Avengers live up to their namesake.  It’s shadowy superhero covert ops stuff with Steve Rogers and John Steele dueling one another.  In other words, it’s a pretty good time.  There’s even a superhero trade that almost seems like a spy-swap of sorts.  More than that though, Rogers looks particularly clever this month and truly feels like the leader of a covert squad.  If anything, the superspy tone makes for an Avengers book that has its own clear identity and, in some ways, it’s own little corner of the Marvel Universe.  It’s a unique read with solid writing and solid art.  The only thing wrong with it is that I’m finding John Steele a bit bland in concept and appearance as a bad guy.  There’s really just not that much to the guy, and certainly not much at all that we haven’t seen before.  Max Fury is far more compelling.  Grade: B — Alex Evans

What We’re Looking Forward To In November

Dean

There is a LOT to look forward to in November. For one thing, there is a lot of neat stuff in the Spider-Man world as Amazing Spider-Man kicks off its new “big” story line Big Time written by Dan Slott with art by Humberto Ramos. This is also the end of the thrice-monthly ASM with a rotating team of creators, so it should be interesting. Also in the Spidey-world, we get Spider-Girl #1 by Paul Tobin. This is not Mayday Parker (who could never find a stable audience) but Arana of Young Allies fame. If you like teenage drama, it should be fun. Finally, we get Osborn #1 by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Emma Rios (who are both really good) to see what Marvel’s favorite villain has been up to since Siege ended.

A few other things in Marvel that I’m looking forward to. She-Hulks #1 launches in November with art from Ryan Stegman. Stegman is a very gifted artist and he draws a mean She-Hulk, so this should be good. Although Invincible Iron Man has had slow pacing, the current story arc, Stark Resilient wraps up this month and Matt Fraction seems to have this title headed to a very good climactic battle. For all those Punisher fans who HATED Franken-Castle, you get plain, old, normal Punisher in the Blood #1 from Rick Remender. And finally, there is yet another X-book with Generation Hope. The idea for this book is to have Hope running around with all the “new mutants” who have had their powers come alive since Second Coming.

Over at DC the big news is in the Bat-books as we get 2 new Bruce Wayne titles: Batman, Inc. by Grant Morrison and Batman: The Dark Knight by David Finch. If you’re into Batman, these are going to be must reads. And….after much waiting and delay, we get Batwoman #0 by JH Williams, III. I am really excited for this book and eager to see if it can maintain the quality that Williams and Greg Rucka established during their run on Detective Comics last year. Also, just to prove it isn’t all about new Bat-books, we also get a whole new creative team on the venerable Detective Comics with Scott Snyder of American Vampire fame teaming up with Jock and Francesco Francavilla on what is sure to be very well done series of Dick Grayson stories.

Not a whole lot going on over at Image, but folks might want to take a look at Utopian #1 by Marc Guggenheim. The story is: “What happens after the heroes win and the world is saved?” Image has become the go-to publisher for many creators to do interesting things, so this has promise.

 

 

Alex

While I’m as excited about all the Grant Morrison stuff as the next guy, the Batman title that really has my eye is Detective Comics #871 by Scott Snyder and Jock. It’s an utterly fantastic creative team and Snyder’s promise of a realistic, CSI type Batman has me curious. Of course, there’s also Batwoman #0 by JH Williams III to consider, which anyone with a pulse should be excited for.

Outside of Batman, I find myself confronted by two relaunches of titles I’m either completely unfamiliar with and/or indifferent to. Yet I’m picking them both up. They are THUNDER Agents #1 by Nick Spencer and CAFU and Superboy #1 by Jeff Lemire and Pier Gallo. In both cases, it’s the creative teams that have me excited, crewed as they are by exciting new talent with writers that have proven track records outside the superhero realm.

At Marvel, it’s all about Spider-Man’s Big Time. Now bi-monthly with a steady, and good, creative team, I’m happy to be back aboard with Amazing Spider Man #648 and #649 with Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. Hopefully big times are also good times. Meanwhile, Thor #617 by Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry has my attention as well, with its seeming promise of a reincarnated Loki. Fractions other book, Invincible Iron Man #32, also isn’t to be missed as it concludes the excellent slow-burn of “Stark Resilient” in explosive fashion.

Finally, it’s a big, but sad, month at Vertigo as two excellent titles reach their conclusions. Madame Xanadu #29 goes out with a bang as main series artist Amy Reeder returns for the farewell. Meanwhile,  Unknown Soldier #25 is sure to end things in bloody and tragic fashion, as Joshua Dysart’s fictional tale directly collides with a real world villain of the worst kind. On a happier note, Fables #100 is a giant-sized book of excitement featuring a mega-powered duel; it’s also a landmark for Vertigo, an imprint for whom longevity isn’t common.

 

SoldierHawk

So I’ve been harping on it since it was announced months ago, but my pick for November is, without question, Batwoman #0, the prelude to the new Batwoman ongoing series written and illustrated by J.H. Williams III. I’m quite literally X-ing the days off my calendar until this comes out. Kate Kane/Batwoman are fantastic characters and–perhaps even more importantly–she has a fabulous supporting cast surrounding her. Even leaving all that aside… MORE J.H. WILLIAMS III ARTWORK! That alone will be worth the cover price.

I’m also really, really looking forward both to the first Kill Shakespeare Trade (which collects Kill Shakespeare issues #1-6), and to issue #7. This series has been a gem (albeit a slightly rough one in spots) since its launch last April, and issue #6 set some very interesting plot points and characters into motion. I’m waiting with baited breath to see how this is going to play out, and what other famous Shakespeare creations might throw themselves into the mix.

 

Fables #99 – Review

by Bill Willingham (writer), Inaki Miranda (art), Eva De La Cruz (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Mr. North confronts Mr. Dark and tells him of Totenkinder’s challenge to single combat as the Dark Man continues to build his domain.

What’s Good: I wasn’t particularly impressed by the Rose Red arc.  Overall, it meandered a bit and the result was that I wasn’t anywhere near as excited for Fables #100 as I should be.  All of that changed with this issue, which had me salivating for #100.  This comic should serve as a template for how to construct an effective build-up issue.

Much of this is because Willingham spends much of this issue showing, and not just telling, what is at stake.  We get a disturbing peek into Mister Dark’s transformed New York City, one that’s rife with irrational violence, cruelty, apathy, and, well, zombies.  It’s a dark and diseased place and instantly, next month’s climactic issue feels all the more important.  More than that though, Willingham hypes #100 by basically telling us exactly what that book is going to be about: an epic duel between Mister Dark and the suped-up Totenkinder.

Willingham relays this purely through a tense dialogue between North and Dark.  I love it when writers have immensely powerful entities just… talk.  It’s great to have scenes where characters who are essentially gods only imply their powers and merely converse, while showing a certain respect for one another.  It’s always an awesome dynamic and Willingham does it well.  More importantly, by merely talking about what will, or might, happen next month without actually giving us any action this month, Willingham ratchets up the tension and makes us want #100 all the more.

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 #97 – Review

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

The Story: Rose Red gets out of bed, clandestine meeting for control of the Farm take place, and Rose’s sabotage of Snow’s first marriage is illuminated.

What’s Good: I’ve been somewhat aggravated by Fables over the last couple of months.  After the fantastic “Witches” arc, Fables had regained it’s momentum and the sky seemed to be the limit.  Then Willingham inexplicably squandered this through spending two straight issues in a flashback that was only tangentially relevant and a thematic left turn.  I’m happy to say that this month, Fables is righting itself and taking a big step back in the right direction.

Of course, a big part of this is simply due to the fact that halfway through the issue, the flashback ends.  Suffice it to say, this alone was enough to have me overjoyed.  When Rose got out of bed and started cleaning up and preparing herself for action, I almost felt like it was representative of the series itself; after months of wandering listlessly, Fables is preparing itself to get back to firing on all cylinders.  There’s a lot of excitement, as a result, in seeing Rose suit up and it left me very eager for what’s coming.

It’s not just Rose either; the power struggle in the Farm is also more interesting than ever.  The meeting in the forest, and the fragile coalition between Ozma, Stinky, and Geppetto is very interesting and foreboding as well.  It’s a volatile and unlikely mix of personalities, all of whom are combustible elements.  It’s the sort of thing that you know is going to blow itself, and maybe a great deal else, apart and, like with Rose, it really left me wanting to know what’ll happen next.  I’m especially interested in Stinky/Brock who is getting weirder by the second; he manifests some very weird magical properties this month and their source is very cool.

Fables #96 – Review

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

The Story: The flashback tale continues, detailing how the two sisters were separated and what exactly happened to Snow White thereafter.

What’d Good: It’s always relatively good fun whenever Willingham gets to tell a good old fashioned fairytale.  His narrative voice is well-suited to the required old timey tone and so, the narration and dialogue is solid all around.  You get your witches, kings, royal intrigue, magical creatures, and all the necessities of the genre.  The curtain also gets peeled back a little on the magical nature of Rose and Snow’s mother, which was definitely both a slight surprise and a cause for interest.

As always, you also get that little wink of generic self-awareness.  Seeing hordes of princes-turned-into-animals pondering whether Rose Red is their saviour or not is a prime example of this.  Indeed, seeing various archetypal fairytales passing Rose by was a nice touch towards the end of the issue.

On art, I really do feel that Buckingham’s able to stretch his legs a little bit more whenever he traverses the older worlds of the Empire.  The fantasy elements suit him well and his depictions of magic and fantastical creatures are always pleasing, so heading into a fantasy realm obviously makes for a good time.

Fables #95 – Review

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

The Story: A childhood adventure from the past lives of Snow White and Rose Red is recounted.

What’s Good: I’ve always enjoyed it when Willingham stretches his legs a little and gives us a good old fashioned fairytale, even if it means a digression from the main story.  That’s exactly what we get here; Willingham writes a fanciful tale in the homeworld which, thanks to its talking bear, grumpy villain, and child protagonists truly feels like a classic childhood yarn.  It has just enough whimsy, innocence, and gleefulness to capture that energy.  With its narration and tone, it also has a very “constructed” feel, only further heightening its “once upon a time” nature.  The narration, for example, is very well done and surprisingly light.

This’d probably even qualify as an actual fable, were Willingham not so smart as to leave its actual moral message ambiguous, left to pieced out by the adults in the present.  Certainly, the issue’s ending is a laugh if only because it apes the typical fable/fairytale pay-off by placing the usual princely transformation and marriage proposal in an utterly ridiculous context.  In a stroke of genius, “happily ever after” feels more like “wtf.”

Despite this though, the majority of the tale is one of childhood energy and fantasy.  Rose Red and Snow White have a strong relationship and  Willingham populates their forest with a couple of amusing characters.

A talking bear serves as sympathetic character who again provides grounds for Willingham’s love of making those who appear ferocious end up as anything but.  The issue’s villain, on the other hand, is a dwarf so curmudgeonly and grumpy that he serves more as comedy than menace.  Of course, when the two clash, there’s an act of bloody violence that’s so contrary to the rest of the issue that readers are bound to have whiplash, though in a good way.  Only Willingham can make decapitation light-hearted, if only thanks to its randomness.

Buckingham’s art, meanwhile, is absolutely spot-on this month.  He gives the book the bright, cheery look that its classic fairytale nature requires.  His illustrations of the dwarf in particular are excellent and a source for laughs on more or less every appearance.  The poor guy looks like a demented garden gnome.

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.