Fables #138 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Russ Braun (art), Lee Loughridge (colors)

The Story: Geppetto proves that being a tree-hugger isn’t necessarily a good thing.

The Review: The superhero genre has plenty of belief-stretching conventions, but one worth discussing for the purposes of this issue is the constant cycle of defeat and revenge where villains are concerned.  I always find it incredible that the likes of the Joker, or Count Vertigo, or any number of evil nemeses, would be allowed to return time and time again to plague heroes and innocents alike.  It just seems logistically irreconcilable and fictionally futile.

No wonder that in most other genres, a villain that goes down more often than not stays down.  Once their big play is undone, everything else that comes after seems mostly like anticlimax.  This is why allowing Geppetto to live was a noble move on Flycatcher’s part, but one that could only lead to two predictable courses.  Either Geppetto makes a genuine effort to reform or he goes back to his evil ways, striking again when the other Fables are occupied with other matters.  The first option would be ideal, from a humanist perspective, but almost certainly cheesy and sentimental, defanging a powerful antagonist.

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 #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.

Fables #91 – Review

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

The Story: Geppetto makes a bid for power while Bufkin wages his final battle with Baba Yaga.

What’s Good: This was just an absolutely fantastic issue that shows that all those readers who claim that the series lost its heart after “War & Pieces” simply have no idea what they’re talking about.  This was engaging, intelligent, humorous, action-packed, fun, and generally everything you expect out of a quality comic.

Seeing Geppetto back in action and the closest we’ve ever seen him to his old posture was great.  The guy’s got charisma that leaps off of the page.  Willingham’s play on history was also quite good: Geppetto sounded like more or less every dictator in modern history to make a bid for power.  His call for unity, his protests against the inefficacy and corruption of the current regime, and his promises of security all felt very real.  It’s weird to see a comic so rooted in fancy give such an honest and close approximation to actual political history.

Geppetto’s rise also causes Ozma to step-up in a big way, and finally, Willingham has sold me on the character.  I’ve been on the fence about her, but this month, Willingham finally gives her the necessary appeal.

Then there’s Bufkin.  From his innocent bumbling, to his quoting of obscure passages, the character is simply adorable.  If you dislike Bufkin, you have no soul.  The fact that his one, and only, hand to hand combat technique is basically derived from his own penchant for clumsiness and pratfalls was simply golden, as was the unfolding of his manifold trap, which basically felt like a kid’s board game gone horribly wrong.