Fables #116 – Review

By: Bill Willingham (story), Mark Buckingham (pencils), Steve Leialoha, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Green (inks), Lee Loughridge (colors), Shawn McManus (feature art)

The Story: If your own family can’t rescue you from the clutches of maniacal toys, who can?

The Review: When Ozma delivered her prophecy regarding the fate of the Cubs, it was natural to assume that however dire the foretelling, we could rest on the Cubs getting to grow up a bit before such anxious events come to pass.  Upon reflection, this is a very naïve belief.  When it comes to Fables, disaster tends to strike sooner rather than later, and the more unprepared the characters are, the better.

Although the prophecy’s temporal context is so loose that you can’t really trust that any particular event is actually fulfilling it, we might as well take a good stab at it.  Willingham wouldn’t give us the thing if he hadn’t meant for us to do some wild speculating.  Winter, by succeeding her grandfather as the North Wind, has become a king, so that’s one down.

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 #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.”

Amazing Spider-Man #555 – Review

By Zeb Wells (writer), Chris Bachalo (pencils), Tim Townsend (inks), Antonio Fabela (colors)

You know, if these Brand New Day stories came out monthly instead of (almost) weekly, I’d be less enamored with this title. But because of its frequent release schedule, these type of stories work out really well. Amazing Spider-Man has become a staple of my weekly diet. It’s something I read first when I get my books from the local comic store, and it’s like watching a serialized TV show. If this schedule fails to work and Marvel reverts this title back to a monthly schedule (like DC did with Action Comics), I’m going to be very disappointed.

Now, I don’t know who Zeb Wells is or if he’s ever even written a comic before. What I do know is he completely nails the relationship between Spider-Man and Wolverine. The chemistry these two have when put on the same page is very much in the same vein of those buddy cop movies we love so much. Reading the banter between these two is almost worth the price of admission alone. Almost.

The story, itself, is a bit on the light side. We don’t get much of anything other than Wells running around “house keeping” so to speak. He touches on the minor subplots here and there, before bringing us to the grit of the main story near the end of the issue. I’m not saying much of the story is completely wasted, because I was entertained the whole time, but it did feel a bit too formulaic at times (especially when Spider-Man makes it to the Bugle).

Chris Bachalo’s art, as beautiful as it is, is not always easy to follow. Heck, his work in Messiah Complex was a complete mess. But with Amazing Spider-Man, he doesn’t leave you scratching you head. His art perfectly accomodates Wells’ script gives the book a “fun” kind of feeling (weird, I know). The whole snow blind palette used by Antonio Fabela reenforces the crazy blizzard that’s hitting the city, but at times is a bit too overpowering, almost washing out the art. I understand the desired effect, but I wish it were toned down.

This new arc’s off to a decent start. There’s a glaring continuity problem that’ll make some readers groan, but we get a rightful explanation in the letters column. Zeb Wells definitely knows his characters, now he just needs to execute on the story. (Grade: B-)

– J. Montes