I love Mowgli. And Bigby. And Snow White. And the North Wind. This is a great comic that I don't have much to say about from month to month. If you ever enjoyed fairy tales and like extrapolations about the characters that appear in them, then FABLES is a book you should give a try.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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I feel like #49 was a 'I forgot how freaking kick-ass this comic can be' issue. Not that the comic has been bad or anything (quite the opposite), but I feel it switched back into high gear here, although I can't really give direct reasons why.
I'm looking forward to one day reading the whole run in a row (as I did with Swamp Thing, Sandman, Doom Patrol & Preacher) so I can enjoy it in its entirety. But its a great read month in and month out.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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It's the only book I buy both the monthly -and- the trade for. I love reading the stories as collected in the trades, but I'm WAAAAY too impatient to "WAIT for the trade"... gotta have my monthly dose of Fables!
I thought the Arabian Days and Nights arc dragged a bit, though I enjoyed it... It was just a bit of a (probably necessary) drop-off from the awesome Boy Blue/Advesary/Homelands arc preceding it. But the Ballad of Rodney and June was great, and Wolves sets up the reunion we've been waiting for.
Click Here For A SpoilerBut where's Bigby and Snow's windchild??? He/She/It(?) was supposed to seek out Bigby at the end of the Mean Seasons arc... but there's no mention when we find Bigby again.
-------------------- "Anytime a good book like this is cancelled, I hope another Teen Titan is murdered." --Cobalt
"Anytime an awesome book like S6 is cancelled, I hope EVERY Titan is murdered." --Me
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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This was good, even with the (appropriately) sappy happy-ever-after ending.
Bigby comes back to the Fables farm for a top-secret mission and heads off to the Cloud Kingdom. The physical properties of this place are curiously mind-twisting, and I hope we see more of the Cloud Kingdom in future issues.
You sort of see the next part coming, but not how it turns out. Click Here For A SpoilerBigby then goes to confront Geppetto, delivers a message that Fabletown will be fighting back just like the Mundy Israelis do - tough and merciless. He uses "Mundy magic" to detonate bombs all through the magic grove and destroys it. Back to Fabletown, where he gets his reward: land adjacent to the farm, where he and Snow can live with their children. They get married (no great spoiler, it's on the cover).
There are a lot of details here that could be developed in future issues. We do see evidence of the wind-child but he remains a secret from everyone except his parents and a few Fables elders. This certainly isn't the end of the saga with the Empire, but it's really uncertain how that will play out.
The Jack of Fables preview was fun. Jack was a pretty loathesome character in the issues which covered his story, so I wasn't too keen on this - but it looks interesting - with some humour. One character in the first issue is The Pathetic Fallacy, which is well done - and it doesn't seem that Jack will be treated too kindly. Perhaps it will be a morality fable.
posted
Another thing to look forward to, longer-range, is the Fables GN coming out this fall.
In this CBR interview from a few months ago, Willingham discusses the story, set in a time before the current series:
We'll find out why Snow doesn't allow any mention of the dwarves. We'll find out what happened to Flycatcher's (the Frog Prince) wife and children in the Homelands. We'll see how the North Wind became the father of a Big Bad Wolf. We'll see what turned Frau Totenkinder (the witch of Hansel and Gretel fame) into a wicked witch. We'll find out why King Cole was elected as Fabletown's first mayor. And we'll see so much more…
AND there will be one story illustrated by James Jean, the first time he's done artwork for a story. He's one of my favourite artists.
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Ooooooooh, yeah. Lotsa FABLEy goodness. I can't WAIT for the 7 Dwarves story... that's been given so much play from the beginning of the series.
It'll be interesting to see what JJ does with a sequential story... I love his covers.
Along with Kaluta, Vess, Bolton, Wheatley, Jill Thompson... <swoon>
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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#50 was great. I never realized how much I like this artist until now. There's a definate Kirby influence there, but far cleaner and attractive, like when Colleta inked Kirby.
Snow and Rose looked beautiful and even Blue Boy looked very handsome. He's really developed over the first 50 issues.
I thought it was very moving (sappy in a good way) and all the characters had some scenes. Bigby, despite being the obvious main character, is my favorite. I'm looking forward to 50 more new stories!
Fables has definately emerged as the next great Vertigo title. I'm dying to learn more about Red Riding Hood and Bigby's first encounter.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Click Here For A SpoilerGhost? Bigby's not the most imaginative guy, but YAY! Very in character for Bigby to keep him a secret last issue, in retrospect.
And Snow is reunited with her baby! "Ghost, give your mother a kiss."
I wonder if -he- has his own room in Bigby and Snow's new place...
Bigby's mission:
Click Here For A SpoilerI, too, liked the current-events analogy. Can't wait to see how things play out from here.
And Bigby's explanation for Pinocchio's indecision to leave makes perfect sense, especially in light of what Gepetto told Boy Blue back in the Homelands arc about having the Blue Fairy amend her spells to account for P's wanderlust.
This whole bit was pure Bigby.
And finally:
Click Here For A SpoilerAnd I do mean finally!
Snow giving Bigby catch-up work on "his" interaction with the kids was priceless. The one-panel reunion scene said so much with so little... Bigby, hands in coat pockets, apprehensive over how the kids are going to respond, Snow coaxing the kids...
"Okay, you've defeated me. You win." Helluva way to accept a proposal, Snow! But again, absolutely in character.
Frau T is the bomb! "Oh, silly me, WHAT 7th child, I'm a dotty old lady..."
All in all, this might be my favorite issue yet. And for every wrap-up we got, there's a hint of something else to come. The Jack preview looks fun as well!
MAKE MINE FABLES!
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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Reprinting the first issue of Fables PLUS a preview of the 1001 Nights of Winter OGN due out later that month. Thanks to Newsarama for the news item.
From: Up a Gumtree | Registered: Jul 2003
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FINALLY got to pick this up and it's every bit as wonderful as people have been saying. My one quibble is that I wish there'd been a shorter Jack preview to allow a smidgeon of room to tease us with what's ahead for the 'stay-at-home' Fables.
From: Knoxville, TN | Registered: Jul 2003
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I LOVE Fables! I can't wait til the GN comes out in the fall, that's on my must buy list(among other miscellaneous books..)I only buy the trades because I don't have the means to buy BOTH the issues and the trades, so I stopped at Homelands(v.6?)I wonder what happens with Boy Blue, he's my favorite character(so far..)I also wonder if Greek Myths count as folk tales?Probably not but it'd be interesting to see Mr.Wilmingham's take on Artemis, as well as his take on Hansel and Gretal for no reason. I prefer Steve Leialoha's art on the books though,and he's really nice in person.I wish I coulda gotten a page with Boy Blue on it but someone else grabbed allllll the original art, But that has nothing to do with anything, I hope Fables continues for a long time but not so long it gets boring.It's one of the more imaginative comics out there besides manga and Legion of Superheroes
From: Not telling | Registered: Jun 2006
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The main series continues to entrance but I was really impressed with Jack of Fables (#1). The cover was funny, the premise is great and Jack is just someone you love to see bad things happen to. What a rat! I loved the idea that Click Here For A SpoilerFables are kidnapped and taken to a prison community so that their stories will be forgotten. And what a surprise ending. LOL!
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The one-panel reunion scene said so much with so little... Bigby, hands in coat pockets, apprehensive over how the kids are going to respond, Snow coaxing the kids...![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
