Fables: The Mean Seasons

Cindy (Cinderella) makes her contribution to Fabletown by undertaking dangerous missions, Bigby meets with an old brother-in-arms, and a litter of adorable (and quite extraordinary) cubs make their entrance into the world. Yet another great installment in a great series. The emotional impact is great as well, especially since the reader has by now formed quite an attachement to the gruff Big Bad Wolf and quite a lot of heartache is dropped at his door, although some falls at Snow's too when she has to send one of her children away. ( )

This is the fifth book in the Fables series, and while I didn't like it as much as The March of the Wooden Soldiers, it does a good job of transitioning a number of our favorite characters into new roles/positions.

There are a number smaller events covered in this Fables collection. The first couple chapters cover Bigby's activities in World War II. Then a bunch of issues brought up in The March of the Wooden Soldiers are resolved: Snow White has her (rather unique) babies and Prince Charming runs for mayor.

The illustration is wonderfully detailed as it has been for all of these books. The illustration is in keeping with previous issues and does an excellent job of helping to tell the story.

This is one of the shortest Fables books I've read to date, but it does cover a lot of ground. It felt a bit more piecemeal and less epic than the last issue did. Not that it was a let down, it just felt like more of a transition book.

We learn a lot more about Bigby's past when one of his old friends details some events that happened during World War II. This is well done and interesting.

Snow White finally has her babies and they are definitely different than normal babies. I can't wait to see what this group of babes gets into as they grow older. Prince Charming runs for mayor and when he wins, finds out the job is harder than he thought it would be.

As I said a lot of changes. Things are looking kind of bleak for Fabletown; everything is changing and not necessarily for the better. We get a teeny tiny bit more insight into who/what the Adversary is, but that really isn't expanded on much in this book. This book is more about getting the characters moved into new roles and setting up for stories to come.

Overall a great addition to the series. Not as epic and fascinating as March of the Wooden Soldiers, but we learn a lot of background on Bigby and things are moving and shaking for the Fables of Fabletown. I can't wait to see where the story goes for the next installment in this series, Homelands. ( )

After the breakneck pace and the many story developments that took place in March of the Wooden Soldiers, Fables readers needed a collection that would allow them to calm down a little, but still advance the plot.

The Mean Seasons is a collection of 7 issues, a one shot featuring Cinderella, a 2 issue story about Bigby and the title story The Mean Seasons which runs over 4 issues, each one representative of one of the seasons of the year, in that it's the Fables story that has taken place over the longest period of time.

The Cinderella story, Cinderella Libertine was something to show that the former princess and now shoe store proprietor is more than just an airhead. She uses her feminine wiles to entrap Ichabod Crane, who was prepared to sell the Fables out to the Adversary if the price was right. Cindy seems to be one of Bigby's 'tourists', special agents that he uses to help him control those Fables that choose to live in the Mundy world. It was a fluffy little piece, it was actually published in the middle of the March of the Wooden Soldiers, but I could see why it had been placed differently, it would have spoiled the continuity of the earlier collection.

The 2 issues featuring Bigby were about one of the missions he undertook for the Allies during WW2 and how he prevented the Nazis from developing an army of Frankenstein monsters to unleash against Allied forces. There was another Fable in it called Harp, I'm not sure if he was a troll or a goblin under a glamour or the Singing Harp from Jack & The Beanstalk. It was written and drawn in the style of a comic war story, see the 40's Captain Americas or Sub Mariners for an example. Sgt Nick Fury's Howling Commandoes are the same sort of thing as well.

The others were entertaining, but I wanted to know how Snow's pregnancy went and who would be elected Mayor of Fabletown.

Snow ended up having a 'litter' of 6 children or 'cubs'. Given the kids unusual parentage on their father's side, part wolf, part North Wind, they were bound to be a little unusual. They look like a hybrid and they float. They were extremely cute, but their appearance meant that Snow would have to raise them on the Farm. Bigby disagreed with this, and after failing to convince Snow to take the kids and raise them in a secluded forest somewhere, he left Fabletown, possibly for good.

Prince Charming predictably won the election. This caused some problems. Cole was evicted from his penthouse atop the Woodlands building and couldn't understand what he had done to the Fables that they wouldn't vote for him and he did not know what to do with himself now. Charming had made some big promises and he would not be able to keep them all. He knew that Snow and Bigby wouldn't work with him so he gave their jobs to Beauty and the Beast. Blue had left after the battle and taken the Vorpal Sword, the Witching Cloak and Pinocchio (now in wooden puppet form) with him to the Homelands to try and find the real Red Riding Hood. This meant Beauty only had Bufkin the flying monkey to show her the ropes. The monkey tries hard, but he's not particularly reliable, nor is he all that bright. The Beast is thrown in the deep end, having to try and track down Jack, who left with billions from one of Bluebeard's treasure rooms, and deal with a series of unexplained murders in the city. To top it off Charming hasn't been able to deliver on the promise he made to 'glamourise' all the non human members of the Fable community.

Snow enjoys herself at the Farm with her flying children and her sister Rose Red. A card she got from Frau Totenkinder mentioning her seven children puzzles her, because she only has 6 'cubs'. The children's grandfather the North Wind comes to visit and that's when the murders migrate from the city to the Farm. After examining one of the victims; Mary's Little Lamb, the North Wond concludes that it's a zephyr, a rogue wind that finds the breath of humans and animals a delicacy. Snow makes the hardest decision of her life. She leaves her brood with their grandfather and goes to her room. There she has a conversation with her seventh 'child', the zephyr. She sends it away to find Bigby, believing he will know how to deal with it, and breaking her own heart in the process. Just about broke mine, too.

Bill Willingham's pencils were right on the money and I loved the little drawings at the top of each page giving you a hint what was happening in the story. Tony Akins, who I had not previously seen work on Fables, provided the artwork for the other 3 stories. The war story was well done, but I felt that the Cinderella one was a little too sketchy.

I'm almost too sad to pick up the next collection. Note: I said ALMOST.

Entertaining, surprisingly well written for the graphic novel medium. Nothing to write home about but an entertaining series that I'll continue to read. The more you read of this series the more addictive it becomes. Well-plotted, but I still think it is lacking and deep psychological or philosophical revelations that I like in stories.

**Spoiler alert** I was not very enamored with the Bigby as a solider in WWII story arc, but I loved the ending of this book. One of those that I felt stupid for not having seen coming. ( )

A weaker volume in the series. After the dramatic, action-packed story arc that comprised Volume 4, Volume 5 takes a step back, allowing for minor characters to take the spot light (Cinderella Libertine), and character histories to be explored (War Stories). When the stories finally find their way back to the main plot in The Mean Seasons, characters switch social positions, occupations and residences, and start new chapters in their lives. It reads more like an extended prologue to a new "chapter" in the series as a whole then as a story of its own.

Frankly, Cinderella Libertine and War Stories turned me off. I am eager to learn more about the established settings of Fabletown and the Farm, and follow the present-day actions and developments of the main characters; I find the backtracking and side stories tedious. In Cinderella Libertine Cindy convinces Ichabod Crane she's madly in love with him, has sex with him, manipulates him into agreeing to join up with the Adversary, and then has Bigby kill him for agreeing to join up with the Adversary. And then there are random insults against France thrown in for no reason at the end. Definitely could have skipped that one.

War Stories also left me cold. Possibly because stealing from civilians and shooting unarmed non-combatants while they scream for mercy doesn't particularly sit well with me, even if they are on the wrong side. I guess I just expect my heroes to be a little bit nobler than that. Mostly I found it dragged because I was waiting impatiently for WIllingham to return to the main plot.

The continuation of the main story-arc is considerably better then either of the two preceding stories, but suffers from moving at such a fast, clipped rate. Snow White gives birth, the mayoral elections are decided, characters move and change jobs, and in less than one hundred pages a year has passed and with it many dramatic changes and revelations. Willingham and Buckingham are at their best when they allow the plot to slow down for a moment and catch its breath. The scene which unfolds on page 162-163 is the best in the volume - tender and heartbreaking, as Snow White sits overcome in a darkened bedroom and the mysterious killer who has been terrorizing the Farm since her arrival is revealed. ( )