Steve Leialoha

Volume two picks up exactly where the last one let off. Rose Red and her accomplice/boyfriend are working off their community service hours for their antics in Vol. One. Red’s sister Snow White is about to make a trip to The Farm, where the non-human fables live, and she decides Red needs to come along for the ride. At the Farm, the sisters quickly realize something is wrong. A revolution is happening and they’ve arrived at the worst possible moments. In the midst of the chaos we meet show more Goldilocks, the three little pigs and a slew of characters from The Jungle Book.

The second volume is less about introductions and more about developing the established relationships, especially between the two estranged sisters. Their history is a complicated one and makes more sense with each new revelation. I particularly love the fact that from these first volumes, the author doesn’t rely on romantic relationships to drive every story. The two strong women at the forefront of the story are interesting enough on their own and the author trusts the reader to appreciate that.

BOTTOM LINE: I’m sold. I think the series is so well done. I love the variety of characters that are featured. It could rely completely on the novelty of such characters in each new volume, but instead it takes the assumptions that we have and tosses them out the window. Each character is given new life in the Fables series and I’m excited to see what happens next. show less

Red Riding Hood manages to escape from the hands of the Adversary and to Fabletown - the first person to successfully leave the homelands in centuries. But in quick pursuit are a trio of strangely wooden brothers with a penchant for violence. Bigby Wolf smells trouble brewing from a mile away, and the residents of Fabletown batten down the hatches for a battle they fear is coming sooner rather than later.

This book picks up a little bit after Volume 3, with a now very pregnant Snow White show more continuing to oversee the Fabletown government for King Cole, who is being challenged for his mayoral position by Snow's ex-husband, Prince Charming. Author Willingham provides a helpful who's who at the beginning of the book to bring readers up to speed / refresh their memories. As with the other three volumes, I quite enjoyed Willingham's humor, including the play on words, as well as the fun he has with updating and changing fairy tale characters to serve his purposes. Once again, I was happy with the small hints of romance for my Bigby-Snow ship. This book had a lot more action (i.e., fight scenes) than in the previous volumes, and these were surprisingly captivating for me, as someone who doesn't usually enjoy long action sequences. As with the other books in this series, this title sort of stands alone in that the story is fairly self-contained but it definitely harkens back to the previous title and leaves open some storylines that hopefully will be continued in Volume 5. I for one am excited to keep reading this series and see what happens next! show less

Plot Synopsis
New York City has its fair share of unusual people, but none more so than the group of refugees comprising a wide variety of fairy tale characters. Forced from their home by a powerful adversary, they have set up an underground community complete with government, which they call Fabletown. But now one of their own is missing, possibly dead, and the Big Bad Wolf is on the case. He is aided by Fabletown's second in command, and the victim's sister, Snow White.

My Thoughts
Now comes show more the point where I gush like a thirteen year old girl. Except screw Edward/Robert Pattinson, the object of my newfound obsession is Bill Willingham, the creator of the Fables graphic novel series. I don't know what he looks like, how old he is, actually, I can't even positively identify that he is a he. But I don't care. I love him. I love this world he has created. And my checking account is in serious trouble as I plan on running out to buy the other twelve books in the series as soon as possible. And from what I understand, more will be following these first 13 books. Be still my geeking out heart!

Okay, to the meat of the matter. First, how much fun is it to have characters from fairy tales and folklore smushed together in a new story? I adore the use of known characters to create new worlds; the combination of familiarity and mystery excites me. Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, Aslan, the three freaking pigs, Prince Charming, Rose Red, Beauty and the Beast, I could keep going here. It's too cool.

Outside of this, however, Fables has a lot to offer even if you have no freaking clue about the origins of the individuals. The plot-line entertains, the relationships interconnect, the personalities are complex, the artwork is intricate, and the world is believable. If I were to focus on everything I loved about this graphic novel, I would need an entire blog dedicated to it, so I'll try to limit my gushing to what you should know before reading.

Foremost, pay attention to the artwork. I know that I sometimes have a problem doing that with graphic novels; I'm so used to reading text that I skim the images and focus on the words. But in Fables, the minutiae of the story are clearly presented in the pictures, some of which are so unbelievably detailed, I could spend a large chunk of time exploring the frame. I adore details like this in a graphic novel as I feel it helps to develop a world the reader can fall into. A gently curling smoke trail, a clear and bright tear drop, a tensing of the neck muscles, these small intricacies add so much. Then there are frames that just have so many intertwining figures and actions that they present an entire story unto themselves. Wonderful.

Final recommendation: I read this in one sitting and already I'm wondering how I can go about hiding 12 new graphic novels in the house. So I'd say it's a definite need-to-read book. show less

Unfortunately, after the high quality of Volume 6, this was not the direction for Willingham to go. The Arabian Fables are depicted as unsubtle racist caricatures, and for the first time, the subtext of Willingham's conservative politics is rapidly becoming text. It is, frankly, an uncomfortable read, and a major disappointment after the upturn of the last few collections.