Andrew Pepoy

Another very strong volume. The war is finally over - probably? I don't really agree with Willingham's views on warfare, but they're certainly consistent with the series up to this point. Pleasantly, he's dropped the racist "comedy" around the Arabian Fables and Sindbad returns to play a vital, if not totally central, role. Nice to see Rodney and June brought to some closure, too.

Summary: The self-proclaimed best of all Fables, Jack of the Tales (also known as Jack the Giant Killer, Jack Horner, etc.), is back with his own series. After briefly summarizing Jack's Hollywood adventures (from Volume 6 of the main Fables series), this story picks up with everyone's favorite ruffian turned out of his life as a media mogul and hitchhiking with a briefcase full of cash. However, Jack gets picked up by some folks from the Golden Boughs retirement center, where Fables are show more taken until they're forgotten about. Jack's not going to stand for imprisonment, though, so he orchestrates an escape plan... taking some new friends and familiar faces with him.

Review: I was a little bit leery about starting the Jack of Fables series - although I love the Fables universe, Jack was just about my least favorite character, and I didn't miss him at all once he was gone from the main series. However, I've read through all of the main series books that are out, and needed another dose, so I picked it up... and I needn't have worried; Willingham works his magic just as effectively here as in the main books. Jack's actually easier to take when he's narrating his own story, and his macho swagger and bravado goes from obnoxious to funnily obnoxious to almost endearingly obnoxious. I also enjoyed the introduction of the "nearly-forgotten" Fables, and seeing how many folklore details you can pick out of the background is one of the joys of any Fables installment. This hasn't gone rocketing to the top of my list of favorite Fables volumes, but it was a fun little adventure that satisfied my craving, and made me excited to read the rest of Jack's books.

Recommendation: I don't know that this would be understandable without having read the main series books first; a lot of the history and details about what Fables are and how their world works is taken for granted. For Fables fans, though, it's certainly a worthy addition to the universe. show less

Fables, in my opinion, is the most unique continuing series on the market right now. Bill Willingham has taken familiar characters, like Snow White and the Big Bad Wolf, and given them new life and new purpose. This series constantly leave me speechless, in a good way, at the twists and turns that you never see coming. And the art work for each issues is always spectacular. The characters live and breathe on the page and there is such depth to the world around them that I always have to go show more back through and relook at the issue just to see what I might have missed.

In this collection, which collects issues #94-100 plus its normal little extras like the covers for the series, we learn more about Rose Red, as the title would suggest. (Some spoiler may follow) After Mr. Dark invaded Fable Town all of the fables have been forced to live at the farm and different factions are arising battling to rule. Rose Red, having been in a depression since Boy Blue passed away, once again comes to the center of things. We learn more about her and Snow White's past, and the mysterious entity that appears to be Colin, formerly one the three pigs, comes back again.

The highlight of this collection of course is issue #100 where the battle between Frau Totenkinder and Mr. Dark comes to a head. There are some surprising twists in the story and fans of the Fables series will not be disappointed.

I highly, highly recommend this collection and look forward to the next one. show less

Apparently our Jack of Fables is nothing but a cheap knock-off. He was created due to his original (John, who became Wicked John after he escaped from Hell) being killed, and the master storyteller's need for another trickster character asap. I'm sure in the actual stories there was the duplication of some names, as these are more fluid storytelling elements than events and large themes, so I'm sure that this is what Willingham has used as his starting point. But even after Jack and John show more become two separate beings, with no more shared memories, they still wind up having many of the same personality characteristics. They're both womanizers, they're both money hungry, they both end up collecting sidekicks of some sort, and they both end up conversing with (the) devil(s). Pretty sure that Jack's ongoing deals are going to get him into some brimstone heated water soon, since it looks like his latest deal is almost up, and he hasn't yet found another buyer for his soul. show less