Jack of Fables Vol. 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape

Jack is an obnoxious creep, but the book is quite fun, for the most part. It has a lighter touch than the main Fables series where everything is war and soap. A lot of the ideas here are quite attractive in a tongue-in-cheek way, but it's occasionally hard not to feel that Willingham shares some of his hero's contempt for women - the book's one real downside.

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 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 - show more 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

Bill Willingham (or as I like to call him, Willy Willy), is just a clever, fun, inventive author. He has managed to rewrite the fairy tale not by updating them, but just following the time line a few centuries, and thus we get 'Fables'.

'Jack of Fables' is an extension of that, taking into account that the aforementioned scoundrel has supposedly slain more giants, wooed more maidens, and terrorized more London children than any of his fellow Fables before or since. Thus, combined with the fact that he has been exiled from the sphere of the core title, a spin-off was born. If your favorite part of 'Fables' was trying to spot what character came from where, you are in for a treat as a whole new territory of misplaced legends inhabits this show more book. It also gains the advantage (or, well, at least distinction) of being privately narrated by a complete and utter megalomaniac who thinks that he is not only the best thing since slice bread, but invented the innovation and seduced the baker. Hence, the many serious overtones often dominant in the parent title tend to be tempered with a startling sense of invulnerability and non-nonchalance. This first volume is at it's heart a relatively simple adventure story, but it has a huge cast of bizarre characters and strange set pieces, making 'Jack of Fables' a very fun and often unexpected read. show less

Of course Fabletown's most obnoxious character, Jack (the Giant Killer, and the Beanstalk, etc, etc), has to be given his whole own series... As much as I'm intrigued by the plethora of new Librarian characters, I find Jack himself to be a completely attrocious character due to his behavior. He really is rotten to the core, and he doesn't have any respect for anyone (including himself in many cases). I'm going to keep reading, if only to fill in the parts of the story where this series crosses over with the regular Fables storyline.

Jack Horner/Jack the Giant-Killer is a big shot in Hollywood, but when he walks away from it, he is captured and brought to a “retirement home” for Fables. Really, it’s a prison and they aren’t allowed to leave. Jack manages to convince the others to try to escape.

I quite enjoyed this! As with all the Fables graphic novels, the illustrations are amazing. I enjoyed the little gallery at the end of various sketches of some of the characters, as well. I liked the new characters at the prison, the Page sisters (called “librarians” but really, their jobs have them in “Retrievals”, “Security” and “Research”). I will definitely be continuing this spin-off series! (Now, if only I would go back and finish the original show more Fables series – I only have a couple more to go!) show less

As it has many times in the past, Jack of the Tales luck has finally run out. The ne'er do well Fable, after creating his own media empire, and making himself a household name, finds his assets frozen and is ordered to run by the Fabletown sheriff, Beast. To add insult to injury, the poor (in proportion) and homeless Jack is soon seized by evil Librarians from the Golden Boughs Retirement Community, a community where imprisoned Fables are held until the Mundy world forgets about them. Jack, being Jack, has no intention of going quietly into the night, and with the help of the criminally insane Goldilocks, he plans a daring escape.

This book has evil Librarians. It gets a star just for that. However, I might have expected too much from show more this title. While I enjoy Jack, and it was fun to meet more Fables, I was left with to many questions at the end of this book to give it an unqualified rave. I would have liked more about the Head Librarian, Reprise, and why it was so important for him to rid the world of Fables. I'm sure that will come in later books, but a little back story would have helped this arc tremendously. Although not as rich as Fables, this book continues in that title's high standards, with complex and interesting character designs and beautiful artwork. (cross-posted from MeriJenBen) show less

Jack of Fables, Volume 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham is the first volume in this off-shoot series from the Fables. I think that if you are a fan of Fables, then you will certainly enjoy Jack’s story as well. Jack is a bad boy. Handsome, arrogant egomaniac Jack is fun to follow as he gets himself kidnapped to a strange prison called the Golden Boughs Retirement Home. This volume introduces some new Fables that we haven’t met before and catches up with one or two that we do know.

Overall I prefer Jack in smaller doses but although he himself isn’t all that likeable he is humorous and highly readable. This story opens new avenues that will impact all the Fables and I am sure we will be exploring more about Golden show more Boughs and Mr. Revise in the future. I have already requested Volumes 2 and 3 of Jack’s adventures from my local library and I am looking forward to continuing with the fun. show less