Fables, Vol. 01: Legends in Exile

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 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, show more 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

Fables: Legends in Exile #1 collects the first five issues of Bill Willingham's Vertigo comic.

The high concept is a wonderful conceit--what if fairy tale characters, ranging from Snow White to Bluebeard, all lived, in secret, in New York City (and upstate New York in the case of the animals). Trying to avoid revealing their nature to the populace, they are a small community unto their own, and yet, unmistakably, expatriates in the Greatest City on Earth.

And what happens when one of these (implied) immortal characters is brutally killed, and the evidence points not to an ordinary New Yorker, but one of Fabletown's own denizens?

With this idea, great drawing and writing,and plenty of visual eye candy, Fables is an example of a good show more graphic novel which uses the full strengths of the form. Certainly one could have told this story in a straight novel format, but this is a case where seeing is believing. Snow White as a deputy Mayor. The Big Bad Wolf as a detective. Prince Charming as a schemer using his looks and charm to make his way in the world. These characters have pasts rooted in their fairy tales as well as previous relations between them in the expat community. We get the feeling that the characters have always been there, hidden, in New York. There is a continuity to their existence.

And much more awaits the reader. It all works so very well, and the murder puzzle is a fair one.

I look forward to at some point getting additional graphic novels of the series (something I need to do with a couple of others, like Sandman...). In the meantime, if you have any interest in fairy tale characters and in graphic novels (or love the former and want to try the latter), this is a graphic novel which is a painless way to try and enjoy the form. If you love Urban Fantasy, this volume is a must.

The only downside is that only 5 issues of the comic were collected in the volume. I read this almost *too* quickly.

Highly Recommended. show less

This isn’t my first rodeo with reimagined fairytales (in fact I’ve read almost too many of them), but Willingham’s Fables is an instant classic. Introducing the story of a group of characters based on those from legends and lore from around the world through the tried and true trope of a murder mystery quietly sets the tone for exploring an intricately developed world (set of worlds, actually) and a unique cast of characters. Leading the pack are Bigby Wolf (the Big Bad Wolf, now turned sheriff of the Fabletown community), Snow White (former princess, and deputy Mayor), and Rose Red (Snow’s sister, and unfortunate murder victim), but we are also introduced briefly to a bevy of characters who will all stick around to play their show more part in the further issues of the comic. Rose Red’s murder is, in true style, not actually a murder, but a double-fake meant to get her out of trouble - cementing her character as a ne’er-do-well opposite to her mayoral sister, and prefacing many conflicts to come over the course of the Fabletown epic. Behind the surface plot, Willingham carefully sketches the background of the story, explaining why the Fables are now in exile in the human world and painting a larger story that will wind up being a 20+ graphic novel series. For a first time reader the intricacies of the story and setting are almost too much if you’re not used to this kind of epic, but it is these complexities that make this story remain a classic and well-worth multiple readings. Who are we going to spot in issue one in brief, who will later end up a hero in the war against the Adversary? I already know, but I can’t wait to find out all over again! show less

The bloody disappearance of Rose Red results in a private investigation into erstwhile boyfriend Jack (without his beanstalk), local magnate Bluebeard and Deputy Mayor Snow White (working to Mayor King Cole) while feckless con-man Prince Charming and a squabbling Beauty and her Beast provide us with the sub-plots.

This is utterly implausible, sometimes obvious and contains every 'noir' cliche in the book, as well a highly self-conscious post-modern pitch at the revelatory 'parlour scene' that we know and love from nearly every Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple on the shelves - only this time it is Big Bad Wolf who is the City detective.

But it is also a highly imaginative transposition of old European stories and legends into a new world show more urban fantasy environment. It is witty and stylish and it earns its five stars despite the comic book's graphic design being thoroughly conventional.

Why ruin the fun by telling you what happens but if you get a copy, don't overlook the text prequel to the story at the end of the book. A trifle over written perhaps and riddled with the dark fantasy cliches of violence and redemption, it is the story of a wolf who becomes a man for love and is oddly affecting. This Big Bad Wolf is Twilight out of Chandler and none the worse for that. Enjoy! show less

The premise of this graphic novel is that a mysterious force has overridden those strange lands we’ve all read about in fables, with the result that many of the characters we know from those tales have come into our own world to seek refuge. What’s interesting here is that many of the characters play out their same basic dramas in a contemporary setting. Of course, this causes many of these characters to be seen in a different light. Take Prince Charming, for example. With three wives from the storybooks (you didn’t really think they were different prince charmings, did you?), he could be seen as a bit commitment-challenged. In this book we get glimpses of the prince charming his way into mortal women’s beds and also their show more pocketbooks. Writer Bill Willingham knows his stuff, and the end result is a thoroughly engrossing series that will have readers rethinking stories they haven’t visited in years. show less

It's been ages since I've read this series and I've been itching to get back to it, especially since I never finished reading them all! Legends in Exile opens up the series and sets the stage for the setting and many of the characters. In a vast, distant, and unreachable land there lived the legends of fairy tales and myths; Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, King Cole, The Big Bad Wolf, and thousands of others. When their land comes under attack they take refuge in our human world, hiding in plain site or out in the country if they can't keep their true forms hidden. When Snow White's sister Rose Red is presumed dead or missing, she gets the help of Wolf to get to the bottom of the mystery. Jack and Bluebeard come under serious show more scrutiny, but something is fishy about the whole affair. Fun and wonderfully drawn. A joy to get back to! show less

What if various fairy tale characters -- like Cinderella, or the Big Bad Wolf, or the creepy Bluebeard -- were actually living in hiding in modern day New York? The world building and feeling of immersion here is excellent. The plot is also quite good. The dialogue, though... Characters frequently suffer from "I'm only saying this so you can say something snappy or expository in retort" syndrome, the banter even beyond that is often clunky and forced, and (though this is a much smaller issue than the first two) the author's political views shine through a tiny bit too clearly -- I am a firm believer in divorcing author from work, but that's under the assumption the author will not actively try to place his opinions in every character's show more mindset.

I've many years previously read almost all of Fables, possibly all of it entirely, I can't recall (which is in itself a bit damning). My hazy memory of it is that it has some great notions and plot turns here and there, but overall, it gets steadily weaker, rarely again capturing the experience of this first volume. Sometimes it did. But not often enough for me to have a real desire to re-read the whole of it. This first volume, though, with its murder mystery core and its clear delight in showing us this world for the first time, this works as a standalone story, and I find it is well worth rereading, even with the sometimes groan-worthy dialogue. I'm not likely ever to get around to buying and rereading the rest of "Fables", but this first volume, I can easily see myself enjoying revising once a decade or so. Which is pretty high praise, when you think of how many comics I own. show less