Fables, Vol. 05: The Mean Seasons

Summary: Volume five opens with a short piece concerning Cinderella and her true allegiances, followed by a slightly longer war story focusing on Bigby during World War II - as a group of soldiers infiltrate a German castle where the Nazis are planning something sinister - and supernatural. The main arc, "The Mean Seasons", opens on a pivotal day in Fabletown: Snow White's in labor, and the citizens are voting for their new mayor. When Prince Charming wins the election, and Snow White's babies turn out to be slightly less than normal, it's clear big changes are in store. Charming must get used to administration quickly, and as he proves less-than-adept for the job, the Fable community starts to fall apart. Meanwhile, Snow White must show more move to the Farm to raise her children - the one place Bigby, their father, is never allowed to go.

Review: Dudes! Comic books are *not* supposed to make me cry! Well, I didn't cry, exactly, but it did seem to get oddly dusty and allergenic in my house while I was reading (....twice.) This is a lot more personal of a story than most of the previous volumes, focusing more on individual characters (I love the portrayal of Cinderella as a ditzy, bitchy blonde) and less on the ongoing story of the Adversary, although those pieces are still moving in the background. Willingham keeps adding elements to the story while continuing to juggle past additions successfully, moving each bit forward with a panel here, a line of dialogue there. I loved the directions the story took in this one, and it's an incredible testament to the power of the writing and the story that I care enough about the characters to actually get misty on their behalf. In a comic book!

Recommendation: Very, very good - this series really does just keep getting better. show less

The plot thickens! The Mean Seasons isn't just one story-line, there are several side stories, back stories and different threads that pick up where volume four left off. Snow White is in labor (is there more than one baby in there?!?), the mayoral election between king Cole and Prince Charming is getting heated, and where in the hell has Little Boy Blue run off to this time? I particularly like the World War II backstory of Bigby; it's like a movie! Monsters and Nazis, oh my! Another amazing volume, this series is money in the bank!

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 show more 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. show less

The stories in this volume follow the dramatic battle from the previous collection, and are appropriately more calm after prior tumultuous events, giving the story breathing room and tying up several loose plot threads that were introduced earlier. For instance, the aftermath of the romance between Snow White and Bigby, as she delivers a litter of children that are half cub, half human. We also get a back story about Bigby's time during World War II, and another small story that reveals Cinderella uses that pretty face for more than flirting. The volume ends with a mystery that has a sad conclusion, leaving us a bit of a cliffhanger for the next collection in the series.

I continue to enjoy this graphic novel series. As it progresses, show more the characters gather more depth and history, and move away from being just novel retellings of fairy tales to being interesting people on their own terms. Willingham has done a fantastic job of layering this world with history and mythology, drawing upon the fairy tale sources and then adding so much more to this basic framework. Even as he builds up his own fascinating world, he often introduces a new variant of old fairy tales here or there, to the gratification of us lovers of fairy tale retellings.

I have become very fond of the central characters in the series, in particular Snow White and BIgby and Rose Red. It is always fun, though, to meet a new fairy character or to see revelations about minor characters. There is enough in the plot, the novelty, and the characterization to keep me interested in this series for a long time to come. show less

I'm in a Fables page turner phase.

Didn't really care much for Bigby war story, but Snow's babies are so cute.
I have the felling they are going to play havoc with the rest of the Fables.

I'm a sucker for star-crossed love stories, and the love story between Bigby and Snow is so sweet (and kind of twisted, or maybe just a twist on love stories), that has me grin every time.

And GO BOY BLUE, to the rescue!

My favorite number so far. A lot of people don't like the side story about WWII but I thought it was a fine Wolfman vs. Frankenstein send up. The main story ends with a nice little mystery that in hindsight was hinted at ever since the grandfather North arrived. The Cindy lead story ends up tying up some loose ends that lead into the main story line.

Meanwhile the election for mayor is held and Snow delivers. But where is Little Boy Blue?

I don't remember exactly what happened in Volume 4, as I read it several years ago, but The Mean Seasons starts out with Prince Charming running against the incumbent King Cole for Mayor of Fabletown, and Snow White is pregnant with Bigby Wolf's baby, or something.

When I first started reading these graphic novels, fairytale retellings weren't so common, but now they're HUGE. Fables still stands up as one of the best, though. The interpretations are interesting and feel original, and the artwork, of course, is to die for.