Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities FABLES (Spoilers Possible For the TPB Folks)

Yeah. I remember when Snow started that "tradition" at the end of The Mean Seasons arc... nice to see JJ include it on the cover.
And if anything, I think Fables is better than ever. The storylines are so strong on so many fronts... Bigby & Rose and the kids, Prince Charming and Fabletown, Rose Red and Blue, Flycatcher's quest, the Empire... and Willingham's juggling all of this better than Claremont in his prime on the X-Men, IMO. This book is my first-read every month.

I added a couple more of the FABLES trades to my collection-- #7, Arabian Nights (and Days), and #9, Sons of Empire. I would've gotten Wolves as well, but I was just rounding out my IST order to qualify for free shipping, and Volume 8 seemed kind of skimpy on actual issues collected-- issues 48-51. I know #50 was oversized, but 4 issues plus Willingham's script for 50 didn't seem worth the same as Sons of Empire, discount or not. I'll get it eventually, just to have them all.

But I'm glad I got the Arabian Nights volume. I remember being underwhelmed reading these in the monthly format, but found it much more enjoyable a read collected.

Re: FABLES #66, Pt. 6 of The Good Prince--

EEEeeeew.

Shere Khan and Bluebeard....just...

EEEEEEEEEeeeeew....

Whoa.
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The end of #67, with Fly letting loose the rescued spirits as a ghostly army against the hordes of Empire, had me eagerly awaiting #68. It did not disappoint. Fly defeats numerous armies, all without bloodshed. Then Gepetto recalls all his "sons" to form a Golden Horde, which Fly chooses to face on his own...

Who knew Fly would be so interesting and inspiring? Haven't seen 68 yet but I've really enjoyed his quest so far. No wonder the other Fables are glued to their viewer to follow his adventures.

I agree. I'm as entertained as ever before by Fly's story. Pure excellence. And its Fly himself that I'm enjoying most.

Again. I just got through reading #69, the finale to "The Good Prince" arc... Did Fly or did he not basically castrate Gepetto??? He definitely leveled the field for the exiled fables, singlehandedly. This arc has been as good as the book's ever been. And--

QFT!

Can't wait to see where this book goes next.

Still enjoying Fables, with the war against the Empire underway.

I've lost interest in Jack of Fables, though. It was sort of a funny one-trick pony for a while, but the last two issues I've found to be barely readable. It's on the cutting board to make way for Batman R.I.P. and Guardians of the Galaxy. Cut one, add two - I need some Fables magic for my comics budget.

FC

I agree, I think Jack of Fables is starting to drift and i am struggling to remember what happened from one issue to the next. And that little blue bull is Really Really starting to get on my nerves.

But Fables itself is consistently one of the best reads I get. In some respects I hope the Empire actually wins a few. It’s nice to have them as a power in the background always ready to start another war or something. If Fabletown wins the war and once and for all defeats the Empire then I think that would unbalance the book.

Yes, that blue bull is extremely tiresome. It worked as an on-going gag for Snoopy as WWI flying ace in the Peanuts strip, but falls flat here.

"I read Charles Schulz.

I grew up with Charles Schulz.

And you, Mr. Willingham, are no Charles Schulz."

-Sorry, US political-based humor. But at least I resisted going lowbrow about Paul having "blue bulls"

Almost.

Agreed on Jack Of Fables actually. It started very, very well and has still had some very good stories but the last few issues have just felt like they're treading water. They're neither the standalone fun past-times stories nor apparently part of a larger caper story like the earlier issues. It's like they don't quite know what to do with the characters or the story.

On the other hand Fables is absolutely kick-arse in so many ways. The plotting is so tight that it's a pleasure to read and realise that little bits that happened a few issues ago are actually hugely important. Trying to work out the way the war is going to go is a pleasure, especially since the way the book has been so far there's no guarantee that the good Fables will win and no character is really safe. I loved the issues with Cinderella and her James Bond antics (especially the line at the end of the second issue where she lets Hansel know the war started hours ago) and the war itself is shaping up to be a proper good yarn.

I think Fables actually works better than Jack Of Fables because the cast is much bigger but Willingham gives the characters so much believability (within the context of the story obviously). It doesn't feel like there are supporting characters that are little mroe than cyphers and because of the way characters in the past have developed in importance (Blue and Fly being the best examples) anyone could come to prominence at any time. And yet it doesn't feel like the main characters suffer because of that.

The Empire is taking quite a beating in the war but I'm expecting them to rally somehow. What would complete victory for the Fables mean? No bad guys would be left for the series except for old Jack - unless the Fables started seriously squabbling among themselves.

Yeah, doubt the Empire is going to be taken out as easily as it appears to have been so far. The Fables plan does seem to be working almost perfectly and to have taken out some of the big guns already does make it look like they might have a slightly easy ride. The way Willingham writes though it's almost certainly not going to be all that it appears. No character is really likely to be safe but I can't see where the fight back is going to come from at the moment.

For me, one of the joys of FABLES are the characters that sound like we should know them. Trusty John, for example.

Then there are the characters we do know that are used in delightfully strange ways, such as when we were told who Fly really was.

Brilliant writing. Absolutely brilliant. Not quite up to SANDMAN levels, but not too far off.

Ass-kicking Cindy! Yes.

I'm rather fond of Babe, the not-so-big Blue Ox.

He'll grow on you, apparently...

I keep rereading #'s 73 and 74, looking for possible hints at how the Empire might get back on the board.

But with <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Geppetto practically fetal in mourning the loss of the "Golden Horde" of his wooden armies and the sacred grove, the Snow Queen asleep and the Emperor trapped alongside her in the vine-overrun capital city thanks to Sleeping Beauty's curse, </span></span> who's left for the Empire? Baba Yaga in the Mundy? She's been left relatively unsupervised in the Fabletown holding cell. Bluebeard and Shere Khan were with the sorcerers in the capital... would Beauty's spell affect ghosts? Who was the last dragon the Emperor held back from the attack on the Arabian skyship bombing the portals?

The end of 74 promises something bad in 75... I'm on pins and needles...

I too, have no idea, but you can't help but feel its going to be bad, given how well things are going for the Fables. This series has aged like a fine wine, hasn't it?

I just really hope my favorite, Blue, makes it out unscathed.

Well, he narrated issue 74, and was speaking in the past tense about the "horrors of the next day" at the end there... I think he's safe?

I dunno, it's not unlike Willingham to sacrafice a major character for a good story. Plus unlike Snow he's probably not got the same level of healing abalitiy as one of the really major Fables so I wouldn't assume anything. But then I'd say that about pretty much all the characters with the exception of Jack (if he ever crosses back over into the main title) what with him having a solo title and all.

Good point on Blue's mortality. I was rereading my trades, and I'd forgotten the injury to his hands from Baba Yaga during The March of the Wooden Soldiers arc... he needed several surgeries from Dr. Swineheart to recover full use of them.

Unlike Snow being shot in the head, or Goldilocks taking a hatchet to hers, falling down a cliffside, being hit by a tractor trailer truck AND knocked into a lake.

Snow did need major surgery to recover from being shot.

I don't know the details of Goldy's recovery - maybe Revise has a good surgery team? I don't think it was mentioned in JoF, was it?

I know Revise pulled her out of the water... have to go check the first JoF trade for more.

She -was- healing on her own, but was stuck in a state of perpetual drowning, too weak to surface as the river eventually fed into the Pacific. The healing was taxed by fish feeding on her, until she was finally rescued by Revise. Yuck.