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

Tommy Sharp, I believe.

Finished the The Great Fables Crossover. Everything was tied up nicely, except for Rose Red, whose decline I find troubling. I wondered if she was the one person Jack really cared about, but he couldn't admit it so he moved on - but maybe that's just romanticizing Jack.

The Literals played an interesting role. I thought they were going to get their own book after this (and wondered how much story one can get out of genre jokes) but it looks like they're just going to exist in their own universe.

SDCC strip. Beware of omens: http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2009/07/sdcc-09-the-annual-fables-one-page-tale/

I wonder if the wolf kids are going to be adults by issue #200 - and if we'll see these prophecies developing while they're still young kids.

Did anyone else read the excerpt from the Peter and Max novel? It was an interesting set-up, although the style seemed aimed at a younger reading level. Maybe they're trying to bring in the Harry Potter set.

I think I'm about a month behind by now, but I just read the Dark Man / Boogeyman story, and I thought it was pretty damn kewl. I'm looking forward to the Baba Yaga one, though I must then add, that I thought it was great to get some history on her relationship with the Empire in tihs story as well, including what happened to her legendary house.

The idea of the Boxers is yet another awesome Willingham idea that reminds me yet again why Fables rocks my face off on a monthly basis. I really hope we see more of this, and suspect we will. I also like when the Empire is shown in different lights; it wasn't exactly 'heroic' here, but the various soldiers and boxers seen truly believed in what they were doing as something noble and I'm glad to see continued layers of depth added.

As for the "Dark Man" aka "the Boggleman", etc, I'm glad Willingham was able to flesh him out a little more and explain a bit better who he is. I immediately thought of Stephen King, since I was on a King kick in 2007 - 2008, and these are the kind of things King would deal with: something really is in the kid's closet or under his bed; the noises at night really are something dark and terrible. Its a really frightening concept but has to be managed carefully.

After the big Literals crossover, its also a welcome transition to some other settings / people.

Great stuff, as always. Still in my top 5 best comics out there, as it has been for years and years.

Fables is still one of my top comics, but I'm finding theWitches arc dragging a bit, possibly because it's mostly building up to a confrontation with The Dark Man.

See FC, I was less than enamoured with the Literals arc... though I was happy to see those plotlines wrapped up. I've been loving WITCHES... Bufkin(!) , Ozma, and especially Frau Totenkinder's spotlight in #88, touching on so many points of her story thus far... I think Bill W.'s going for a Dark Man climax with #100.

Is anyone reading Cinderella? I keep forgetting it, for some reason.

I bought it but haven't read it yet. Will review once I do. My CBS guy threw it in my pile, or I might have forgotten too. I'm glad he did though, she's one of those Fables I love to see but appreciate that she's not in every issue.

I read Cinderella #1 & 2. Well done; it was sufficiently stand alone, explaining who different characters are, what is going on in a broad sense with the rest of the Fables universe and how Cinderella fits in. So you wouldn't have to be a Fables reader to pick up this series, but I don't know why you would read it unless you were a Fables fan.

Cinderella has been a deep cover spy for Fabletown, for centuries. She's a cross between a female James Bond and Paris Hilton, with a cover as owner of a shoe store, but mostly devoted to jet set amusements. In this mini-series, she is tasked with finding out who is selling magical artifacts from the fallen Empire to the Mundies, and stopping this trade.

The comparison with the collapse of the Soviet Union is what easily springs to mind - the stories we heard about all sorts of nasty weaponry going onto the black market.

Appropriate to our current time, Cinderella travels to Dubai, the great money laundering site and a fantasy in its own right, to attend the auction of a magical artifact. She meets up with Alladin, who is on a similar mission and issue 2 ends with a great cliffhanger, or skyscraper-hanger.

Just caught up on #91 in which Gepetto makes a play for supreme power of Fabletown leading Ozma to do as well. Like just about every issue, its jam-packed with noticable events and characterization and is just a pure pleasure to read. When "Comic Book Review Month" is complete I'll likely post my top five best comics currently in the industry and like in all other years, Fables will be #1 on that list. Its hands-down the best comic out there.

Willingham writes Gepetto in a really incredible way. You could almost replace Gepetto with Hitler in scenes. He's just so incredibly wicked and awful, yet he's cunning and he's subtle in his every move. The set-up for a potential power-grab was well-done; Willingham is obviously well versed with how recent dictators and ancient ones rose to power.

I'm interested in the future adventure of Reynard the Fox. I've always liked the character and the latest developments seem to be leading to more story.

Another highlight was Bufkin's heroic takedown of Baba Yaga, which kind of surprised me in a way that left me feeling delighted. This little subplot seemed to be dragging on over a long series of issues and yet whenever we returned to it, I continued to be really interested in it. Willingham knows how to make readers care and root for the underdog in a big way (Blue, Flycatcher, now Bufkin). I thought the whole sequence was cheer-worthy.

BTW, does anyone find Pinnochio extremely annoying? Of all the Fables I probably find he and Beast to be the most annoying. On the other hand, one annoying character I find to be quite fun to read is the Badger rabble rouser.

I also read Cinderella #1 and #2 and agree with Nancy: a well-done, solid read and totally worth the purchase. Cinderella is incredibly likeable, the adventure is already a lot of fun with enough suspense and action to keep a strong dynamic going. Of call the Fables to have a spin-off mini right now, using Cindi is the one I'm glad they did.

I hadn't realized the obvious Soviet Union comparison and that makes it work even better. Really great stuff.

PS - my favorite Fable right now, since Blue is dead, is probably Frau Totenkinder. She might just be my current favorite character in comics.

Having nothing to do with the fact that she's now young and hot, eh?
But yeah, agreed... on all points. I've especially been loving the Bufkin storyline... From flinging poop (and WORSE!) to slinging a blade, who knew! I loves me some monkey action

One point-- I think the Fables *are* going to need Geppetto's intel on Mr. Dark; whether he helps them willingly or not, wellll...

P.S. ...non-sequitur of the day: Who thinks "Full-Frontal Dryads" would make a cool band name??

Well, I've enjoyed the latest two-parter quite a bit!

Fly has become a favorite, as I suspect many readers would feel about him, and I love seeing his kingdom every so often. It's also great to see it growing and evolving, even knowing that won't be easy and some hard decisions had to be made. I especially like seeing Fly act very kingly--he seems to naturally fit the role. And Willingham did such a good job using baseball to showcase the internal tensions among the populice.

Fly visiting Blue's grave was a nice, quiet moment that actually evoked some emotion in me.

As for the guest artist David Lapham, I've come to really enjoy his artwork in recent years (see my David Lapham is a genius post here). I liked that they didn't do the borders without Bucky; that's kind of his schtikt and it wouldn't feel right for the borders to be there without him.

Hey! I recently completed reading Vols. 2 & 3 of the Fables TPBs and wanted to thank all those who recommended the series to me about a year and a half ago when I created a poll to help me decide which TPBs I should but next. At that point I took the voters' advice and bought Vol. 1.

I held onto it for awhile and eventually read it. I definitely enjoyed that Volume. However, the "wow" factor wasn't really in play for me. It was entertaining, though, and I resolved to buy more trades when I got around to it. Eventually, I got Vol. 2 "Animal Farm" on eBay and held onto it and held onto it and held onto it. I think maybe it was a low priority because the first wasn't a complete slamdunk.

However, for some reason I bought Vol. 3 "Storybook Love" while in Orlando on vacation last week. I'd brought "Animal Farm" along with me as one of a few trades I might get around to reading. I brought lots, so I'd have a lot to choose from knowing I'd never read more than a couple. For some reason I was leaning toward Fables...maybe because of my proximity to the Magic Kingdom? So I bought Vol. 3 and that helped to solidify that I'd be reading Fables trades next.

Wow! Fables really gets a lot better after the opening story arc, doesn't it? I mean Vol. 1 is a charming (pun! ) introduction to the characters and situation with a little bit of a subversive mystery framing as a plot. But 2 & 3 really get into the characters and set the story into a real forward motion. Now, I'm all about the Snow White and Bigby Wolf after three volumes!

It was also kind of shocking how short-lived certain antagonists turned out to be. I really expected that to go on a lot longer, but they got really terrific send-offs in a great story.

I don't know if Mark Bucking ham's still around, but his work on Fables is some of the best I've ever seen him do. And Bill Willingham? I swear it's hard to believe he's the same writer who's helping to drive JSA into the ground! Stick to creator-owned stuff, Bill!

Anyhow, I can't wait to start experiencing the rest of the series through trades as I go along. I've a feeling I won't be taking to terribly long to get caught up!

Beware spoilers, though, they pop up everywhere! I think, for example, that I may have spoiled the mystery of the Adversary's identity simply by reading the solicitation info that refers to the Adversary as ________'s father. Anyone who knows ________, knows who the father is! I also made the mistake of browsing Cobalt's post previous to this one which spoils an upcoming death. Oh well, my fault for ignoring the thread's spoiler warning!

Anyhow, thanks again, LW Fables fans!

Jeepers, sorry for the spoiler, Lardy! Definitely beware of them.

Bucky is still around and absolutely better than EVER. His art and Bill's stories have continued to just get better over time.

I agree that volumes 2 and 3 really take things up a notch. The next few will keep that progression going.

How far does it go until the war against the Adversary is over? I'm pretty sure I read it has occurred, but I'm not entirely clear about when. I ask because that may influence exactly how far I want to go as far as buying trades before pausing for whatever happens afterward and proceeding further.

No worries--my own damn fault! And at least I don't know the whys, whens, etc. of it.

(Garsh! I feel kinda like STU and his Lost experience! )

Buckingham's still around every other arc, although his style's noticably mutated over the years.

[And I'm not sure Fables is creator-owned. Does anyone know for sure?]

#75.

Yeah, I may have misspoken. I assumed he did because of the "created by" blurb that appears in the credits box. I think Gaiman has, like, a limited ownership of Morpheus with DC, but it's incomplete because of DC's Sandman character and such. I don't see any reason why Bill wouldn't own Fables, but who knows? Maybe because the characters they're based on are public domain?

Hm. The indica in the trades gives the copyright to both Bill and DC. I'm not sure if that implies co-ownership or just that DC has the rights to publish. In any case it appears Bill isn't just doing work-for-hire.

Probably co-ownership in that case - which is kind of what I thought (similar to Gaiman & the Endless), but wasn't sure.

Just had to comment on what an incredibly awesome storyline "March of the Wooden Soldiers" was! I won't go into any spoilers, but it's hard to believe Fables could ever get any better than this! (but I feel confident it will!)

The next TPB "The Mean Seasons" was solid as well. Relatively quiet, but full of lots of fun developments, including a number of new, incredibly cute arrivals. I predicted the twist that came in the last chapter a few pages before the reveal. Heartbreaking! And can't wait to see what happens down the road.

I have two more to read "Homelands" and "Arabian Nights (and Days)" before I continue the collection.

One note about "March": The death of <span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Weyland</span></span> particularly saddened me. I liked him a lot in "Animal Farm" and thought he had a lot of potential. Not even sure what story he was from, actually.

I believe Weyland came from Norse mythology

Yeah, stew, you're right...curiosity overwhelmed me, and I looked him up on Wikipedia. Lots of characters I don't recognize but cool to discover more about them as the series goes on!