by Bill Willingham #23This is the fifth trade paperback collection of the Fables comic by Bill Willingham. I enjoy this series so much! The premise is that fairy tale characters are real and have been driven from their homelands by "The Adversary." They now live in exile in Manhattan and upstate New York. (The characters who cannot pass as human live on "the Farm") They have a government -- King Cole is the mayor, Snow White is the deputy mayor, Bigby Wolf is the sheriff, Rose Red (Snow's little sister) runs the farm, and so on. Prince Charming is an idiot himbo who has constant woman trouble (three x-wives -- Snow, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella), and the other troubles that being an idiot himbo will bring. In this particular volume, we get to see the results of his foray into politics. (I promise you he is more entertaining than the real idiot himbos we are forced to observe modern American politics.)
One of the things I like about this series is that it recognizes the inherent darkness in the old fairy tales. There are continuing story lines dealing with The Adversary and the politics and interpersonal intrigues of Fabletown, but Willingham will also digress into backstory and take side-trips to lesser-known aspects of well-known characters. This particular collection is mostly about the mayoral race, Snow giving birth, and a story about Bigby and WWII. (It works, I promise!) If this sounds interesting at all, I would definitely recommend starting with the first in the collection Fables Vol.1: Legends in Exile.
After reading this, I decided to reserve all of these from the library and I am happy to say that 4 are in transit, and one of them is number 1 so I will indeed go in order. I love the library very big.
ReplyDeletewoo hoo! I think you'll like them. I've only read through this one, so you'd better not tell me what happens. (I suppose I could put the latest one on hold too...)
ReplyDeleteI also love the library very big.
They ARE fun! They're among the ones Carlton loaned me a while back, which reminds me that I should probably return them (or hold them hostage until I get my 3 volumes of Lemony Snicket back...though I'm already holding some DVD's of his hostage for that purpose).
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of hostages, remember the time you left your Supergrover in the car and we sent you a ransom note from newspaper cutouts? I don't know why that just popped into my head, but it made me laugh, so I feel compelled to share. As hostage takers go, I am pretty generous, I believe I offered credit upon approval.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time to acknowledge that those Lemony Snicket books just aren't coming back.
ReplyDeleteI do remember the hostage note! I still have it somewhere -- I came across it during the Great Purge. And yes, there was an O.A.C. notice at the bottom!
I just finished the first Fables and I thought it was fun. A rollicking good time was had by all.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteEpisode 2 is now waiting for pick up at the library so that is exciting, as is episode 5, which I will not be reading until 3 and 4 have been delivered, which should be soon as I have the 1st hold on both...yippee for summer reading and learning that maybe fairy tales can come true, even if it is in unexpected ways.
ReplyDeletefairy tales coming true in unexpected ways makes me think of being baked in an oven by a witch or similar. You know what you might also like? Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link! Or her other book Stranger Things Happen. They're short stories, but she works with a lot of fairy tale stuff in very interesting and unexpected (I thought) ways.
ReplyDeletelet me know how you're liking the additional fables comics as you read them!
So, I have yet to start the 2nd one but it looks amazing. I like the plot, that was on the back, but I also made the mistake of reading the back of Fable 5...I didn't know that it would tell me so much, you know? But they are awesome. You are the bestest.
ReplyDeleteSo, I was able to reserve those Kelly Link books you suggested. I loves the library.
ReplyDeleteooh, yeah -- don't read the backs! I'm glad you put the Kelly Link books on hold! If you don't have time to read all of the stories, I can tell you which ones were my favorites. (although they are all good!)
ReplyDelete