Fables: Storybook Love

~written by Bill Willingham

Storybook Love is the third trade paperback in the Fables comic series, collecting issues eleven through eighteen. Unlike the first two collected volumes (Legends in Exile and Animal Farm) which only had on story-arc each, Storybook Love actually contains several. And while I already knew I liked the series, the third volume only helped to cement that fact.

The book begins with "Bag 'o Bones," a short, rather humorous one-issue story that follows some of Jack's exploits with Old Nick, women, and Death during the American Civil War. This is followed by a two-issue story appropriately titled "A Two-Part Caper" in which a human investigative reporter is getting too close to the truth about the fables and Fabletown. The animosity between Bluebeard and Bigby also begins to come to a head, which segues nicely into the volume's primary arc, "Storybook Love." Bluebeard is working closely with the renegade Goldilocks to not only remove Bigby from the picture, but Snow White as well. Partially as a result of this plot, the Big Bad Wolf and Snow must confront their feelings for one another while simply trying to survive the whole situation. The volume ends with "Barlycorn Brides," a separate one-issue story about a Lilliputian tradition as told by Bigby to Flycatcher.

A slightly different style of artwork is used for the last issue in the book. The style is quite fun and a little more "cartoony" than what is usually used for the series. I really like the slightly realistic style that is more commonly used for Fables, although some characters (especially Snow and Bigby) aren't as consistently portrayed within a story-arc as I would like to see. But other than those consistency issues, the artwork is really quite good and I enjoy it immensely.

Storybook Love is a terrific addition to the Fables series. Jack's story was great fun as was the Lilliputian tale. I was particularly glad to see the return of Bigby as a primary character (he was more or less a side-note in Animal Farm), even if he does like Snow more than me. While Storybook Love is longer than the first two volumes, it doesn't have any "extras" like Animal Farm and Legends in Exile did. Fables is a wonderful series so far--each collected volume builds off of and is even better than the last. If the trend continues, I suspect that the next trade collection, March of the Wooden Soldiers, will be fantastic.

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Fables: Animal Farm

~written by Bill Willingham

Animal Farm is the second trade paper collection of the comic series Fables, consisting of issues six through ten in addition to a little bit of bonus material. Like the first volume, Legends in Exile, the second volume serves somewhat as an introduction to the series except this time instead of focusing on the human legends living in Fabletown in New York City, the more or less non-human fables living at the Farm in upstate New York take prominence.

After the stunt pulled by Jack and Rose Red to fake her death, both are sentenced to community work. Jack gets put on the janitorial staff with the Flycatcher while Rose Red gets to spend some quality time with her older sister Snow White. Communications with the Farm have recently gone down, which is not an entirely uncommon occurrence. Snow, as the mayor of Fabletown's second in command, goes to investigate, bringing Rose and and a Farm escapee (Colin, one of the Three Little Pigs) along with her. The estranged sisters arrive to find a revolution underway, and unfortunately have stumbled into the middle of the Farm's plans.

In addition to the rather obvious allusion to George Orwell's Animal Farm, William Golding's Lord of the Flies also has a strong presence. One of the things I love most about Fables is that the characters aren't limited to traditional fairytales, but that more contemporary stories are included as well. In Animal Farm appearances are made by characters from The Jungle Books, "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," and the Br'er Rabbit stories, just to mention a few.

I particularly enjoy the semi-realistic illustrations used in Fables.While not always the most consistent in the portrayal of the various characters, overall the artwork is steady and quite good. The panels are completely in color and are nicely executed. Definitely one of the better illustrated comics out there in my opinion; I really like the style.

I thought the story-arc of Animal Farm ended up being much stronger than Legends in Exile, but both volumes are tremendous fun. My favorite character from the first volume, Bigby only has a cursory role (understandably, not many at the Farm want the Big Bad Wolf around), but I am beginning to develop a bit of a crush on Rose Red as well. Animal Farm provides further details into how the "real world" interacts with that of the fables'. Also included in this volume is a nice collection of concept drawings, covers, and cover sketches. I am really enjoying how this series is developing and look forward to reading the next collected volume, Storybook Love.

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Fables: Legends in Exile

~written by Bill Willingham

Fables is one of the many comic series that has been calling to me for quite some time, and yet I have managed to put off reading them for just as long. Not only does Fables catch my eye every time I'm in the comic shop, it also came highly recommended to me by several people whose opinions I trust. So, when I discovered that the local branch of my public library has the series, I snatched up the first volume, Legends in Exile, which collects issues one through five in addition to a previously unpublished short story.

I absolutely love the premise behind Fables, which is of course introduced in Legends in Exile. Actually, the title gives a pretty good indication of it. Characters of legend, fables, myths, and fairy tales from all of the world have fled to New York, pursued by an entity known only as the Adversary who has taken over their wealth, properties, and homelands. Those that are human seeming live in disguise in New York City with Old King Cole as the Mayor, Snow White as his second in command, and a complete cast of others keeping the refugees together in some semblance of a community known as Fabletown, while their inhuman counterparts remain on a large farm in upstate New York.

Beyond the general introduction to the story so far, there is a murder mystery to be solved by the Fabletown sheriff Bigby Wolf (aka Big Bad Wolf, among other things). Snow White's sister Rose Red has gone missing--her apartment is in shambles and blood is everywhere. Bigby has plenty of suspects, from Rose's on-again off-again boyfriend Jack (of beanstalk and giant-killing infamy), to her lover Bluebeard (yes, that Bluebeard), and even Snow White herself. Overall, the mystery plot-line wasn't that great, but I loved the interactions between characters from completely different stories. Bigby was a personal favorite.

The short story wasn't anything spectacular either, but it was enjoyable. It gives more background for several of the characters, particularly that of the Wolf. None of the characters are explicitly identified, but it's fairly obvious which characters are implied. The story was a lovely addition to the volume and lent a bit more substance to it as a whole.

The artwork is very well done and very consistent (inconsistency is a pet peeve of mine). Completely in color, and generally realistic--these are fairy tales we're talking about--it was a delight to look at. As already mentioned, I love the concept behind Fables. Even though the first volume wasn't a particularly strong introduction to the series, there were enough highlights that I'm definitely going to have to pick up the next volume, Animal Farm.

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