Remember when you (or perhaps a parent/older sibling) used to read the classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes about Snow White, Cinderella, the Three Little Pigs and Old King Cole (to name a few)? When you finished their stories, did you ever wonder what happened to them? Well, “Fables” dares to answer that question.
If you were expecting more of the same style of stories that you grew up with, you couldn’t be more wrong! Gone are the innocent princesses and chivalrous knights of the fairy tales. The characters of “Fables” are centuries older (though physically, most haven’t aged a day since their tales ended) and living in modern day New York City. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself.
“Fables” begins, not with a recapping of the characters’ histories, but with a murder mystery in which the victim is Snow White’s sister: Rose Red. But I hear you asking “How did they go from ‘happily ever after’ to living in New York?” Well you have to wait until half way through the first story arc before they tell you. (Personally, I loved the fact that they made you wait for it. It’s a great way to hook readers in.) For those that don’t want to read the first several issues, here’s the short version: Ages ago, the heroes, villains, princesses, kings, and farmers from the classic tales all used to live in different worlds (separate from our own). But an entity known as “The Adversary” took over their lands. Many fought. Many lost. The remaining characters fled and eventually ended up on our “mundane” world. They have lived here for hundreds of years, hiding from the Adversary and blending into our cultures. Old grudges were set aside and people who were once enemies are now allies. Currently, the human-looking fables (as they call themselves) live in a high-rise apartment on Manhattan Island (others, such as Shere Khan, dragons, the three bears and other animal fables live on a farm in upstate New York). And they all hope, one day, to return to their homelands.
The Big Bad Wolf (from Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs) has reformed and developed a human form and now acts as Sheriff (yes, you read that right). Imagine a cross between John Wayne in “The Quiet Man” and Bruce Willis in “Sin City” with a mild case of lycanthropy and that’s Bigby (as he’s now known). A hard drinking, smoking detective with the most powerful breath this side of Metropolis.
Snow White is a beautiful but cold, bitchy woman who acts as Deputy Mayor (but essentially runs things by herself) of Fabletown (the name of their community). And who can blame her for being that way? After her husband (Prince Charming) cheated on her with her own sister, she’s justified in her bitterness.
Speaking of her ex husband, Prince Charming is still charming women, but he’s never settled down. Every princess from the fairy tales that he married has divorced him for one reason or another (usually because he cheated on them). And that includes Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, to name a few.
Old King Cole is still the merry old soul from the rhyme as well as being the Mayor of Fabletown, but leaves the day to day running of Fabletown to Snow White.
Beauty and the Beast are still married, but they’ve got hundreds of years of marital tension to deal with. Those counseling sessions can’t be fun.
Pinocchio is a real boy…still. And he’s not happy about that. He’s got issues with the blue fairy for not letting him get ANY older. But he enjoys hanging out with his two best friends: Little Boy Blue and the Frog Prince.
Mowgli (from the Jungle Book) is a field agent working for Bigby. He keeps track of fables that are out in the world and lets Bigby know what they’re up to.
And the Jack of Tales (Jack & the Beanstalk, Jack be Nimble, etc.) is a bit of a troublemaker. But not always on purpose. He just gets too clever for his own good sometimes.
The list goes on (and on). Different fables are brought in depending on the stories that writer Bill Willingham wants to tell. And the stories are as diverse as the characters. So far, we’ve had a murder mystery, a Civil War era tale of tomfoolery, a WWII story, a romance/chase story, an invasion/war story, a political/election tale, a quest adventure, a Hollywood drama, and they’re currently (as of issue #43) half-way through a stranger-in-a-strange-land/culture clash tale featuring the Arabic fables (who have just recently joined the cast).
Now for those of you who want to pick up this comic but aren’t interested in hunting down all the back issues, every story-arc (up through about issue #33) has been collected into trade paperback format (five volumes, thus far) and more will be coming soon.
But, I must caution you. This series is absolutely NOT FOR KIDS. It features nudity, sexual/frank discussions, adult situations, swearing, alcohol, smoking, and violence. It’s comparable to an R rated film. So when you see the “mature readers” warning, know that this title earned it. (If you’re looking for a good comic for kids, I recommend Justice League Unlimited or Teen Titans Go!) However, just because it’s not for younger readers, doesn’t mean that it’s a bad comic. On the contrary, that very aspect gives it much more freedom to tell the tales that Willingham wants to write without fretting about what the editors will say or what they will want to cut out.
The art quality for this series varies from solid to beautiful (depending on the artist). Mark Buckingham, the primary penciller has a good style and conveys the story perfectly (but I have issues with the way he makes some characters look). However, I prefer Lan Medina’s style. He has a way of making the characters look beautiful as well as telling the story wonderfully. The only problem with Medina is that his art style isn’t featured as frequently as I’d like.
And the stories are great! While Willingham may be telling different stories with different characters, he has a definite idea for where he wants to go with this title and he proceeds to take you on the journey. Each story, while it will be about whatever it is, will at least feature a small mention of something that may end up becoming a story of its own or, at the very least, is important to the overarching “Adversary” story. And each individual tale is well crafted. There hasn’t been a “bad” arc in the entire run.
If this even sounds remotely appealing to you, I urge you to pick up a trade (or individual issue) and thumb through it. Everyone that I’ve spoken with who has picked this title up has really enjoyed it. I can’t say: “if you’re a fan of ‘blank’, check this out”, because it’s practically impossible to categorize this comic. It doesn’t fit into any classification easily. It’s not a comedy comic, but it has humor. It’s not an action comic, but it has action. It’s not a soap opera, but it has elements of one. Put simply: check this comic out (as long as you’re old enough), it’s one of the best titles (book or comic) in print.
And for those that do follow my recommendation, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think if the title.
