Fables, by Bill Willingham
A review of the entire series over its 13-year arc
DC/Vertigo, 2002-2015, 22 volumes (150 issues)
Fables is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series featured various other pencillers over the years, most notably Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha. Fables was launched in July 2002 and concluded in July 2015.
The series features various characters from fairy tales and folklore - referring to themselves as "Fables" - who formed a clandestine community centuries ago within New York City known as Fabletown, after their Homelands have been conquered by a mysterious and deadly enemy known as "The Adversary". It is set in the modern day and follows several of Fabletown's legal representatives, such as sheriff Bigby Wolf, deputy mayor Snow White, her sister Rose Red, Prince Charming, and Boy Blue, as they deal with troublesome Fables and try to solve conflicts in both Fabletown and "the Farm", a hidden town in upstate New York for Fables unable to blend in with human society.[1] The series also deals with such other matters as the main characters' personal lives, their attempts to hide the Fables' true nature from regular humans (or "Mundies"), and, later, the return of the Adversary.
Fables was a critical and commercial success, winning many Eisner Awards and receiving several Hugo Award nominations for Best Graphic Story. Its success led to several spin-offs and a 2013 prequel video game titled The Wolf Among Us.
I started reading Fables after the first trade paperbacks were published, and that is how I have always read them. It was actually published as a monthly series for 150 issues, over the course of 13 years, with several spin-off series.
I am, as usual, slow to finish series so though I've had the last few volumes for a while, I finally got around to finishing it off, five years after the series ended.
I've been a fan of Bill Willingham since his Elementals days. The Elementals was a 1980s series that was one of the better early examples of reimagining superheroes in a grittier, more realistic world. Before the Elementals, Willingham was an early D&D artist. He went on to write and illustrate the adult comic fantasy series Ironwood, which spawned an RPG which is actually really pretty good and one of the best fantasy settings for an RPG I have ever seen. And then, in 2002, he began Fables.
So join me as I reminisce over the course of 22 (!) trade paperback collections, a series that had long, epic arcs and occasional lulls before coming to an end that, I think I am not alone in thinking was not as satisfying as it could have been, but how many final episodes really satisfy fans?
Spoiler Warning: I am reviewing the entire series, so everything is a spoiler past this point.
An epic comic book series that at its heights, ascended to the realm of literature, and at its low points, was just another funny book.
My complete list of book reviews.
DC/Vertigo, 2002-2015, 22 volumes (150 issues)
Fables is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series featured various other pencillers over the years, most notably Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha. Fables was launched in July 2002 and concluded in July 2015.
The series features various characters from fairy tales and folklore - referring to themselves as "Fables" - who formed a clandestine community centuries ago within New York City known as Fabletown, after their Homelands have been conquered by a mysterious and deadly enemy known as "The Adversary". It is set in the modern day and follows several of Fabletown's legal representatives, such as sheriff Bigby Wolf, deputy mayor Snow White, her sister Rose Red, Prince Charming, and Boy Blue, as they deal with troublesome Fables and try to solve conflicts in both Fabletown and "the Farm", a hidden town in upstate New York for Fables unable to blend in with human society.[1] The series also deals with such other matters as the main characters' personal lives, their attempts to hide the Fables' true nature from regular humans (or "Mundies"), and, later, the return of the Adversary.
Fables was a critical and commercial success, winning many Eisner Awards and receiving several Hugo Award nominations for Best Graphic Story. Its success led to several spin-offs and a 2013 prequel video game titled The Wolf Among Us.
I started reading Fables after the first trade paperbacks were published, and that is how I have always read them. It was actually published as a monthly series for 150 issues, over the course of 13 years, with several spin-off series.
I am, as usual, slow to finish series so though I've had the last few volumes for a while, I finally got around to finishing it off, five years after the series ended.
I've been a fan of Bill Willingham since his Elementals days. The Elementals was a 1980s series that was one of the better early examples of reimagining superheroes in a grittier, more realistic world. Before the Elementals, Willingham was an early D&D artist. He went on to write and illustrate the adult comic fantasy series Ironwood, which spawned an RPG which is actually really pretty good and one of the best fantasy settings for an RPG I have ever seen. And then, in 2002, he began Fables.
So join me as I reminisce over the course of 22 (!) trade paperback collections, a series that had long, epic arcs and occasional lulls before coming to an end that, I think I am not alone in thinking was not as satisfying as it could have been, but how many final episodes really satisfy fans?
Spoiler Warning: I am reviewing the entire series, so everything is a spoiler past this point.
An epic comic book series that at its heights, ascended to the realm of literature, and at its low points, was just another funny book.
My complete list of book reviews.