Comics catch-up
Vol. 10 of Fables was rather weird for me, as it felt almost like a mini-end. Then Vol. 11 delivered another mini-end. Frankly, it's starting to feel like a very protracted, LotR-style end to the series, which isn't terribly appealing.
OK, the good stuff:
- I liked Cinderella getting more pages, as I think she's an awesome concept. There were bits about this I was less fond of, more on that below. But generally her inclusion made me happy.
- I liked the plan, and the concession to Fabletown bureaucracy that had Prince Charming manoeuvring to get King Cole as Mayor and Beauty as Deputy Mayor. Although, quibble - why wasn't Beauty mayor? If Prince Charming gets offed - which, given that they are at war, isn't outside of the realm of possibility - she'd have taken over. So why was she so clueless about everything? That said, Prince Charming is showing himself to be a pretty good war leader. Now that the war's over, though, does this mean that he's out of a job? Or will King Cole resign and let him take over again?
- Bigby. I could read Bigby sleeping for 19 pages and be pleased.
- the lack of Boy Blue/Rose Red. I'm not really a fan of happily ever after, and I liked how they just moved past that into the awkwardness stage. Also, bonus giggle points for Blue insisting that he shaves.
- the wooden family! And Junebug! I do like them.
- Frau Totenkinder remains awesome.
Stuff I was less pleased with:
- Cinderella still doesn't get that much character development. Currently, she's a Buffy-character, kept in the back pockets until she needs to explode and/or decapitate things. I want her doing more of the double-crossing, spying work she did on Ichabod Crane, and less of the kick-y punch-y stuff she's currently doing.
- Pinnochio just bores me.
- Beauty seems very whiney and rather ineffectual. What's her job entail again?
- THE WAR IS ENDLESS. THE ENDINGS OF THE WAR ARE ENDLESS. Seriously. I thought the war was gonna start ending from, like March of the Wooden Soldiers. There's only so many ways you can continue having big dramatic ending sat the end of every book.
Overall:
Plot-heavy, but rather character-light, this felt like a filler book to get everyone in the right place, and wrap up the war (again). I'm hoping that, without warfare and battle-plans to describe, there's more space for character development. In particular, I'd like some more stuff on the peripheral characters - Beauty, Briar Rose, Hansel, Kim, Frau Totenkinder and the other witches. I'd also want the wooden family followed-up, and some stuff on their integration into Fabletown. I really do like them.
*
Oh, Ennis. You really did write yourself into a bit of a corner, didn't you? You reached Vol 3 and realised you still haven't told us anything about the motivation for The Boys, but you obviously needed that information out there. So instead of being able to spread it across several issues, you squished it down into a narrative. And - I'm sorry to say it - it wasn't very good. There's only so much stuff you can do with a narration/voice-over, and with general, non-character-specific panels to work with, neither the art nor the text worked for me. It felt like reading a documentary with landscape pictures.
Moreover, the 7's origin seems too reminiscent of Supreme Power for me to really be shocked or that engaged with the idea. Yes, corporations start creating mutants, and calling them superheroes, and brand them and manipulate the public. (The plane story was nicely done - I did like that whole sequence.) BUT. Supreme Power worked on the same premise, and the characters were heaps more engaging because they weren't all shits. You have Annie, who's your sweet cornflower-blue-eyed girl, probably from a home with a white picket fence, and everyone around her is an evil bastard. Except for Hughie. Who is also apparently lovely. Isn't it sweet they're dating?
NO NO NO. Having ONE superhero not be a complete shit doesn't mean that it's more complex than everyone declaring all-out war. (And how do I love that the thing stopping them is enlightened self interest? Which makes The Boys different from the capes HOW, exactly?) Also, Homelander is apparently the one who raped the Butcher's wife. And the Butcher is OK with not beating his brains out? OK, it would be harder than your average hit, but the Butcher's not exactly incompetent. He's had time. He hasn't taken the shot. And it makes me wonder - why is that, exactly? (Because without hating the Homelander he doesn't have the motivation to go on? So wipe out all the rest first, save the Homelander 'til last?)
Anyway. Not very pleased with this instalment AT ALL, as you can probably tell. You need to up your game, Ennis!
*
And speaking of people phoning it in, I just read Buffy Season 8 Vol 3. Buffy's gay, now? Joss, seriously? And Willow's wandered how she is in bed? Why - and please come up with a reason other than 'Willow's gay' because I may have to kill you WITH MY HANDS. Willow has exhibited NO sexual awareness of Buffy AT ALL, AT ALL, JOSS, and that really irritated me. Because she should have been asking about how Satsu feels about Buffy, or warning her off, or being funny and thoughtful and witty, NOT - anyway. Minor rage.
Also, Xander's gay now? Or gay for Dracula, at least. I didn't miss the subtext, right? He spends a summer with Dracula (which apparently BUFFY'S OK WITH??) and calls Dracula 'master' and does everything he says in an effort to please him, and Dracula spruces up to be all attractive when Xander turns up, and Xander goes on and on about Dracula's attractiveness? *pant pant* OK, we had some of that during the show, but since when is Buffy ok with Xander going off to voluntarily be some vampire's sex slave for a few months? Plus, we've had a ridiculous amount of girl kissage on this show/comic already, and we have yet to see any boy kissage. You keep up with the insta!lesbianism and don't deliver any gay boys, Joss, and I'm gonna start wondering if you have weird gender issues and are covering them with a lesbianism kink.
I liked it that Satsu didn't bite the dust, I was worried she would. I thought the Japanese vampire goths were AWFUL. Dracula's rage was funny, and the moment he got all raged up about it the vampire goths stopped being a credible threat and started being Lestat wannabes. WAKE UP JOSS START WRITING BETTER KTHNXBYE.
Anyway, a couple of unanswered questions:
1. who was the weird bloke-in-a-mask who fought Buffy and then we didn't see his face?
2. is there going to be any character development not related to the nether regions that's going to happen soon? Seriously.
UNIMPRESSED.
*
Well, that was generally disappointing. :(
OK, the good stuff:
- I liked Cinderella getting more pages, as I think she's an awesome concept. There were bits about this I was less fond of, more on that below. But generally her inclusion made me happy.
- I liked the plan, and the concession to Fabletown bureaucracy that had Prince Charming manoeuvring to get King Cole as Mayor and Beauty as Deputy Mayor. Although, quibble - why wasn't Beauty mayor? If Prince Charming gets offed - which, given that they are at war, isn't outside of the realm of possibility - she'd have taken over. So why was she so clueless about everything? That said, Prince Charming is showing himself to be a pretty good war leader. Now that the war's over, though, does this mean that he's out of a job? Or will King Cole resign and let him take over again?
- Bigby. I could read Bigby sleeping for 19 pages and be pleased.
- the lack of Boy Blue/Rose Red. I'm not really a fan of happily ever after, and I liked how they just moved past that into the awkwardness stage. Also, bonus giggle points for Blue insisting that he shaves.
- the wooden family! And Junebug! I do like them.
- Frau Totenkinder remains awesome.
Stuff I was less pleased with:
- Cinderella still doesn't get that much character development. Currently, she's a Buffy-character, kept in the back pockets until she needs to explode and/or decapitate things. I want her doing more of the double-crossing, spying work she did on Ichabod Crane, and less of the kick-y punch-y stuff she's currently doing.
- Pinnochio just bores me.
- Beauty seems very whiney and rather ineffectual. What's her job entail again?
- THE WAR IS ENDLESS. THE ENDINGS OF THE WAR ARE ENDLESS. Seriously. I thought the war was gonna start ending from, like March of the Wooden Soldiers. There's only so many ways you can continue having big dramatic ending sat the end of every book.
Overall:
Plot-heavy, but rather character-light, this felt like a filler book to get everyone in the right place, and wrap up the war (again). I'm hoping that, without warfare and battle-plans to describe, there's more space for character development. In particular, I'd like some more stuff on the peripheral characters - Beauty, Briar Rose, Hansel, Kim, Frau Totenkinder and the other witches. I'd also want the wooden family followed-up, and some stuff on their integration into Fabletown. I really do like them.
*
Oh, Ennis. You really did write yourself into a bit of a corner, didn't you? You reached Vol 3 and realised you still haven't told us anything about the motivation for The Boys, but you obviously needed that information out there. So instead of being able to spread it across several issues, you squished it down into a narrative. And - I'm sorry to say it - it wasn't very good. There's only so much stuff you can do with a narration/voice-over, and with general, non-character-specific panels to work with, neither the art nor the text worked for me. It felt like reading a documentary with landscape pictures.
Moreover, the 7's origin seems too reminiscent of Supreme Power for me to really be shocked or that engaged with the idea. Yes, corporations start creating mutants, and calling them superheroes, and brand them and manipulate the public. (The plane story was nicely done - I did like that whole sequence.) BUT. Supreme Power worked on the same premise, and the characters were heaps more engaging because they weren't all shits. You have Annie, who's your sweet cornflower-blue-eyed girl, probably from a home with a white picket fence, and everyone around her is an evil bastard. Except for Hughie. Who is also apparently lovely. Isn't it sweet they're dating?
NO NO NO. Having ONE superhero not be a complete shit doesn't mean that it's more complex than everyone declaring all-out war. (And how do I love that the thing stopping them is enlightened self interest? Which makes The Boys different from the capes HOW, exactly?) Also, Homelander is apparently the one who raped the Butcher's wife. And the Butcher is OK with not beating his brains out? OK, it would be harder than your average hit, but the Butcher's not exactly incompetent. He's had time. He hasn't taken the shot. And it makes me wonder - why is that, exactly? (Because without hating the Homelander he doesn't have the motivation to go on? So wipe out all the rest first, save the Homelander 'til last?)
Anyway. Not very pleased with this instalment AT ALL, as you can probably tell. You need to up your game, Ennis!
*
And speaking of people phoning it in, I just read Buffy Season 8 Vol 3. Buffy's gay, now? Joss, seriously? And Willow's wandered how she is in bed? Why - and please come up with a reason other than 'Willow's gay' because I may have to kill you WITH MY HANDS. Willow has exhibited NO sexual awareness of Buffy AT ALL, AT ALL, JOSS, and that really irritated me. Because she should have been asking about how Satsu feels about Buffy, or warning her off, or being funny and thoughtful and witty, NOT - anyway. Minor rage.
Also, Xander's gay now? Or gay for Dracula, at least. I didn't miss the subtext, right? He spends a summer with Dracula (which apparently BUFFY'S OK WITH??) and calls Dracula 'master' and does everything he says in an effort to please him, and Dracula spruces up to be all attractive when Xander turns up, and Xander goes on and on about Dracula's attractiveness? *pant pant* OK, we had some of that during the show, but since when is Buffy ok with Xander going off to voluntarily be some vampire's sex slave for a few months? Plus, we've had a ridiculous amount of girl kissage on this show/comic already, and we have yet to see any boy kissage. You keep up with the insta!lesbianism and don't deliver any gay boys, Joss, and I'm gonna start wondering if you have weird gender issues and are covering them with a lesbianism kink.
I liked it that Satsu didn't bite the dust, I was worried she would. I thought the Japanese vampire goths were AWFUL. Dracula's rage was funny, and the moment he got all raged up about it the vampire goths stopped being a credible threat and started being Lestat wannabes. WAKE UP JOSS START WRITING BETTER KTHNXBYE.
Anyway, a couple of unanswered questions:
1. who was the weird bloke-in-a-mask who fought Buffy and then we didn't see his face?
2. is there going to be any character development not related to the nether regions that's going to happen soon? Seriously.
UNIMPRESSED.
*
Well, that was generally disappointing. :(