Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Lan Medina
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| via Amazon |
For those unfamiliar with the story, fairy tale characters, led by Bigby (The Big Bad) Wolf and Snow White, inhabit a New York City subculture known as Fabletown. They were driven out of their Homelands by The Adversary and are now doing their best to make a go of it in the mundane world. Legends in Exile (issues #1-5) is a murder mystery. Jack of beanstalk fame runs into Bigby's police detective office to report that his girlfriend, Red Rose, has gone missing, her apartment drenched in blood.
At first, I was resistant once again. The setup felt a lot like Watchmen - a member of the team is killed, apparently by one of their own. One sees this plot structure over and over again in comic books, everyone imitating the Alan Moore masterpiece. But the story plays out differently, more along the lines of a classic mystery tale. I guess I prefer my cliches on the older side.
I can't deny that I'm a sucker for the trappings. Just as with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I'm inspired to go back to the source material in order to better appreciate the characters. Just as the narrative keeps me interested, I'm ever eager to see who from folklore will pop up next. The comic book series is coming to an end soon. #150 will be the final issue, set to publish in 2015.
A fun series I've never read. A few years ago they tried to make a series out of it, but it didn't take. Considering the popularity of "Grimm" and "Once Upon a Time" it could work.
ReplyDeleteApparently ABC was keen on the idea before someone hatched Once Upon a Time. Worked out well for the network - similar idea using public domain characters, no need to pay anyone royalties.
DeleteSounds pretty interesting! There's certainly a lot going on with that cover...
ReplyDeleteThe artwork is a little on the busy side but not enough to detract from the story.
DeleteSounds pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe cover has a great design as well.
The cover of my edition is different: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/9116/2347555-fable_new_edition_cover.jpg
DeleteI have the first few issue of it, but it didn't grab me. Still, I'm glad I have them as they've gone up in value quite a bit.
ReplyDeletePart of Mock's affection has to do with the fact that he has every issue - a series he's stuck with from Day One.
DeleteI am a fan of comics and graphic novels. I also love fairy tales- so this set of comic books is something I will check out. Thanks for sharing! I love when I go back to something and like it better the second time- though that doesn't always happen. :)
ReplyDelete~Jess
A fan of comics and graphic novels? We're gonna be good friends, Jess.
DeleteThere aren't a whole lot of stand-alone comics these days. Grab a single issue at random off the shelf and you're probably starting mid-story. With both Chew and Fables, I think I caught them mid-narrative the first time. Following from the beginning helps.
The first trade is terrible (or very close to it). I assume that like The Walking Dead it got better the more Willingham figured out how to approach it.
ReplyDeleteI'd say it's a lot better than terrible. I like it better than quite a lot of what I've seen from comics. But I'm encouraged to know it gets better.
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