FABLES

[dark wesley]

hey, just thought id start a thread for this comic, as I think it is really one of the most brilliant concepts in comics today. what do you guys think?

[Pacino86845]

I only read the second issue of the Arabian nights arc (#41 I think), and although the concept seems interesting, I was not too impressed with how they handle the "Arabs." I found that this component was a bit too obvious, trying too hard to draw parallels with the modern political climate. In any case, my interest has definitely been piqued by this issue, though I'm more interested now in seeking out the trades for the Adversary arc.

[Shane]

I read the first issue, and found it dull.

I've got more I have not read yet, maybee I'll give it a second chance.

[fried samurai]

I read the first trade but didn't really care for it.The whole fairy tales concept was cool but I found the story to be very predictable.I heard it gets better from the 2nd trade on but I never gave it a chance.

[DennisMM]

I was not impressed by the "Arabians Days (and Nights)" story, but on the whole I find the book entertaining, moreso than most mainstream titles.

The early issues are my favorites, followed by the recent adventures of Blue in the conquered lands. I miss Bigby Wolf and Snow White, but I suppose Willingham wanted to open up the book and develop supporting characters.

[Pacino86845]

Despite what I said above, I just picked up #44, which I believe is the 3rd part of the Arabian Nights story arc. Since I'm totally new to this series, and find the general idea interesting, and original, I'm giving it a second chance to see whether it's to my liking or not.

[Gheorghe Zamfir]

Well I'll chime into to say I love this series. I got into Preacher and Sandman around the same time, after both were already completed. These days Fables and Y: The Last Man are providing a similar 1-2 punch for me, and I'm just completely into both series.

[Colin]

I read the first arc. It's not bad. I'll be definitely getting the OGN by Willingham and James Jean though.

[Pacino86845]

I just finished #44. It definitely feels like a middle of the arc story, a second act conclusion is reached, and if there's only one more issue for this arc, then what I thought was second act is in fact third act, with of course the possibility for a yet unknown twist. I missed the first issue of this arc, but quite frankly I feel as though I read a two-part story.

The previous issue was setting up the story, and I had no problem figuring everything out. So I wonder how necessary the first issue of this arc really is. #44, as far as I can see, pretty much takes care of the villain, and I can't imagine any loose threads they could take advantage of if they plan on a twist in the next, and final issue of this arc.

I'm not terribly pleased with these two issues, as the story felt like a light intermission between two bigger stories. I'm still interested in looking for the first TPB, though, and hopefully that'll change my mind about this series, because it really seems to be an exciting premise. I'm just waiting to be convinced that it's been stretched out to its potential.

The book's art, and treatment of the Fabletown characters, however, is quite nice and consistent.

[Leckomaniac]

I figured I would give this thread a bump seeing as we've reached issue #50.

This book has been one of the best books on the shelves since its debut and it has shown no signs of letting up.

[Kilgore]

I only hope now that Willingham has more DC responsibilities, he doesn't go the 'Bendis- Powers' route and treat it as an ugly step-child.

[Leckomaniac]

I only hope now that Willingham has more DC responsibilities, he doesn't go the 'Bendis- Powers' route and treat it as an ugly step-child.

See I don't think that will be the case. I mean with the launch of Jack of Fables I think Willingham has proven how much he loves this universe that he has created. And the fact that he has brought on another writer (Matt Sturges) might also mean that perhaps FABLES could live on even if Willingham decides to scale back his role.

I'd love to see him continue with FABLES forever...but that doesn't mean it HAS to die if he wants to focus on other things. I have way too much invested in these characters for that.

[Kilgore]

I only hope now that Willingham has more DC responsibilities, he doesn't go the 'Bendis- Powers' route and treat it as an ugly step-child.

See I don't think that will be the case. I mean with the launch of Jack of Fables I think Willingham has proven how much he loves this universe that he has created. And the fact that he has brought on another writer (Matt Sturges) might also mean that perhaps FABLES could live on even if Willingham decides to scale back his role.

I'd love to see him continue with FABLES forever...but that doesn't mean it HAS to die if he wants to focus on other things. I have way too much invested in these characters for that.

As long as he doesn't have to stick with 'Robin', I'm cool.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

I read the first issue, and found it dull.

second. I had the first tpb for ages, and just could not force myself to pick it up again. Yeah, I loved the art (it was JJ's covers that convinced me to buy it in the first place, and I adored Medina's females) but c'mon, piggyback off Alan Moore much?

So I put it on the shelf, until the 'lil lady whinged about having nothing new to read. Handed her this, told her my aformentioned gripes but told her I'd heard good things.

An hour or so later when she asked me to take her to the comic shop, I figured she liked it. When later in the day she asked me to yet again take her to the shop for #3, I reckoned I would now have to read the thing so she would have someone to discuss it with...I did tell her to revive her long dormant Zoner id, but alas, no dice.

And sure enough, it hooked me but good. I just adored Medina, couldn't get enough of his artistry. The story was ok, but what really impressed me was the "A Wolf in the Fold" tale.

So questions to savvy comic book nerds...what happened to Medina? I like Buckingham, particularly his animals, but he just can't do faces, certainly not the way Medina so captured the ethereal beauty of the fable lasses. But the story of the second trade was a big time improvement over the first, so it was onto the third, a collection of one shots and two parters. Pretty good, impressed me enough that I'd figure I'd even it up and buy the 4th trade.

WHOA!

The Last Castle, the Prestige one-shot...one of the best single issues I've ever had the pleasure to read. Over the course of 50 or so pages, Willingham packs a powerful last stand (think end of "The Two Towers", crossed with "The 300") that not only introduces and makes us care about new characters, not only presents a convincing romance on the fly but also contains nudity, dragons, magic cloaks, an arrow shooting contest (gotta love how "Rob" looked just like Oliver Queen!), countless hordes and fantasy comic artwork at it's powerful best.

Good stuff.

Fellas, if you wanna try to convert your girls to comic lovin' geekettes, Fables is a damn good place to start. Screwy dames seem to appreciate female representation in comics, who would of thunk it?

[doglips]

I've been admiring the artwork on the Vertigo website for ages but I've not read any of this and at the moment it would just be thrown on the 'to read' pile. Maybe I will ask for the tpb's for christmas.

[Theta]

The first arc of "Fables" was utter crap, frankly. It rapidly got better, but I'm still astounded it got off the ground at all.

[DennisMM]

Disagree entirely. I thought it did the job it needed to do excellently. Not the most interesting or the most emotional by any means, but it told us who the Fables are, introduced us to their world and set up conflicts that are only just being continued in Jack of Fables.

[Doc Holliday]

Despite what I said above, I just picked up #44, which I believe is the 3rd part of the Arabian Nights story arc. Since I'm totally new to this series, and find the general idea interesting, and original, I'm giving it a second chance to see whether it's to my liking or not.

HA! This just makes me think of Alan Partridge trying to order a drink at his business lunch meeting.

"Can I shock you? Despite what I just said I actually love wine...."

[DennisMM]

Just reading #1-5 again and it's not nearly so good as I remember. I also dislike the Lan Medina art; it's too polished at first, almost like a '70s advertisement. Buckingham's faces have a great deal more character.

[Airstrike]

Anyone intending to pick this comic up who hasn't read it - all you have to do is promise yourself you'll read the first two tpb's before buying it. Because if you buy and read just the first you may be too bored with it to pick up the 2nd. But once you read the 2nd trade "Animal Farm" you will be hooked forever. Trust me.

I did this myself and with the 11 other people I have made Fables addicts out of. And 7 of them are not just adults but have nver read a comic before in their whole life. And we all concur if we didn't have the 2nd book right there for us when we finished the first we would have never continued the series and that would have been a shame. Now I know that all of us have read through at least volume seven - and none of us regret it.

A truly magical series.

[DDMAN26]

I picked up the first TPB a few weeks ago. I know have six of them. I love this series.

[Leckomaniac]

I can't get enough of FABLES. Every single issue just stands out among other comics I read every week/month.

I love it. Love it, love it, love it.

Best series on the market.

[sasha]

I am a big comic fan (thanks to my older brother who first introduced me to Batman when I was 7) so I thought this would be the first section of the forum I'll check out!

When I first read Fables (Volumes 1 &2), I was not instantly sold out. I thought that idea behind the series was very interesting but the plots turned out quite predictable... Two years down the road, I decided to check out the the succeeding volumes and surprisingly found myself riveted to the stories. I now have the entire series in my bookshelf, along with my Sandman and Lucifer collection.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

along with my Sandman and Lucifer collection.

a Delirium av, stan of FABLES, SANDMAN and LUCIFER?!?

unbannable!

[Leckomaniac]

Issue #61 has been released and it was another stellar outing by Willingham and co. I wrote up a review in the New Comic Wednesday thread if anyone is at all interested.

Quick question...is anyone reading Jack of Fables? I am curious how that is shaping up. Anywhere near the level of quality that we have come to expect from Fables? Does it at all tie-in to Fables?

[Keepcoolbutcare]

finally, after months of waiting, with the release of tpb #9 and some digging, I'm all caught up and can now buy the monthlies.

absolutely adored SONS OF EMPIRE and am loving the arc of Ambrose as The Once and Future King.

Jean's covers seem to do the impossible by just getting better and better, conveying the mood and atmosphere or an individual moment from the comic to an uncanny degree.

and the added bonus of discovering that "Madman" Mike Allred penciled some issues? Busted my cherry all over that sundae!

[Leckomaniac]

finally, after months of waiting, with the release of tpb #9 and some digging, I'm all caught up and can now buy the monthlies.

absolutely adored SONS OF EMPIRE and am loving the arc of Ambrose as The Once and Future King.

Jean's covers seem to do the impossible by just getting better and better, conveying the mood and atmosphere or an individual moment from the comic to an uncanny degree.

and the added bonus of discovering that "Madman" Mike Allred penciled some issues? Busted my cherry all over that sundae!

My love for Fables reaches absolutely no bounds. The covers, as KCBC has said, are fascinating. The covers alone get me excited each month. The stories contained within are almost the icing on the cake sometimes. For my money, FABLES simply IS the best book on the stands right now. End of story.

[Leckomaniac]

Been catching up on The Good Prince storyline. It is a bit long (more than a bit really) but has been pretty good despite its length.

[DennisMM]

Obviously this, like the destruction of the magic grove and the pact with the cloud giants, is another step towards breaking down the Adversary's forces as Fabletown waits for the invasion. Ambrose finally got some star action and development, which was overdue. The reappearance of deceased characters from earlier stories was interesting, as well. I found the finale too low-key. Not everything has to end with a big moment, but "The Good Prince" seemed to run so long that it tuckered itself out, laid down its head and went to sleep.

[Leckomaniac]

Obviously this, like the destruction of the magic grove and the pact with the cloud giants, is another step towards breaking down the Adversary's forces as Fabletown waits for the invasion. Ambrose finally got some star action and development, which was overdue. The reappearance of deceased characters from earlier stories was interesting, as well. I found the finale too low-key. Not everything has to end with a big moment, but "The Good Prince" seemed to run so long that it tuckered itself out, laid down its head and went to sleep.

I have two issues left to go in The Good Prince. I have really liked what I have read thus far. Maybe because i read the story in one sitting it didn't drag on for me the same way it would have had i been reading it monthly. Ambrose has really become an outstanding character. I am excited to get back to the preparations for war, though.

The universe Willingham has created is almost...TOO rich. I never imagined that could be a criticism, but at this point there are so many threads, so many amazing characters, that I don't know how they could possibly be contained in one (two if you count JoF) books.

[Al Shut]

Weird, yesterday I bought the second trade and today this is bumped.

The first was good enough to hook me albeit with a lacking conclusion, the second is just awesome!

It seems I have a lot of costly cathing up to do.

[Leckomaniac]

Weird, yesterday I bought the second trade and today this is bumped.

The first was good enough to hook me albeit with a lacking conclusion, the second is just awesome!

It seems I have a lot of costly cathing up to do.

Yeah, the second trade is where you REALLY get an idea of what the series is. So amazing. You will NOT get disappointed Al.

I try my best to resurrect individual threads from the comics forum as much as possible. I hope to get at least a few folks to bite so that the comics forum can thrive as much as the film and music corners of the Zone.

[DDMAN26]

The 10th trade, The Good Prince just came out on Wednesday.

[Leckomaniac]

The 10th trade, The Good Prince just came out on Wednesday.

The Good Prince story line is a bit jarring, to say the least. It is extremely long (9 parts I believe), and it becomes a bit tedious at times. It is still well told and it has some wonderful character moments, but this interrupts the War story and that makes it a bit annoying.

Anyway, Fables is gearing up for the war in the current monthlies, which is what this series has been building towards for at least 50 issues.

[Gheorghe Zamfir]

Just finished off The Good Prince TPB, its hard to peg my feelings on the thing. It was nice to get back into the Fables world after such a long break, especially since the last TPB was a quickie, but in the end this whole storyline felt very deus ex machiney to me. However the series ends up, I'm going to have a hard time putting it out of my head how...convenient it was that this storyline just dropped out of the sky to put everything into place for them.

[Seppuku]

ABC commissions Fables pilot! Will it go the way of Aquaf@g, or will it become the next Smallville (but, you know, good @Burl)?

[Leckomaniac]

Anyone still keeping up with Fables? I admit I was skeptical of how the series could continue with the Great War now over, but the last few issues have really been great. Fabletown is a pretty shitty place to be right now. These poor folks can't seem to catch a break. The Dark Ages has been the best arc in a while for Fables. Hope this momentum continues into the very first Fables/Jack of Fables crossover event!

[commiepinko]

Love Fables. I do wish they would take a break from the big storylines for awhile.

I love the back stories about the characters, and those have endless possibilities.

Anybody reading House of Mystery? I've been wondering if I should try it.

[Leckomaniac]

Recently, the 9th and final issue of the Great Fables Crossover was released. Moments ago, I finished reading all 9 issues again so I could attempt to judge the event as a whole.

The Great Fables Crossover may very well mark the beginning of the end of Fables. Many wondered what would happen once they wrapped up the great war storyline. Would the title suffer? Would the end be near? And now, many months later, we have our answer. It was worse than we could have expected. Each and every issue of the crossover was bad. Most were beyond bad. I have no idea how anyone thought this would be an interesting or worthwhile direction for the book(s) to take. Worse yet, NOTHING was accomplished. Not a thing. It was nothing more than a wank fest for the two writers. It moved the story along in no significant ways. You could quite literally have skipped the entire thing and pick up the next issue and be fully aware of where everyone stands. This was a monumental waste of my time and I can now say that I will not be pulling FABLES anymore.

[DennisMM]

I didn't expect the crossover to be anything of note. I figured it was just Sturges and Willingham having fun, because that's all Jack of Fables has ever been, from where I sit. All of the comedy made it clear they weren't planning to do much.

I suppose I'm cynical. However, I'm staying with Fables but not without reservations. I'll give Willingham a chance to redeem himself, but he's on notice with me. And Jack is off my list, as it was before the crossover started.

[swoop91]

I just finished reading Fables 1-12 books, over last year, and I've red the books that end the War story.

Personally one of my favorite moments was in book 12, when Lancelot knights Fleacatcher by power granted by true Kings, where you see Arthur, that other english dude I believe, and the lion from Narnia, Aslan, it was just full of emotions.

All in all, a really nice story, and I'm aswell a fan of Preacher and Sandman abit less :p

[TheButcher]

From Graphic Content: Vertigo Voices: The Fables Forum panel highlights

The major announcement today is that Bigby Wolf will be the protagonist of his very own ogn. Fables: Werewolves in the Heartland an original graphic novel written by Bill Willingham with art by Jim Fern. Bigby Wolf takes center stage in an action packed story full of sex, violence, intrigue and daring escapes, as he sets out on a quest across the US to find a new location for Fabletown.

[TheButcher]

New Fables Book To Be Announced At San Diego

[Bean]

New Fables Book To Be Announced At San Diego

BleedingCool.com sounds an awful like a website we frequent...

[DennisMM]

Tonight, Fables was advertised on BBC America during Doctor Who. It was quite a surprise.

[Maui]

I'm hooked on phoni...I mean Fables. I may have started off bass ackwards, but I picked up Peter and Max, not knowing it was part of the Fables empire and just couldn't put the damn thing down. I'm now working my way through the beginning of the series and loving it.

I was curious if any of you (Dennis, Lecko) have read Willingham's spin-offs (1001 Nights of Snowfall, Cinderella)?

[TheButcher]

BILL WILLINGHAM pt. 3: The Magical Duel For FABLETOWN

MARK BUCKINGHAM Gives Up Pencil for Keyboard For FABLES 100

[TheButcher]

WILLINGHAM, STURGES To End JACK OF FABLES With Issue #50

[TheButcher]

CINDERELLA: Super-Spy Returns in New FABLES Spin-Off: Cinderella: Fables are Forever

Cinderella: Superspy: Writer Talks 'Fables' Spin-off: Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love

[TheButcher]

A Few February Fables For Your Favour