Created and written by Bill Willingham, pencils by Leo Medina, inks by Steve Leialoha(except for issue 4 which is inked by Craig Hamilton, with little discernible difference) colours by Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh letterer Todd Klein with covers by James Jean (except for issue 1 which is by Alex Maleev,which in my opinion doesn’t carry the uncanny qualities the others possess.)And finally this comic is published by Vertigo.
Fables Vol. 1 is our first comic book of the week review and I’ve been hearing great things about the series for years but was put off reading it due to its non-superhero, fantasy based story, what if fairytale characters were forced to leave their fantasy kingdom and come and live in real world New York. And to be honest I was also a little repelled by the issue cover art, these strange mixed media paintings, which are quite moody and create a heady, mysterious and almost sinister atmosphere which alludes to the dark origins of fairy tales. I feared this art style would continue in the actual panels of the comic but on reading the first issue you realise the covers are completely unrepresentative of the tone of the story, which is in fact very light and consumable or the panel art which is in stark contrast to the covers, very clean,bright and detailed. The panel artwork in Fables wouldn’t feel amiss in any superhero comic, it’s normal, which I think works, these characters left their fantastical world and now are trying to live in our ‘normal’ world and have to blend in. It’s subtle but effective.
The story in this first volume revolves around a murder mystery with characters such as snow-white, the big bad wolf and prince charming playing out the usual roles of suspect, detective and so on. I’ve heard some people suggest the fairy tale characters add very little to the telling of the mystery and it would have played out just as well as a straight up crime story without the fantasy gimmick. I disagree, for one Willinghams take on these characters is very unique and interesting, they all seem very complex and well-rounded straight out the gate, they all have their inherent rich history and then there is Willingham’s interpretation on top of that. Not to mention the mysterious back story which is going on in the background. All of these intricate character and plot points couldn’t be dealt with in the first story arc without overwhelming the reader. I think the murder mystery provides an easy entry point into the series and a logical initial story arc. Showing characters from our ‘old’ world stories playing out a modern world story, the CSI murder mystery. The meeting of fairy tales and crime fiction, the meeting of childhood and adulthood, in many ways this first story arc sums up the concept of the entire series.
On another note Fables is a great comic for people who aren’t really into comics, apart from it existing in its own universe outside that of Marvel or Dc and their often intimidating continuity, most of the characters are known to everyone,so it makes new readers comfortable and feel knowledgeable of the world from the very beginning.
On another note Fables is a great comic for people who aren’t really into comics, apart from it existing in its own universe outside that of Marvel or Dc and their often intimidating continuity, most of the characters are known to everyone,so it makes new readers comfortable and feel knowledgeable of the world from the very beginning.
Upon finishing the volume I was intrigued to find out what must have happened to have changed these characters, the once pure snow-white now swears, the big bad wolf is now a detective.Beauty and the Beast are having marital issues and so on, apart from an average enough mystery it was the underlying back story and engaging characters that will bring me back for volume 2.
The next comic book of the week will be Cerebus Vol 1 by Dave Sim.
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