"I'm a trickster by nature, but I'm not violent."

Hey, happy Friday! Today's title comes from Jack, and he's one of the central stars in today's issue of Fables, number 2, The (Un)Usual Suspects. We'll be picking up right where we left off earlier, so if you've just started following (*wave*), go back through the tags & read that post before coming back here.

This issue opens on The Woodland, the City Hall of Fabletown. We get a little glimpse of Snow White entering the building before the story shifts to what Willingham calls "the Woodland's smallest studio apartment," the home of Bigby Wolf.

Bigby has an unexpected and unwanted guest, one of the three little pigs, who shouldn't even be in Fabletown as all animal Fables are supposed to be up on the Farm. Bigby and the pig have a little battle of words which gives you a lot of their history and enmity in a short, short time. Bigby kind of gets the last word, however.

From there, we get to see how much of a cad Prince Charming really is. Really, I can't describe this well enough, so here's that page.

Snow White & Bigby have a conversation in the Woodland's garden about the search for Rose Red and her attacker. He reveals that he doesn't really think Jack is the perp, but he does believe Jack is guilty of some other crimes, and this gives him the perfect opportunity to hold him.

Bigby runs down the list of current suspects with Snow. He doesn't think Jack did it, he doesn't think it was one of the mundys Rose liked to hang out with (a mundy is normal people, non-Fables), and, surprisingly, Snow is one of his suspects. She and Rose had been estranged for a number of years. That's all the info we get from him for now as to why he's got Snow on his list.

Next is a lovely little scene where we get properly introduced to Cinderella and Bluebeard. He's teaching her how to fence, and we quickly see that this is not the Cinderella we got from Disney. For starters, she's got a rather filthy mouth, and she can defend herself pretty readily.

Snow has a little dinner date with her ex, Prince Charming, and he hasn't come just out of the kindness of his heart. He wants Snow to help him auction his title and lands on an internet auction site. He's broke, and he figures this is the perfect time of the year to try and auction it all off because the Rememberence Day celebrations are approaching (Rememberence Day is a Fable holiday where they remember the last ship that escaped the Adversary and those who stayed behind to ensure its safe escape). Snow tells Charming that she won't help him because he had an affair with Rose, and she says that he belongs on the list of suspects.

Next, we get to see Bigby in his element as he interrogates Jack. Snow is present for this interrogation as she wants to be right where the information is on her sister's disapperance. These pages are largely exposition, setting up some plot points to come. We learn that Rose & Jack had been involved for the past four years, but not continuously. They had a big old public fight a year prior, and after that, Rose got involved with Bluebeard. Jack says that she only dated Bluebeard to make him jealous and that he should be the one Bigby is questioning, and Bigby says that they will get around to Bluebeard.

Bigby confronts Jack about some of his previous schemes to make money (like using the seven league boots to win the Boston Marathon), and Jack gets highly defensive and starts calling Bigby names. Snow tearfully interrupts the pair.

Snow asks Jack if he's stashed Rose's body somewhere, which he promises he didn't. Bigby says that he's going to keep Jack in his current jail cell while he searches his apartment, and before they leave, Rose asks Jack if there is anyone he can think of who would want to hurt Rose.

Next up, Snow & Bigby travel to question Bluebeard. He thinks that they are there to collect his annual donation he gives to the Fabletown government, but Bigby just jumps right into the thick of it. He tosses the crimescene photos onto Bluebeard's desk and asks him point-blank why he killed Rose. I'm going to just share the rest of this investigation scene because it's too incredible to try to describe.

Well, that's a lot of info to end with! If Jack didn't hurt Rose & Bluebeard didn't hurt Rose, then who did?

I'm not 100% sure if I'll have a post for you tomorrow, but, hey, I made it Monday-Friday with a blog post every day! That's got to count for something, doesn't it?

I always like suspecting Jack. He's been such a perpetual load in my pants since day one of the Exile.

Today's title comes from Bigby Wolf of Fables, and that's going to be today's topic because it's Fables Friday! I deeply apologise for not posting anything yesterday. I've been fighting my allergies or a cold (can never tell for sure which it is this time of year), but I will post what I had planned for yesterday's post tomorrow.

Instead of covering issue 2 of Fables, I'm going to take a slight detour. I was going to give you my top 10 issue list, but there are so many storyarcs, it would be difficult to do that, so I'm going to give you my top 5 storyarc list (including the issue numbers so you can search them out, if you want). Next, I'm going to show you one of my favorite characters from Jack of Fables, Babe the Blue Ox (from Paul Bunyan fame), and then finally, I'm going to take you through a couple of stories from 1001 Nights of Snowfall, the mostly prose book that came out a couple of years back and which expands on the backstories of several of the main characters.

My Top 5 Fables Storyarcs (in no particular order) {Here be spoilers! but not too many} [Thanks to Wikipedia for helping with the issue numbers & for refreshing my memory]

5) Legends in Exile (issues 1-5): This is the one that started it all, and it's a fantastic introduction to the world of Fables. Rose Red has apparantly been murdered, and Bigby Wolf & Snow White must investigate her murder & keep Fabletown from being exposed to the Mundy world.

4) The Mean Seasons (issues 30-33): I know I said I wasn't putting these in any particular order, and I'm not, but I have to say that I think this is probably my favorite storyarc. Bigby & Snow White have become a couple by this time, and Snow gives birth to their children, who are shapeshifters between wolf & human forms. Because they're not fully human, Snow must relocate to the Farm, but the Animals of the Farm fear and hate Bigby, so he exiles himself. Snow ends up learning about Bigby's youth from his father, the North Wind, and Snow learns that one of her children is not exactly normal. It's a beautiful tale, and always makes me cry.

3) Arabian Nights (and Days) (issues 42-45): Sinbad brings a delegation of Arabian Fables to Fabletown to help form an alliance against the Adversary. This arc was nice because we finally got to see more than just the Anglo/European storybook characters in the Fables universe.

2) Jack Be Nimble (issues 34-35): Jack goes to Hollywood and sets up a film studio. I loved this because Jack is one of my favorite characters, and seeing him trying to get a film made of his fantastic exploits was a treat.

1) The Good Prince (issues issues 60 to 63 and 65 to 69): I believe this was the longest storyarc in the Fables history, and I think it's probably the best. We finally get to see more and learn more about Flycatcher. His backstory was revealed in 1001 Nights of Snowfall (he was the Frog Prince, and in times of extreme emotion, he would revert back to his froggy form; unfortunately, this happened when the Adversary's forces attacked his castle, and he was forced to watch his wife & daughters be brutally raped & murdered, all because he couldn't keep from changing back into his frog self), and in this story, we get to see him be the hero for once. He finally remembers his past and leads an assault against the Adversary's forces. It's a heart-wrenching and gorgeous story.

So, there you go. Five fantastic storyarcs (though, honestly, it was very hard to pick just five because I love the entire fun of Fables), and most of these you can find in trade now, if you don't want to buy the issues.

The Mind of Babe the Blue Ox

And now, a little levity. Jack of Fables was spun off of Fables a few years ago, after the Jack Be Nible storyline, and it has featured a lot more comedy and a regular series of revolving characters. One of these characters is Babe the Blue Ox. His pages always make me laugh my head off.

In the world of Fables, a character's notoriety in the Mundy world helps with their ability to recover from death, injuries, etc. For example, because Jack is SO well known (partially because he's nearly every Jack in every folk tale imaginable, partially because he's so well known because of Jack & the Beanstalk), he pretty much can't be killed.

On the other hand, Babe & Paul Bunyan have become less powerful because very few people nowadays know their tales. This affected Babe by shrinking him to about the size of a small dog. He relieves his boredom by creating these fantastical stories and situations in his head, and below are a few of my favorite of these pages. I hope you find them as funny as I do. Oh, and there will be no explanation about the issues because his pages never make sense in the context of the story. And I apologize, but you'll have to click the pics to get them to load at the right, readable size.







1001 Nights of Snowfall

This lovely books came out in 2006, and it's a great companion piece to the Fables comic series. It contains several self-contained stories that aren't necessary to read in order to understand the Fables series storyline, but it does add a little more flavor to the characters. As I said earlier, you learn more about the characters in many cases, and in a few, you're introduced to them for the first time.

These stories are interwoven in a prose piece that tells of Snow White visiting the Arabian fables in order to warn them about the coming Adversary and to broker an agreement between the Arabian kingdoms and Fabletown, but she finds herself taking the place of Scheherezade. She is forced to tell the Sultan a new story each night or else she'll be executed. The comic sections are these tales she spins.

Each section has a different artist, and each artist adds his or her own unique flair to the story being told. Some of the art isn't my favorite, but I'm going to show you a couple of pages from my favorite stories.

My first story is the first one Snow tells, and it's of her own past with Prince Charming, a story called The Fencing Lessons. We finally learn why Boy Blue told Beauty & the Beast way back in issue 1 of Fables, "But above all, when talking to the Deputy Mayor -- never mention the dwarves!"

I'm not going to spoil this story because it's a wonderful, wonderful story, but to give you a little info before showing you the art, before Snow & Charming married, he promised her that once they were married, she could have any wish she wanted fulfilled. Her wish was to having him teach her how to fence, and they have to go about this covertly since it's not proper for a woman to know how to fight. I think the art in this story is absolutely my favorite. Snow has never looked stronger nor more beautiful.


The last story I'm going to cover is one I alluded to earlier, about Prince Ambrose, also known as Flycatcher. Before this story was published, Flycatcher was pretty much just a comic foil and friend to Boy Blue; we would just see him as the janitor for the Fabletown government offices. This story tells of his past, the past he himself didn't remember until recently. I'm going to show two pages from this story. The first is adorable; the second is rather brutal (not gory, but just warning for triggering material & nudity).




And that's it for today. Tomorrow, I promise pirates. I'm holding to the Code this time!

Fables #1 - Chapter One: Old Tales Revisited

So, this week, I'm going to kick off our comic venture with one of my all-time favorite books, Fables. I first got exposed to this book via Wizard Magazine, and I was hooked from the start. I've always had a great love and passion for folk tales and fairy tales, so this just hit the spot for me.

This issue of Fables was written by Bill Willingham(creator & writer of the series; you may know him from a few Vertigo books or from his 2004-2006 run on Robin) with art by Lan Medina & Steve Leialoha.

Now, this is the first time I've done something like this, so I'm not 100% sure how far I should go with spoilers, at least with these older issues (I'll definitely avoid them or put up spoiler tags for the newer issues, but that's a ways away yet), so please let me know if you think I'm giving away too much of the story.

Our story opens in the only way a book about fables could: "Once upon a time. In a fictional land called New York City." Yep, we're not in the old fairy tale world, we're in Manhattan, following a cab speeding through the streets. We see the driver being berated for going too slowly by his passenger, and the cab pulls up to the corner of Bullfinch Street and Kipling Street, home of The Woodland Luxury Apartments, home to the well-to-do fables & the Fabletown government.

Let me back up just a smidgen, though. Those street names are part of the reason why I love Willingham and this book. He named them after two prominent writers, one of whom you probably got, Kipling for Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, Gunga Din, Kim, and many other pieces of work. The Bullfinch is for Thomas Bulfinch, author of Bulfinch's Mythology, a series on mythology and legend. I thought it was especially fitting for this book as the first volume of his work is called The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes.

Alright, back to our story. A young man leaps out of the cab, leaving only a $.25 tip, and he barrels into the Woodland Luxury Apartment. We find out that this fellow is Jack. He's heading upstairs to the office of one B. Wolf, Head of Fabletown Security. Yep, Bigby Wolf, otherwise known as the Big Bad Wolf who terrorized the three little pigs, is head of security.

He looks like he's stepped out of a Bogart film or a Mickey Spillane novel; his office is sparse apart from his trench coat hanging on a hat rack, coffee maker on the sidebar, file cabinet and a cork board covered with notes behind his desk.

Bigby and Jack (who we find is Jack from Jack & the Beanstalk; in later issues, we also find he's pretty much every Jack from every fairy tale & story every written) exchange some verbal spars before Jack tells Bigby that there's been a terrible crime.

Cut to the Business Office of S. White. Snow White has got her hands full this morning, dealing with the marital problems of Beauty & the Beast. It seems whenever they fight, his curse comes back and he starts turning all beasty again. This makes for horrible problems for the Fabletown community, as Snow tells the couple, and she informs them that if he can't get his problem under control or if he can't purchase an appearance concealing glamour from one of the witches, they'll be shipped up north to the farm where all nonhuman fables live.

Through the exposition of this scene, Willingham gives us a lot of crucial info to digest in a matter of a couple of pages. The fables all escaped from some Big Bad called the Adversary; the majority of them only escaped with their lives, leaving their fortunes behind. They manage to live in their little community in the middle of Manhattan by segregating the nonhuman fables from the human fables. And, in one of my favorite moments, we find that although King Cole is the Mayor of Fabletown, Snow is the one who really runs things. Cole glad hands and is the face of the Fabletown government, but as soon as its him and Snow, he always defers to her opinion in all matters. Not exactly the Snow White we're used to from the Disney film, and that's why I love it.

Oh, and one more thing about Snow: never mention the dwarves. We don't find out why in this issue, but in the stand-alone book, 1001 Nights of Snowfall, we do learn the full story. I may post some pages from that, if there's an interest.

We get briefly introduced to Prince Charming, Snow White's ex-husband, and he's pretty much everything you'd expect from a fairy tale prince. He's all flirt and flair, but he's kind of hit rough times. As Snow says, "Apparently, he managed to finally wear out his welcome among even the most inbred elements of European royalty."

And then the story goes back to Bigby. He has some bad news for Snow: her sister, Rose Red, is missing and has possibly been attacked. That's the reason Jack came to the offices; he's her boyfriend, and he found her apartment in a mess with blood everywhere (As an aside, reason #2 that I love Willingham so much is he remembered Rose Red; so many versions of the Snow White story leave her out, and this actually comes into play in the book).

Of course, Snow is greatly upset when she sees Rose's apartment. There's hardly a spot that isn't covered in blood, and written on the wall in blood are the words "No more happily ever after." It doesn't look good for either Fabletown or for Rose.

Bigby instructs Jack to keep Snow out of the apartment, telling him to remove her physically if he has to, and, of course & justifiably, Snow doesn't appreciate that. Bigby investigates the apartment, and in a drawer, he finds a hinge and lock that fit onto the holes he found on the freezer door in the kitchen. We don't know why, but this piece of evidence leads him to arresting Jack. Jack, being the ass he is, tries to fight back, but of course Bigby overpowers him, nonplussed. The issue ends with Snow asking, "Is he the one?" and Bigby replying, "We'll see."

Willingham takes all these stories and the tropes associated with them, and turns them onto their ear. I love how he takes these one-dimensional characters like Snow White & the Big Bad Wolf and makes them into fully-fledged characters that we can relate to. I truly feel the characters are the strongest point to Fables. Yes, the stories are amazing, but I come back for the characters. I know a lot of people feel that Fables is not as strong of a book now as it was when it debuted in 2002, but I just don't feel that way. I can't see myself dropping this book for anything.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this exploration of the first issue of Fables. Please leave me any thoughts or ideas of how I could improve this (I'm just winging it right now until I find my groove), and I'd love to hear any ideas you have for this blog. I'm still working out a schedule of what I'm going to cover each day, and, hopefully, I'll get more into the swing of things shortly, and there will be daily posts.