Fables: The Deluxe Edition Book One [Hardcover]

 

 

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Imagine if all the legendary story characters were living secretly in New York -- and they weren't quite fairy tale material?

In short, Prince Charming is a thrice-divorced lech, the Big Bad Wolf is now a werewolf cop, Goldilocks is a violent communist, and a suit of armor prophecies future conflicts when it isn't singing drunkenly about its mommy. "Fables Deluxe Edition Vol. 1" brings together the first two volumes (ten issues) of Bill Willingham's complex, humorous and sometimes gleefully strange graphic novel series.

The daily business of the hard-nosed Snow White (a Fable government official whom everyone comes to with complaints) is interrupted when Bigby Wolf brings her some ghastly news: her estranged, wild-child sister Rose Red has been murdered, and there's no sign of her except for buckets of blood all over her apartment. The most obvious suspect is Jack, whom Snow White helps interrogate when she isn't dealing with her womanizing, impoverished aristocrat ex, Prince Charming.

But some of the details about Rose Red's death don't add up -- and as Bigby investigates further into the people who knew her well, he begins finding aspects of her life hidden from everybody. Not to mention an irate fiancee who wants revenge on Jack. As the Remembrance Day approaches, Bigby puts together the clues to a very bizarre case where not everything is what it seems -- and not everyone is doing what they claim.

And then Snow White takes a trip with Rose to the Farm, hoping to repair their damaged relationship. The Farm is basically a secret little town for Fables who are unable to pass for humans -- but they're acting very strangely, with secret meetings and claims that they want to reclaim the Homelands from the Adversary. Then the head of one of the locals turns up on a stake outside the women's hotel -- and the Farm Charter keeps Bigby from coming to investigate.

What Snow doesn't know is that the radical communist Goldilocks is staging a violent rebellion, claiming that the animal-type Fables are "enslaved." While Bigby and Boy Blue try to figure out what's going on, Snow sets out across the dangerous countryside with only one unspelled ally by her side. To reclaim the Farm and quell the bloody rebellion, Snow must call on the help of some very unusual Fables... but that doesn't mean she's out of danger yet.

Bill Willingham is an expert in taking beloved characters from legends, fairy tales and nursery rhymes... and then turning our perceptions of them on their heads (example: Beast and Beauty's marital troubles cause his curse to reassert itself). He's also created a pretty unique fantasy concept -- the Fables and their magic have been driven out of their fantastical homeland, and live as secret refugees in the middle of New York City. It's actually a pretty cool idea.

If it were nothing but a "cool idea" gimmick, "Fables" might be a fun read but not a great one. However, Willingham has a knack for weaving together action-packed, gritty plots with a touch of sex, plenty of splattered gore, and plenty of quirky twists (Pinocchio is angry about being a "real boy" who never grows up). And the first half of this deluxe collection is especially clever -- he spins up a solid murder mystery that intertwines with the other subplots like ivy vines on a stone wall.

And Willingham's cast is as large as the number of beloved free-domain characters. The inhabitants of fairy tales and folk legends loom especially large in the story -- the hard-nosed, no-nonsense Snow White; the bickering Beauty and her Beast hubby; the flirtatious much-married Prince Charming; the grizzled cop Bigby Wolf; supposedly reformed serial killer Bluebeard; a rather embittered Cinderella, and so on.

There are even characters from nursery rhymes, myths and older books, such as animals from "The Jungle Book," Boy Blue and the mythic smith Weyland Smith. Despite the vast cast of characters, Willingham juggles them adeptly and gives each character a distinct personality.

"Fables Deluxe Edition Volume 1" brings together the first two volumes of the now-classic graphic novel, and while each story arc is nicely wrapped up, it leaves you anticipating more of the Fables' battles.

I like DC/VERTIGO deluxe edtion books for a few reasons. The pages are bigger, and made of a better paper (glossy). These books are also cheaper to buy as hardcovers than buying the trades. Less than double the cost, but usually there are 2 trades for every hardcover.

Fables is my favorite ongoing series as far as comics go. The characters are well developed, and they are enough of them for every reader to find someone they like. The first half of this book builds the world of the Fables, so it may seem a little slower than second half. Once we see how their society works the stories flow very well, and constantly surprises us with the diversity of the Fables and their fragile sense of community.

While different than my other favorite adult series ( Y The Last Man, Sandman ), The Fables are a fantastic introduction to adult comics, and I would recommend this Vol to anyone who enjoys reading period.

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