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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
One of the stories in this new collection is appropriately titled "Into the Woods." Like Stephen Sondheim's musical, Willingham's series presents figures from childhood fairytales contending with the problems of adult life. Snow White, Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty), Prince Charming, Little Boy Blue and Goldilocks all appear, as does a trickster named Jack. So does the Big Bad Wolf, who is inescapably reminiscent of Marvel's Wolverine. Even Gulliver's Lilliputians turn up, as do talking animals. This volume collects issues 11 through 18, and, as with many contemporary comics, it will be difficult for readers who haven't started with the first issue to get their bearings. The fairytale characters comprise a community of immortals known as "Fables," who now hide in plain sight from the mundane normal people (known as "mundys," they're much like J.K. Rowling's muggles) in a section of New York City called Fabletown. The stories are of two sorts. Two stand-alone tales take place in past centuries and have a genuine fairytale feel and period charm. The others, set in the present, are gritty, with dysfunctional relationships, blackmail and murder attempts. Take the "mature audiences" advisory seriously: this is a book in which an adult Goldilocks can be seen naked or covered with blood. Despite its darker elements, Fables features wit and comedy; Willingham can even make scenes simultaneously farcical and horrific. The art ranges from the illustrative to cartoony, and its variety mirrors the stories' many moods.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The third collection of Fables, the Sandman spin-off about fairy-tale characters exiled in New York, contains four stories. The longest, "Storybook Love," is the most satisfying, but the others have their fairy-tale-like (i.e., grisly) charms. Revealing that the Jack of beanstalk fame and the Jack of the eponymous tall tales are identical, "Bag o' Bones" spins a Civil War yarn in which Jack detains the Grim Reaper, so that no one can die. In "a two-part caper" (all that's given in the way of a title), the Fables community puts Briar Rose, aka the Sleeping Beauty, back on slumberous hold to prevent exposure by a scandal-rag journalist. In "Barleycorn Bride," Bigby Wolf relays some of the Fables' early history in America to explain why 18-year-old Lilliputian boys try to steal magic barleycorns from a jar at the Fables' Manhattan headquarters. The long story concerns a plot to seize Fables leadership by Bluebeard and Goldilocks; it includes some Fables mainstays' apparent demises and begs for future development. Deucedly cleverly written, yeomanly drawn. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Volume Three is Awesome!,
By
This review is from: Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love (Paperback)
Wow, in volume three this series really picks up with a bang! First we are presented with a few tales of Jack during the Civil War and how he often beats Death. Thus, giving the reader a bit knowledge of Jack's trickster personality. Then we follow a two issue caper involving a journalist who has been watching the fables for many years and keeping files and pictures. He comes to Bigby with the news that he will be publishing a story shortly and is giving Bigby the opportunity to respond. The journal has figured them all (or so he thinks) out and is going to expose them to the world. Another issue takes us back to the story of Goldilocks and we find out what the fugitive is up to now. The Lilliputians enter the story here as major characters and we learn their story. And finally we get to the series mentioned in the title, Storybook Love. This continues for the rest of the volume and I really don't want to give away any of the plot. It was riveting to say the least.This is a big scale issue with lots of violence, thus lots of blood, a bit of s*x, and not a few deaths. I was surprised at the blood but must say found the story arcs very compelling reading. If the first two volumes haven't convinced you this is adult reading material this third volume will settle that for you. This is my favourite volume to date. It is amazing how deep the characterization and intricate the plot can be in a graphic novel. Willingham certainly shows the rest of us how this medium can be used to utmost advantage over plain text. If you are one of the few people on earth (ok, in the online book community) who hasn't read this series yet, I'm asking you: "What the heck are you waiting for?" Highly recommended. Can't wait to read the next book!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sparkling stories about familiar characters,
By Stephen Richmond "Librarian/Teacher/Reader an... (Newton, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love (Paperback)
In this marvelous and engaging series of funnybook stories collected here, Bigby Wolf (also known as the Big Bad) attempts to romance the ever-elusive Snow White while Prince Charming (having divorced Snow White, Briar Rose, and Cinderella) kills Bluebeard and a homicidal Goldilocks is on the lam. Throw in the Mouse Police that never sleep, the Lilliputians and Thumbelina, and a flying monkey serving temporarily as a mayor and what a fun, rollicking romp through archetypes and the collective unconsciousness. Just some of the best comics reading around, but as others have mentioned elsewhere, this isn't Disney and these aren't the sweet and sticky fairy story characters the unwitting might suspect.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some one-issue stories, and a story arc as well,
By
This review is from: Fables Volume 3: Storybook Love (Paperback)
Continuing the "Fables" saga, this book brings together two story arcs (one involving a "Mundy" reporter who thinks he's uncovered the Fables' real nature, the other throwing Snow White and Bigby Wolf together) with some shorter, one-issue stories. One is about Jack, the trickster, who gets in over his head during the Civil War after fighting for the Confederacy, and the other introduces us to "Smalltown," the community of Lilliputian exiles. The stories are, as always, good, but be warned: these comics may be about fairy-tale people, but this is not meant for children---there are scenes involving nudity and other "adult" subjects. That said, it's quite good and well worth the money.
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