Customer Reviews

Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a fun read - I thought that this was rather clever, and I enjoyed reading it. No real surprises or sublety though, of the kind I've come to expect from authors who bring the world of myth and fairy tale into modern life. The illustrations were of a high quality in terms of the general run of comics, but nothing much beyond that.

I would have expected more from Vertigo, but perhaps I've been spoiled by Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. Fans of Gaiman will probably be disappointed with Fables. I had fun with it, but won't go looking for any other books in the series.

Bill Willingham veers away from the hard-boiled mystery in the second volume of the Fables series, "Animal Farm" -- it's all about expanding the mythical world of the refugee Fables, and showing just where the Fables who don't look so human (the Three Bears, Chicken Little, etc) go. It's a somewhat weaker story than its predecessor, but it's still a pretty solid, gory, action-packed fantasy adventure... with a twist.

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 rabid 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: Goldilocks is a radical communist who blows away anyone who gets in the way of the "revolution"). He's also created a pretty unique fantasy concept -- the Fables have been driven out of their fantastical homeland, and live as secret refugees in the middle of New York City. And in this volume, we also discover that the less humanoid Fables live in a secret rural Farm.

And in this volume, he shifts from hard-boiled mystery to a full-out civil war among the Fables, with plenty of backstabbing, gory death and violence (including a certain piggy losing his head), magical bindings and a thoroughly loathable villain. Willingham seems to have been still feeling his way to what he wanted the Fables series to be (mystery or thriller?), but the storyline is a good combination of colorful fantasy and gritty action adventure. And he still has a very odd sense of humor (a singing drunken suit of armor).

With Bigby Wolf forbidden to come to the Farm (and thus out of most of the story), Snow White takes center stage in "Animal Farm. And she makes a good heroine -- she's tough, resourceful, smart, capable of taking care of herself and whipping up some potent counterattacks. What's more, she's still hashing out her rocky relationship with her sister Rose, who may not be as flaky and shallow as she appears. She also has an old grudge that has nothing to do with Snow's ex.

Willingham also adds in even more characters to his enormous cast. The creatures of the farm are from from fairy/folk tales, myths and older books, such as animals from "The Jungle Book," the three Little Pigs, and the mythic smith Weyland Smith.

It's a bit less engaging than the first volume of the series, but "Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm" is a solid action-adventure story with an entertainingly tight story and a likeable heroine. And it gets better after this.

Now having read this second book in the series I am officially a fan and can't wait to get my hands on the next volume. This is very different from the first one which had a classic noir feel to it. This time around Animal is indeed an Orwellian reference. The non-human fables and those unable to to take human form live on a large plot of land that has been enchanted with a spell to keep humans away. This is called "The Farm" and a large amount of the population is unhappy with the rather prison like conditions. Though the place is nice enough and not lacking in any way there is still the fact they can't leave. I loved the thematic cross between Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies. Lots of new characters were introduced while Snow White and Rose Red remained main characters as from the first volume. In this book we meet the three little pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, giants, a dragon, several animals from The Jungle Book including Baghera and Shere Khan plus many others.

In short, this is a refreshing read and worth every penny. If you are testing the waters with the Fables title this is even better than book 1.

The entire story is written in a way that is self-contained and accessible to new readers. Fantasy, humor and politics all come together in this mature but quirky title and you never know what to expect next.

In addition to great writing, the art makes the read seamless and the story believable. Mark Buckingham manages to bring across depth and expressions in talking animals.

This would be the series I use to introduce comic books to non-comic book readers.

Wow! When I heard all of the buzz around Fables (starting many months ago), I was skeptical. I thought it was a silly idea for a story, and had no chance of surviving very long. Oh, how I was wrong on so many levels. I purchased the first Fables tpb from amazon.com because of the cheap price (deciding to give it a shot to see what all the hype was about). I figured that, if I didn't like it, I would only be out 10 bucks. The first tpb blew me away! It was some of the best storytelling I've read in 10 years of serious comic book collecting. I rushed to order the second tpb (Animal Farm) and was surpised to realize that I loved this one even more. Once the characters have been established (all of the fairy tale characters from your youth, as if they were living in our world today), the Fables team can cut loose with comedy, drama, action, and even romance. I cannot wait for the next tpb to surface!

Bill Willingham's "Fables" is hands-down my favorite comic book being published today. The first volume in the series was a great mystery (and I urge you to read that before reading any further, since it's impossible to review this book without running the risk of spoiling the outcome). This time out he takes the turn of a political thriller. Snow White and Company visit the Fables farm, upstate, where the non-human refugees from fairy tales and folklore live. She finds herself caught in an uprising, fomented by enraged pigs (shades of George Orwell here) and backed by a surprising ally.

While "Legends in Exile" was a wonderful inaugural story for "Fables," it is here that the series really begins to hit its stride. The artwork is beautiful and the story is imaginative and sharp. This is a series that will take its place next to "Sandman" as one of the all-time greats.

Trying to patch up their strained relationship, Rose Red and Snow White travel upstate to visit the Farm where the nonhuman Fables are forced to live; but they run into trouble when they find a revolution-caused by Goldilocks-turn to violence.

Bill Willingham once again creates another winner, improving upon his first story arc with more characterization and some humor. There are numerous litererature references and some of the absurd situations and obscure fable characters are rather humorous. Mark Buckingham's pencils aren't spectactular, but are quite good for portaying the numerous human characters as well as the many animal characters. Buckingham's pencils are very similar to Medina's artwork in the previous arc, but he improves upon the human characters, making them look more dramatic and lifelike.

This book is recommended for readers looking for something different than super hero stories. This new, innovative book is definitely worth checking out.

NOTE: This is a DC/Vertigo book and is suggested for older readers due to language and blood/gore (a comic book equivalent to a PG-13 or R-rated movie).

In this second installment of the "Fables" series, we find ourselves on the "Farm" where the Fables who cannot pass as human have to live. Discontent has been brewing up there for quite a long while, and while I don't want to spoil the story, I will say that rebellion does break out.

As always, the look at "modernized" people from famous stories is fun, and I have to say that while I didn't agree with a lot of what the revolutionaries did, I could understand why they finally rose up.

For a little extra spice, there are a lot of references to a famous literary classic scattered through.

Bill Willingham continues to deliver great reading material in his second storyline of the Eisner Award winning series "Fables".
The story is still about the exiled fable-folk and their community existing alongside the mundanes (non-fable folk).
The characters from the first book are back and they are in for a new conflict.

This time the focus of the book moves away from the mythical city of New York and on to "The Farm", where the unfortunate fable folk who cannot pass as humans live in seclusion.
Snow White heads to the farm to try and teach her sister, Rose Red a lesson and hopefully patch things up between them.
They soon find out that the residents are planning to get out of the farm in an all out rebellion.

Willingham did very good on characterization in this book, he gave the characters identity, there are more fable appearances in this book which makes it more interesting. Mark Buckingham did a superb job continuing the designs drawn by Lan Medina.
And like the first book, this trade paperback offers bonus materials such as Bill Willingham's early designs of the characters, and sketches of the covers done by James Jean.
This is one title that every fantasy, fairy tale, mystery, and even crime enthusiast should have.