Fables

Fables 114-138

Yes, I read twenty-five issues of Fables today.  This is so good, even when it’s not.  Case in point:

114-121: The “Cubs in Toyland” arc.  This is by far the bleakest story in this whole run.  One of Bigby and Snow’s cubs, Therese, is tricked into the land of Discardia and starved into submission by all the toys that killed their child owners.  She eats the raw corpse of a tiger out of desperation.  The only way for her brother Dare to rescue her (after being dropped out of a tower and limping around in pain for a couple of issues) is to stab himself through the chest and use the blood dripping from his dying body to create a cauldron of everlasting food.  It’s dark and desperate and completely depressing.  Sure, the Fables have lost in the past, but never like this.  It’s never been children, and there’s no real victory to take any solace in.  

So wrong :(

By far the darkest moment of the series.

Regret buying: No (Applies to everything today)

Would buy again: Yes (Applies to everything today)

Would read again: Yes (Applies to everything today)

Rating: Fine

122-123: We’re introduced to the Lady of the Lake of Excalibur fame (who turns out to marry Ambrose Wolf in the far future) and Bigby’s destiny (it’s really good).

I love that the Lady of the Lake is wearing that shirt.

Rating: Pretty good

124: The full issue conclusion to the Bufkin backup story that’s been running through the title for the past ten issues.  I so don’t care about this character or the happily ever after that he gets with his partner Lily.

I genuinely LOLed at this.

Rating: Didn’t suck

125-129: Prince Brandish, Snow’s first husband and world class a-hole, turns up and immediately becomes the kind of person who’s hateable in the worst, non-entertaining kind of way.  His toxic misogyny is zero-fun to read, and only the Mark Buckingham art and Snow’s badass revenge keep it as highly rated as it is.

Talk about a cool basis for a system of government!

Rating: Pretty good

130: A random one-shot showcasing Junebug, daughter of the former wooden soldiers.  She discovers giant rats living in the recesses of Fabletown-Dark Castle.

Rating: Nice

131-137: “Camelot.”  Rose Red becomes the Hope of Second Chances, and starts a new Round Table, complete with knights.  Her need to redeem Brandish creates a massive wedge between her and Snow, setting up what I believe is the last arc of Fables.  Bill Willingham once again shows how the setup for something epic can be just as (if not more) fun than the climax if it’s well executed.  

Daniel Dos Santos art.  Lovely.

I forget how this turns out, but I'm squarely on Team Snow right now.  Red's an idiot.

She's so badass.

Mark Buckingham can do a gorgeous cover.

Amen.

So heartbreaking.

Rating: Good

138: We find out what Geppetto’s been up to.  Spoiler: It’s finding a way around the wards that are keeping him from accessing the Sacred Grove.  Geppetto’s another one of those people in whom I have zero interest.

Rating: Fine

That’s it for Vertigo box 5, also known as Fables box 1!

Box Summary

Time spent reading: 19 hours, 30 minutes

Issues read: 148

Issues cut: 1

Highlights (Good or better): Fables 1-10, 14-27, 30-45, 50, 52-56, 60-70, 73-75, 77-82, 87-93, 102-111, 131-137; Fables: The Last Castle; Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall

92 out of 139 issues so far are Good or better.  That’s an insane level of sustained quality for a comic.

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 53 days, 7 hours, 20 minutes

Issues read: 11138

Issues cut: 1154