Let’s talk Fables, shall we?
FABLES #106
Written by: Bill Willingham
Art by: Mark Buckingham
Price: $2.99
Super Team Concludes! We’ve had teasers for some time now that Mister Dark and North Wind were going to have a fight and it was going to be big. Dark was preparing for it, seemingly setting up plans in case he failed, and North Wind was preparing to use it go get out of a vow he made.
North Wind, father of Bigby Wolf and grandfather to Bigby’s cubs, vowed to kill a certain sort of monet if he ever came across them again.
This was fine until he discovered that one of his grandchildren was one of the creatures he vowed to kill. This increased the tension between father and son.
While this was going on, Pinocchio and Ozma were forming a Super Team, based on Pinocchio’s love and knowledge of superhero comic books, to defend the Fables against Mister Dark.
So, in this issue it all comes to a head. North Wind confronts Mister Dark, who explains that a fight between them would likely destroy the very world North Wind seeks to defend. This
is also the time we learn that while fear gives Dark power…his OWN fear doesn’t. Faced with the promise of death at the hands of an enemy who doesn’t care if he lives, Dark freaks out.
North Wind, in response to the threat of death, says it would free him of his obligation to kill his grandchild.
Now things get interesting. It’s been explained that the great powers, like The North Wind and Mister Dark, cannot be killed in the traditional sense but they can certainly be contained. Each one apparently has a cask that can contain them if they are trapped within it, effectively killing them.
It was North Wind’s plan to trap himself, along with Mister Dark, within his cask for all time. The epic battle that has been teased for a few months was itself a ruse, Mister Dark expected something big but North Wind chose a more subtle path and, in losing, found victory, saving both the Fables and his grandchild in the process.
The news hits the Fables in different ways. Some are disappointed that they weren’t about to fight after preparing for months. Bigby and Snow White realize that, while their child is safe, the cost is a bittersweet one.
The Cult of Boy Blue gives him credit for Dark’s fall. Others think it was Santa Clause. The remainder of this issue follows everyone and their reactions over the next few days before and settling on Rose Red and a conversation with…Hope?
One of the interesting things about this universe is how nearly any concept can have a human avatar of sorts. Hope, the solid personification of the concept, tells Rose Red that her part in this story was bigger than she thinks and that she’s not done yet. Something is on the horizon and it’s not going to be pretty.
Fables, after 106 issues, remains a consistent favorite of mine. It’s one of the few books I still collect and the absolute number one book I look forward to each and every month.
CINDERELLA: FABLES ARE FOREVER #5 of 6
Written by: Chris Roberson
Art by: Shawn McManus
Price: $2.99
One issue to go, and this one had nearly everything a spy story needs: action, fights, plans, failed plans, set up and double crosses… that technically weren’t double crosses?
Yeah, so Cindy is hot on the trail of Dorothy Gale, one of, if not the, best assassin in Fables history. They have fought a few times before and Cindy has a lot of respect for Gale’s skills, as those skills ahve nearly ended her many times.
While trying to learn more about the shadow Fabletown, Cindy realizes the only answers she seeks are held by Gale who, until recently, she thought was dead. Joining forces with Russian Fable Ivan, they end up getting captured by Gale’s people, which was Cindy’s plan all along after all… what would an easier way to find Gale’s location than to be brought directly to her?
A flight to Oz ends well for her, as she and Ivan overtake Gale’s minions and toss them out of the plane. This was the first hint of trouble, as the minions, a glass cat and sentient silverware, had parachutes and seemed prepared for just such an occurrence…
Cindy and Ivan enjoy some adult beverages and, after landing, enjoy some adult private time.
While this is going on we see flashbacks to the last time Cindy and Gale faced each other back in 1986, in Switzerland. Gale had kidnapped Snow White in an effort to get information on the American Fables and how to destroy them. Cindy saves Snow but her fight with Gale in a helicopter doesn’t end well for Gal,e who didn’t have a parachute.
This is where things get weird… Cindy and Ivan allowed themselves to be captured so they can be brought directly to Gale so that Cindy could, hopefully, get the information she needs. At first she thought Ivan was working for Gale, but soon learned to trust him, figuring he wasn’t.
She was right about Ivan, in a sense. Dorothy Gale apparently has picked up the ability to shape shift. Yeah, she was with Cindy the whole time and… yeah… that moment of adult fun? There are a whole lot of messed up questions surrounding that whole night!
So now Cindy is finally face to face with the woman she was hunting. There is one more issue to go, and Cindy is in a real trap with the one person who has come the closest to killing her. After being tricked into the night of, well… I can imagine Cindy wants nothing more than to kill Gale, despite getting the information she needs.
Oh, and Toto showed up, too!
Overall, another fine month of Fables action and intrigue! It’s always sad when a Cinderella miniseries comes to an end, but this one has been so much fun and has been told on such a grand scale that I’m in the need of a rest for a few months!
For Fables, Super Team wraps up but that doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to look forward to! Next month’s issue will have a very special guest artist: TERRY MOORE, creator and artist of Strangers In Paradise and Echo! I, for one, simply cannot wait to see him on this book! One of my favorite independent artists on one of my favorite books… it just doesn’t get much better than that!
Tags: Bill Willingham, cinderella, Fables, mark buckingham, Vertigo Comics
About the Author
Written by Skott Jimenez
I've been collecting comic books for over 20 years, over that time I've learned a lot about the history of the industry and that fascinates me so I'm always looking for new sources of information. If it's about comic books then I'm interested.
Love me some Fables! And Skott of course too!