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buer's review
4.0
Bill Willingham is the shit. He takes characters we all grew up with and breathes new life into them. Characters who only ever received a few lines of attention in their original stories grow up and are fleshed out in unexpected but completely believable ways.
This is the first in a branch off series from Willing harm's original Fables series and it's good, but it's also obviously an introduction. Because of that the story occasionally lags as Willingham introduces us to characters and the world that he has created, but for the most part it's just a really great story with fun characters.
This is the first in a branch off series from Willing harm's original Fables series and it's good, but it's also obviously an introduction. Because of that the story occasionally lags as Willingham introduces us to characters and the world that he has created, but for the most part it's just a really great story with fun characters.
mister_tanuki's review
4.0
Excellent start to a series I should have started reading a long time ago!
lilmatt050's review
5.0
I have to admit, I was shocked that I would actually like Jack of Fables series! I've never liked his character and always found him as a nuisance. I remember the volume in which he leaves Fabletown and becomes this big time Hollywood producer and found that storyline such a waste of my time.
This volume, it starts right where Fables ended Jack's story arc and he's held hostage on another Fabletown/Prison called, "The Golden Boughs Retirement Community", where he meets other fables that either not popular or too old to remember. Being himself as usual, he decides to escape through the help of others and succeeds. I love seeing a little bit of Alice and the gang from The Wizard of Oz, and other fables I've grown up with.
I'm really looking forward to this series and I highly recommend it to those who love Fables!!
This volume, it starts right where Fables ended Jack's story arc and he's held hostage on another Fabletown/Prison called, "The Golden Boughs Retirement Community", where he meets other fables that either not popular or too old to remember. Being himself as usual, he decides to escape through the help of others and succeeds. I love seeing a little bit of Alice and the gang from The Wizard of Oz, and other fables I've grown up with.
I'm really looking forward to this series and I highly recommend it to those who love Fables!!
showlola's review
3.0
3.5 really.
I really like Fables, but I put off reading this spinoff series for a long while because I was never a particular Jack fan. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The 'retirement' community with new fables (and old) was an interesting twist and I like the idea of a hierarchy of dastardly librarians. Will definitely be reading more of these.
I really like Fables, but I put off reading this spinoff series for a long while because I was never a particular Jack fan. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The 'retirement' community with new fables (and old) was an interesting twist and I like the idea of a hierarchy of dastardly librarians. Will definitely be reading more of these.
otherwyrld's review
2.0
I didn't have high hopes for this spin-off of the Fables series, mostly because I am not a fan of the main character. Alas, even my fairly low hopes were not to be fulfilled. Having read all of the Jack of Fables stories now, the main problem is that Jack does not change or evolve in any way. He is still the same self-centered, shallow, obnoxious, sexist pig at the end of the story as he is at the beginning. He is, quite frankly, an appalling character. Now I get that this is meant to be ironic commentary, but it just didn't wash with me. I will probably not put any large reviews for the rest of this series for that very reason - how many ways can you say the same thing?
There were a few good things about this first story - the idea of the Golden Boughs Retirement home and the character of Mr Revise is quite intriguing. This is fatally undermined by the horrendously sexist treatment of the female characters not just here but throughout the whole series. I do not consider myself to be any kind of feminist (let alone a rampant one), but some of the things in these stories I was actually quite offended by. Not only was the writing sexist, but the art often was as well.
Only read if you want to pick up the Great Fables Crossover.
There were a few good things about this first story - the idea of the Golden Boughs Retirement home and the character of Mr Revise is quite intriguing. This is fatally undermined by the horrendously sexist treatment of the female characters not just here but throughout the whole series. I do not consider myself to be any kind of feminist (let alone a rampant one), but some of the things in these stories I was actually quite offended by. Not only was the writing sexist, but the art often was as well.
Only read if you want to pick up the Great Fables Crossover.
scorpstar77's review
5.0
I really like the Fables series of comic books, but I was a little skeptical about a spin-off series featuring only Jack of Fables. I should not have doubted Bill Willingham and crew, though - with Jack of Fables Vol. 1, The (Nearly) Great Escape, they've turned out a light-hearted yet exciting story, picking up with Jack right where the Fables story left him, kicked out of his self-made (with stolen money) movie empire Nimble Pictures and looking for his next adventure. My favorite part of the book is that, while it's told from Jack's POV, through Jack's voice, Willingham still manages to poke fun at Jack with Jack's own arrogance. Jack still manages to get out of every situation - by the skin of his teeth most of the time - and you get to both love him as a hero and laugh at him as a pompous jackass with a distorted world-view. It's a love-hate relationship with the only real protagonist of the story, and I love that kind of tension. I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.