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A review by fifteenthjessica
Fables, Vol. 7: Arabian Nights by Bill Willingham
3.0
Volume 7 was the first Fables comic in a while that I felt I could put down.
One of the things I liked in this volume was that the issues with the change from the Cole/Snow/Wolf regime to Charming/Beauty/Beast. Beauty and Beast have adjusted well to their offices, but Charming not so much. He still refuses to reveal that he didn't contact the witches and sorcerers and other magical residents before making his promise about glamours for the Farm residents. Utility issues are mentioned, so it sounds like the boiler rooms haven't adjusted to Beast's promotion, after five years. Charming is under stress, and as a result, his leadership involves a lot of forgetfulness and saying, "yeah, I'll get to it."
There's also some tension between Charming and Beauty. First, Charming is going behind Beauty's back when it comes to missions, while Beauty took the job assuming she'd have all the power Snow had when she was deputy mayor. There's another source of tension, where they kiss, but this prompts them calling each other out on their flaws (Charming lusts instead of loves, and Beauty is harsh on Beast sometimes), that in turn leads to Beauty wanting to work on her marriage and be a kinder wife to Beast. The result is a scene I like where Beauty is really sweet with Beast, brings him muffins (and shows a previously unseen lighthearted and fun side), and tells him they should try doing things their own way instead of Snow and Bigby's way. Useful advice since Charming is an entirely different breed of ineffective mayor than King Cole was, and Beast hasn't been interested in subterfuge as Bigby and revealed that he felt that Bigby picked least favorites and is using a much gentler hand. Personally, I'd rather see more of Beast and Beauty working on their marriage than the Bigby and Snow or Flycatcher and Red romances (in spite of Flycatcher having a wife in the Homelands), since both involve miscommunications that get swept under the rug.
There are other things going on behind Charming's back. The major action in the story arc is carried out behind Charming's back and involves all the named characters in the office (except Buffkin). Frau Totenkinder is much more happy to work with Beast than other Fabletown residents. Rose Red may have pulled some strings to bring Boy Blue out of Charming's authority and over to the Farm.
Anyways, to the meat of the story, the Arabian Fables. This is going to be a let down for fans of Arabian fables and folklores. There are only three Arabian fables that get focus: Sinbad, the adviser Yusuf, and a D'Jinn. Sinbad is a charming character with a good sense of humor who is interested in going the full mile to make diplomatic ties with Fabletown. Yusuf and the D'Jinn are exactly what you'd expect. A few others are mentioned, but 1001 Nights of Snowfall may be the only place that more Arabian Fables are developed. This also marks the return of King Cole, who is the only known Fable in Fabletown who speaks Arabic and is needed for negotiations. Cole is clever and congenial in his new role and lands some zingers on Prince Charming (we all know by now that Charming can't stay loyal to a woman long enough to get one kid, let alone "sons in abundance").
The D'Jinn creates a rough point in the negotiations due to the dangerous nature of the creatures. Frau Totenkinder begins working on multiple plots keep the D'Jinn under control as soon as she hears about it, including a possible alliance with Mr. North. In the end, she brutally takes down Yusuf.
This volume, like many, has another story, this one is Rodney and June. It's a romance, although I found quite a bit of charm in Rodney and June's attempts to navigating love using advice from a goblin and their failed physical intimacy when they're made of wood. This is a nice glimpse into the culture of the Empire, where wooden soldiers are simultaneously respected and one of the biggest secrets, and the meat soldiers that make up a large chunk of the army are occasionally respected, or more often reviled, as shown in March of the Wooden Soldiers. I'm afraid this story contains the potential to leave the audience waiting for the characters to get into the loop, and not through the merit of audience members figuring out plot points.
The Arabian arc features a page format that I absolutely adore seeing in Fables. There's the comic proper, beneath a small semicircle that features a stylized representation of the character(s) in focus, such as Boy Blue and his horns, a candy house for Frau Totenkinder, a Charming/Beauty/Beast icon, and a general Arabian fables icon (another statement on the lack of attention Willingham is giving to the Arabian fables). The side of the pages features images of the setting or other characters (particularly in pages that are a bit of a montage).
The pages with the Frau's exposition about D'Jinn are some of my favorites and feature full page images of the destruction that the D'Jinn are capable of mixed with Beast's horrified reactions and the Frau's stone cold exposition face.
Rodney and June is done in a dramatically different style that suggests that this story will be much simpler and cheerier than the Fabletown politics. It features brighter colors and minimal shading.
While in the past issues, such as when Snow White was pregnant with Bigby's litter, there have been time the comic portrayed a real life problem. The Arabian Fables are threatened by an invasion and go to New York for allies. However, since these Fables haven't been using the gate to learn modern Iraqi culture, so the culture clash focuses on the European Fables explaining to the Arabian Fables that slavery is wrong. Then one gets angry about the changes and almost starts a war. He is also the blatantly evil guy. Slavery doesn't seem to be an issue to the European Fables because they see it as wrong, but because its against their laws. At one point Beauty questions if Charming's servant is a slave. This makes the slavery issue feel like a cheap source of conflict.
One of the things I liked in this volume was that the issues with the change from the Cole/Snow/Wolf regime to Charming/Beauty/Beast. Beauty and Beast have adjusted well to their offices, but Charming not so much. He still refuses to reveal that he didn't contact the witches and sorcerers and other magical residents before making his promise about glamours for the Farm residents. Utility issues are mentioned, so it sounds like the boiler rooms haven't adjusted to Beast's promotion, after five years. Charming is under stress, and as a result, his leadership involves a lot of forgetfulness and saying, "yeah, I'll get to it."
There's also some tension between Charming and Beauty. First, Charming is going behind Beauty's back when it comes to missions, while Beauty took the job assuming she'd have all the power Snow had when she was deputy mayor. There's another source of tension, where they kiss, but this prompts them calling each other out on their flaws (Charming lusts instead of loves, and Beauty is harsh on Beast sometimes), that in turn leads to Beauty wanting to work on her marriage and be a kinder wife to Beast. The result is a scene I like where Beauty is really sweet with Beast, brings him muffins (and shows a previously unseen lighthearted and fun side), and tells him they should try doing things their own way instead of Snow and Bigby's way. Useful advice since Charming is an entirely different breed of ineffective mayor than King Cole was, and Beast hasn't been interested in subterfuge as Bigby and revealed that he felt that Bigby picked least favorites and is using a much gentler hand. Personally, I'd rather see more of Beast and Beauty working on their marriage than the Bigby and Snow or Flycatcher and Red romances (in spite of Flycatcher having a wife in the Homelands), since both involve miscommunications that get swept under the rug.
There are other things going on behind Charming's back. The major action in the story arc is carried out behind Charming's back and involves all the named characters in the office (except Buffkin). Frau Totenkinder is much more happy to work with Beast than other Fabletown residents. Rose Red may have pulled some strings to bring Boy Blue out of Charming's authority and over to the Farm.
Anyways, to the meat of the story, the Arabian Fables. This is going to be a let down for fans of Arabian fables and folklores. There are only three Arabian fables that get focus: Sinbad, the adviser Yusuf, and a D'Jinn. Sinbad is a charming character with a good sense of humor who is interested in going the full mile to make diplomatic ties with Fabletown. Yusuf and the D'Jinn are exactly what you'd expect. A few others are mentioned, but 1001 Nights of Snowfall may be the only place that more Arabian Fables are developed. This also marks the return of King Cole, who is the only known Fable in Fabletown who speaks Arabic and is needed for negotiations. Cole is clever and congenial in his new role and lands some zingers on Prince Charming (we all know by now that Charming can't stay loyal to a woman long enough to get one kid, let alone "sons in abundance").
The D'Jinn creates a rough point in the negotiations due to the dangerous nature of the creatures. Frau Totenkinder begins working on multiple plots keep the D'Jinn under control as soon as she hears about it, including a possible alliance with Mr. North. In the end, she brutally takes down Yusuf.
This volume, like many, has another story, this one is Rodney and June. It's a romance, although I found quite a bit of charm in Rodney and June's attempts to navigating love using advice from a goblin and their failed physical intimacy when they're made of wood. This is a nice glimpse into the culture of the Empire, where wooden soldiers are simultaneously respected and one of the biggest secrets, and the meat soldiers that make up a large chunk of the army are occasionally respected, or more often reviled, as shown in March of the Wooden Soldiers. I'm afraid this story contains the potential to leave the audience waiting for the characters to get into the loop, and not through the merit of audience members figuring out plot points.
Spoiler
We're shown that Rodney and June's price for becoming human (honestly, it'd be nice to pull in some more Hans Christian Anderson and use the Sea Witch from the Little Mermaid instead of the Snow Queen, but it'd also be really nice if the Arabian fables had more characters too) is that their job is to be the Adversary's eyes in Manhattan, and we're told that June isn't happy with her new life as a spy and assassin.The Arabian arc features a page format that I absolutely adore seeing in Fables. There's the comic proper, beneath a small semicircle that features a stylized representation of the character(s) in focus, such as Boy Blue and his horns, a candy house for Frau Totenkinder, a Charming/Beauty/Beast icon, and a general Arabian fables icon (another statement on the lack of attention Willingham is giving to the Arabian fables). The side of the pages features images of the setting or other characters (particularly in pages that are a bit of a montage).
The pages with the Frau's exposition about D'Jinn are some of my favorites and feature full page images of the destruction that the D'Jinn are capable of mixed with Beast's horrified reactions and the Frau's stone cold exposition face.
Rodney and June is done in a dramatically different style that suggests that this story will be much simpler and cheerier than the Fabletown politics. It features brighter colors and minimal shading.
While in the past issues, such as when Snow White was pregnant with Bigby's litter, there have been time the comic portrayed a real life problem. The Arabian Fables are threatened by an invasion and go to New York for allies. However, since these Fables haven't been using the gate to learn modern Iraqi culture, so the culture clash focuses on the European Fables explaining to the Arabian Fables that slavery is wrong. Then one gets angry about the changes and almost starts a war. He is also the blatantly evil guy. Slavery doesn't seem to be an issue to the European Fables because they see it as wrong, but because its against their laws. At one point Beauty questions if Charming's servant is a slave. This makes the slavery issue feel like a cheap source of conflict.