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A review by guppyur
Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
3.0
Only going to write an in-depth review of the first volume here. I've been playing Telltale Games' episodic series The Wolf Among Us, and liking it a lot; in conjunction with a friend's recommendation, I decided to give the graphic novels on which it's based a try. This first volume collects issues 1-5.
First, the premise. Fables posits that all fairy tales are real, and that the characters have all been moved to our world following a catastrophe in their native lands. Those who can pass as human live in a carefully controlled section of New York City; those who can't are stuck on an upstate locale known as The Farm. In all cases they coexist in an uneasy peace lest they draw attention to themselves.
There's a small administration to keep things running; our protagonist, Bigby (neé Big Bad) Wolf, is the Fables' sheriff, widely disliked and feared for his past. Consequently, the series is a modern noir with fairy tale elements.
The trade paperbacks -- or in my case the ebook equivalents -- seem to be complete story arcs, thankfully; I would guess that this will change as story arcs become more complex and this becomes less feasible. Fittingly, volume 1 is a murder mystery, an investigation into the death of Rose Red, sister to Snow White.
This is a solid introduction into the world. As always, the economics of comics are awful, and it's a lot of money for the content; this is unavoidable because of the nature of the format, and you had better know what you're getting into, in that regard, if you decide to read them. I won't be penalizing for it as it's a consistent issue with graphic novels.
First, the premise. Fables posits that all fairy tales are real, and that the characters have all been moved to our world following a catastrophe in their native lands. Those who can pass as human live in a carefully controlled section of New York City; those who can't are stuck on an upstate locale known as The Farm. In all cases they coexist in an uneasy peace lest they draw attention to themselves.
There's a small administration to keep things running; our protagonist, Bigby (neé Big Bad) Wolf, is the Fables' sheriff, widely disliked and feared for his past. Consequently, the series is a modern noir with fairy tale elements.
The trade paperbacks -- or in my case the ebook equivalents -- seem to be complete story arcs, thankfully; I would guess that this will change as story arcs become more complex and this becomes less feasible. Fittingly, volume 1 is a murder mystery, an investigation into the death of Rose Red, sister to Snow White.
This is a solid introduction into the world. As always, the economics of comics are awful, and it's a lot of money for the content; this is unavoidable because of the nature of the format, and you had better know what you're getting into, in that regard, if you decide to read them. I won't be penalizing for it as it's a consistent issue with graphic novels.