Review, Comic Book: Fables by Bill Willingham

Since there is almost no point in turring on the TV durring the summer if you don't like reruns this has given me some extra time to read. I have been going through short stories and comic books that i have wanted to read for some time.

One of the most fun of these is Fables. Fables is a Vertigo book. Fables are the characters from famous stories who have been forced out of their homelands by The Adversary and come to ours.

The idea is really quite simple but almost endless in scope. You have characters like Bigby Wolf, who works as the sherrif, Snow White who runs Fable Town, Prince Charming who spends most of his time seducing women, and dealing with his three ex-wives(Snow White, Cinderella and Briar Rose.)

Every arc of Fables has a different style. The first of the episodes is a mystery as Bigby tries to discover who killed Snow Whites sister, but there are also adventure stories, love stories, and of course fairy tales.

One of the most fun things about this books is looking in the backgroudn and catching the many referances. It seems like almost every page has somethings from a story if you look carefully enough. A house in the shape of a shoe in the background, or a flying monkey.

The other thing that this story does well is the same thing Harry Potter does. It uses the myths, legends and stories we already know to add depth to itself. Small characters like Flycatcher( who used to be a toad) often have little to do but add a lot of character to the stories and you know about them without being told.

Fables is one of the best comic books on the market now and though it might not be appropriate for children I suspect everyone else at least look at it.