I'm saving one of my favorites for last in my little comics primer. Fables is a great comic for anyone who's just too lazy to become engaged in new characters. You know these characters already. Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf, King Cole, Prince Charming, Goldilocks...think of a character from a (public domain) fable, fairy tale, or nursery rhyme, and Willingham has probably incorporated that person or creature into his story.OK, so the premise isn't exactly ground-breaking. Neil Gaiman used his fair share of mythological and literary figures in The Sandman series, but Fables takes things to a new level. As with most series of this length (the 11th TPB will be released later this fall), there is a long term story arc and lots of smaller story lines scattered about. The main arc focuses on the immortal--or nearly immortal-- Fables, who live in our world (the world of the Mundies) as refugees from the Homelands, which were usurped by the mysterious Adversary. The Fables who can pass as human live in a small neighborhood (Fabletown) in New York City; the not-so-human live on The Farm in upstate New York.
I'm a sucker for what-if scenarios like this. What if Rose Red got up to some zany antics with Jack from Jack and the Beanstock fame? What if Prince Charming had to constantly deal with bumping into his ex-wives, Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty? Willingham has fun with the premise, giving a lot of well-known characters surprising personalities and putting them in increasingly odd situations. And it's definitely an adult comic, with a fair share of sex and violence (though no where near as much as The Boys). I've stayed engaged throughout the long series, and the latest TPB, "The Good Prince," was one of the best yet. The art, which is primarily by Mark Buckingham, is consistently good. Nothing too ground-breaking, but detailed enough to
make it interesting.Like Hellboy, Fables also has it's own spin-off comic, Jack of Fables. Jack the Giant Killer eventually got his own series, which is written at least partly by Willingham and co-written and drawn by a variety of others. Unlike the Hellboy spin-off B.P.R.D., which can actually be a lot more serious than the parent comic, Jack of Fables is a lot more light-hearted and a really fun read. It's most recent TPB, "The Bad Prince," also introduces a whole new plot element to the Fables world that I couldn't possibly describe here. You'll just have to check it out.
So that pretty much wraps up my comics primer. I've described all the comics I've been reading over the years, though I'm sure new ones will pop up in the future. It's not a lot compared to some, but it's probably more than your every day joe walking down the street. I wouldn't have put this much time and effort into describing my favorite comics if I didn't sincerely believe that this was a valid artistic/literary medium. Some of the best stories I've ever read, and some of the best art I've seen has come from the world of comic books.
If I've convinced even one comic naysayer to rethink the medium, or even drop a few bucks on a comic book, I'll have considered this a success. If I've guided someone who wanted to delve into the comics world but didn't know where to start, that's good, too. If you're either type of person, please let me know what you've tried, what you've liked, and what you haven't liked. Maybe someone else out there has some good suggestions for me. Thanks for reading my thought bubbles.
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