Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love | Bill Willingham | Even better than the first two!

Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love | Bill Willingham | The Fables move on

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Fables Vol. 3: Sto...

	Fables Vol. 3: Storybook Love Bill Willingham Vertigo, 2004 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

FABLES: STORYBOOK LOVE is a captivating tale of romance and adventure. After being hunted and hounded by a savage being called the Adversary, the legendary characters of fables and fairytales were forced to relocate to a magical high-rise in Manhattan. Living in peaceful disharmony for centuries, the literary figures have forged a dysfunctional existence of tentative alliances and allegiances. But when Snow White and the Big Bad Wolf begin an improbable romance, Bluebeard enacts a devious plan to destroy his rivals. Now as Goldilocks mercilessly stalks the two lovers in the Cascade Mountains, Prince Charming confronts Bluebeard in a deadly duel within the confines of the Fables? New York condominium.

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Even better than the first two!

This third volume in the excellent FABLES series is even better than the first two. The primary storyline picks up where Animal Farm left off, with Snow White recovering from her normally life-ending wound and Goldilocks on the run. All seems to be peaceful after the episode at the Farm, until a nosey journalist shows up threatening to reveal what he guesses to be the Fables' colony of vampires. From there, the pace of the story remains very intense, with accomplished and attempted murders, coerced and freely-given sex flings, and high drama throughout. There are also two background stories included in this volume: An explicit tale of Jack's exploits during the Civil War, and A more fairy tale-like story of the beginnings of Smalltown.

All of the stories presented here are very entertaining, making this book a hard one to put down. Only one high profile Fable is introduced here. Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) plays a prominent role in the efforts to silence the misguided reporter, and is sure to have a place in future tales. Prince Charming plays a major role in this one, developing some surprisingly large ambitions that will unfold in upcoming issues. The title of this volume comes primarily from the strange relationship between Bigby and Snow, but could loosely connect with any of the individual stories within. My advice, take this one slowly to make it last. You'll be tempted to read it all in one sitting, but delaying gratification will prolong your experience and heighten your enjoyment. Remember, there are only 13 Fables titles to date, you don't want to rush through them too quickly.

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The Fables move on

This volume collects issues 11-16 of the monthly comics. The first and last issues each tell self-contained stories tangential to the main Fable world. The central two-thirds of this book moves the general story arc along with the precision of a physics lesson: as the pressures increase within this little community, the situations heat up.

Prince Charming is charming only in name - his womanizing takes a notably non-mythical turn. Goldilocks still dates out of her species (not that I have anything against other species, mind you, but I'm not sure I'd want my sister to marry one). Briar Rose takes a nap. Snow White and Bigby end up on a hot date - neither has memories from it, but one has something else.

The Fable mythos updates many of our childhood fairy tales, in a world of distant warfare and urban exile. If you've followed the story since volume 1 of the collections, you'll know that my plot hints say just about nothing - there's always another twist to the creativity that brings these characters to new life. The artwork doesn't blaze new trails and people looking for BamPow super heroes will find only a little, very little, to cling to. The art team is strong and competent, though, and the scripting creates characters that you really want to like (or to dislike, trust your judgement). Also - I'm not sure this is wholly a good thing - the series grows on you. I'll be back for more, and in proper story order for once in my life.

-- wiredweird

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Graphic SF Reader

A story focusing on the ramifications of the attack on Snow White by Goldilocks, in the main.

That main arc is bookended by two stand-alone issues, one of Jack Horner and his time from the civil war, and the last is Bigby Wolf recounting a story about little Fables and the quest for barleycorn girls.

The important story involves, Goldilocks, Bluebeard, Prince Charming, who is proving himself a bit of a spymaster, and a plot to have Bigby and Snow killed.

Quite good again, as Fables continues to be well done, particularly as the whole fair tale character thing is not something I am disposed to like in the main, but this urban transportation of these characters is good stuff.

For Big Bad Wolf fans, there is some gold awaiting.

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Huge Volume, Crammed With Backstory and Awesome Character Moments

After the somewhat letdown of a second volume (that's only in comparison to the stellar book one), Fables is back in full force with the best volume yet. It's also the thickest, clocking in at eight issues; that is three more than either of the previous volumes. It has two one-shots, a two issue story arc, and an entire four issue story arc. The one-shots give awesome backstory, and the longer arcs push the story forward in exciting and surprising directions.

The first one-shot gives us a glimpse into earlier days, when the Fables were still new to the New World (our "mundy" dimension). It features Jack as the main character, who fights as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War and deals--literally--with death. The story was quite a captivating read, and one of the best issues yet. I'll skip to the end of this volume, which also features a one-shot. This is a more traditional Fable, and features Bigby telling Flycatcher the tale of a how a certain thumb-sized Fable (not who you're thinking, but she plays a part in it as well) came to become a thief and a hero. That one was a bit of a 'meh' ending after so many awesome things happened in the middle, but without considering its place in this book, it was a solid enough issue.

The two story arcs, however, are the meat and potatoes of this collection. The first has the Fables (minus Snow White, who is still getting over the events of Animal Farm) dealing with a large threat; a journalist who has come to realize what they are... and he plans on outing them to the public. The only thing is, he thinks they're vampires. Funny as this is, it turns into a very dark tale that really brings out the contrast between Bigby and the increasingly villainous Bluebeard, who have very different ideas about how this journalist should be handled. Both of the characters are very fleshed out, and a lot of tension is left unsolved... until the very next story arc. In the four issue story arc, the titular "Storybook Love," the status quo flips. One of the characters graduates from possible threat to major villain, romance blossoms between some cool cats, and Prince Charming (easily one of my favorite characters) surprises everyone with his actions. This is easily the best long form story arc so far.

Not everything is sunshine, though. I have a major issue with how penciller Mark Buckingham suddenly--and drastically--changed the structure of Bigby's face. He once has a very chiseled jaw and well defined features... but now, I suppose to highlight his wolf nature, he looks like he has a very loose mask of melting flesh hanging from his bones. Odd choice. All in all, however, it was a thoroughly entertaining read.

8/10

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Two strong story arcs in this eight issue TPB

This third Fables trade paperback collects issues #11-18 of the Bill Willingham series. I'll presume anyone reading this is already familiar with the series and direct those unfamiliar to reviews for the excellent Volume 1 and 2 TPBs. For new fans, the first two pages of Volume 3 feature capsules off the main characters and summaries of the first two story arcs.
The two-part caper "A Sharp Operation", penciled by Lan Medina, shows a tabloid journalist about to expose the secrets of Fabletown. The title story arc, penciled by Bryan Talbot, spans issues #14-17 and focuses on Bluebeard's and Goldilocks' deadly conspiracy against Bigby and Snow. Both of these plotlines feature outstanding development of the characters from the first ten issues.
This TPB is bookended by a pair of lesser one-shots featuring (respectively) Jack in the post Civil War American South and a flashback to the legend of the Lilliputians. The artwork in the former includes some finely detailed scenes but that of the latter tended toward the cartoonish. Overall, the cover price offers good value for an eight issue collection, especially considering Amazon's discount.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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