Geek vs Life

I don’t just read Russian Novellas, I also read comics. A small proclamation: I would rather wait for trades. I do this for the same reason why I don’t watch television and wait for the DVD’s to come out: I hate the ads. I know pretty ironic coming from an internet site, but there you go…full disclosure.

So you like Harry Potter? But you want something more grown up, and it is summer after all, so pictures would be nice. Well how about Fables created by Bill Willingham? It is primarily penciled by Mark Buckingham, and lettered by the superb Todd Klein. (Someday I will geek out on the importance of Todd Klein, and why he is the best letterer in the comics business right now.) So if those credits don’t help you, Fables is a comic. Now there is enough geeks out there that know this, but just in case: Not all comics have superheroes in them. In fact, most of the better ones do not.

The story on it’s ninth (and counting) traded collected series. There dwell worlds where fairy tales and myths actually exist. There are worlds that have the big bad wolf, other worlds where Jack and the beanstalk have their encounters, even a world with Snow White, and the list goes on and on. Well in one of these worlds, an army arose that was created and led by the Adversary. This Adversary started conquering all the magical worlds. Those who survived fled and escaped in the non-magical world of present day New York. There, they created a hidden kingdom called Fabletown, where most of the Fables (The title they give themselves.) live. It has a mayor, Cole, and deputy mayor named Snow White, and a sheriff, who is in fact the big bad wolf of many childhood tales. Here he is in human form and named Bigby.

The chief concern of the series is keeping Fabletown running and hidden from the mundies (non-magical normal people.), and also preparing for the future attack from the Adversary, that’s it. Simplifying it like that ignores the sheer joy of seeing fairy tale characters come to life. To see them interact with each other and knowing their histories. The art is crisp, and is done in a realistic style (Well those drawn by Buckingham at least). The story is touching, romantic, funny, and more importantly, it is surprising.

The series will throw curve balls once in a while, like shaking up the principal cast. Throwaway characters turn out to have surprising histories. A prime example is Little Boy Blue, a clerical assistant, who was once a hero. Or “Flycatcher” Ambrose, a janitor who has one of the most tragic back stories in the series.

I’d rather not go into detail about some of the surprises. You will have mysteries. The first trade (Fables: Living in Exile) opens up with a enigma. Who killed Rose Red, Snow White’s sister? Don’t worry, the series has answers. You will find out who did it, by the end of the first trade. Eventually you will even find out, who the Adversary is, and why it does what it does. Yet it is not the plots that keep you going. Be it a siege on Fabletown by the Adversary, or the derring doos of Little Boy Blue. It is the characters: the sweetness of Boy Blue, the steely vulnerability of Snow White, the slapstick of “Fly Catcher,” the Cad Prince Charming, and the straight up bad ass of the Big Bad Wolf, Bigby.

There is some parallels to the Harry Potter universe, like having a magical world right next to a non-magical world. The magic is the magical realism school. There is a big bad villain, but so do hundreds of other stories. Unlike Harry Potter, this series wont be over this summer. So the magic can continue, well for now anyway. Another thing HP and the series have in common is that you don’t want the series to end, but you can’t wait for the closure.