CSBG Archive
Voluminous Vertigo Week: Fables #69
DC’s Vertigo line of comics puts out some of the best comics by either Marvel or DC, and this week, a staggering FIVE good Vertigo comic books were released – let’s talk about them – BC.
I honestly thought the last issue was the final part of the Good Prince storyline, and while last issue had a strong, poignant ending, I was still extremely pleased to see the story continue, with an ending that is…well…I should put the adjective after the fold, as I think it would give away the ending a bit…
The ending is, despite the cover shown above, a cute and delightful finale to the storyline. When we last saw Flycatcher (or, rather, King Ambrose of the magical land of Haven), he was heading off to sacrifice himself facing off against the Adversary’s Legion of Wooden Soldiers. It was a sad scene, as Fly seemed to be heading into certain death. Only, well, that’s not exactly what happened.
Instead, what happened was a cute (albeit a bit of a deus ex machina) conclusion to the military storyline of the Adversary’s battle with Haven, and then the rest of the issue was essentially putting things into order.
The character interactions, always a strong suit of writer Bill Willingham, were impressive, as we got to see Fly/Ambrose have interesting dealings with all the various characters who have followed him on his journey to establish Haven. Meanwhile, Boy Blue and Red Riding Hood also played big roles in the story, as Red decided to pursue her desire for Fly/Ambrose, and Blue (who, if you recall, was in love with someone who was impersonating Red Riding Hood, so still has some heavy duty feelings for Red, even if she is not technically the Red he fell in love with) has to deal with her feelings.
Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha (with assists by Andrew Pepoy) do a strong job on the art as well, in particular a scene where Fly/Ambrose has a quick vision of how life would go down if he had a slightly…different outlook on life (say, a more Adversarial position?). They also do such a great job on facial reactions, particularly when two (or more) characters are speaking/interacting with each other – it brings such life to their interactions.
All of this, and the story of the upcoming war between the Fables and the Adversary’s armies continues on apace – Fables is a steady delivery of strong stories, and there are no signs that Willingham is slowing down at all.
Recommended.
6 Comments
T.
February 7, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Buckinham is one of those artists who I used to dislike, but has somehow grown to become one of my favorites. I don’t know how much of it is skill improvement and how much is just being perfectly suited for these characters, but he really just kills on this title.
Jesse
February 7, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Fables is one of my favorite series, if not my actual favorite going at the moment, and I did enjoy the resolution of this arc. However, I agree with you that it has something of a Deus Ex Machina feel to it. It’s more that of late, the Fabletowners have been doing so amazingly well against the Adversary that he poses little to no threat against them. The big, bad, scary villain has become a paper tiger, and much as I wouldn’t like to see any Fables I love get killed or hurt, the bad guys have to win a round or two to put some oomph back into them.
That said, I really enjoyed how Flycatcher managed to do what he did without killing anyone, and in fact saved mostly the lives of his enemies.
Mory Buckman
February 7, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I have no problem with a deus ex machina in a fairy tale, just so long as it’s a cool one. And to be sure, this is a cool one.
Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Feb. 8, 2008: Get out of comics, free
February 8, 2008 at 2:26 am
[...] [Review] Brian Cronin on Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy’s Fables #69. [...]
Sallyp
February 8, 2008 at 8:37 am
Gosh! A happy ending1 In COMICS! What a strange and bizzare idea!
I thought for sure that Ambrose was toast last issue, so I was delirious with delight when I discovered that he actually gets to live happily ever after…more or less. This has been one of my favorite books from day one, and I see no reason to change my mind.
sgt pepper
February 8, 2008 at 3:05 pm
This issue hit all the right emotional notes for me in spite of the actual plot being quite lame (I guess that’s an achievement for the creators, or maybe I’m just a sucker for this kind of ending). Fly was able to defeat the adversary’s armies and he even did it in a nonviolent manner, but only because anytime he needed something, the magic provided.
I’d be much more interseted in reading a story about how a guy commited to nonviolence could get out of that predicament without magic. It’s a nice story but the magic cop out leaves it without much meaning.