Shades Of Pufnstuf

Fables 114
DC Vertigo
Bill Willingham, writer
Mark Buckingham, artist

You have to be of a certain age and know who Sid and Marty Krofft are to "get" the header for this post, I imagine, but the main point is a young child is led astray by an evil boat in disguise.

I haven't talked much about Fables in this most recent tour of the blogosphere, but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the book. Month-in and month-out, it is a joy to read, and I bow before Willingham and his illustrators for their creation of this universe. It's just a book I enjoy after this much time, though, and I don't often stop to think about why or try to put the enjoyment into words. I decided to give it a try with this issue, however, since it is the beginning of a new arc, and while Fables arcs tend to run far and wide of the main story most of the time, this one will center on the Wolf family, some of my favorite characters.

For those not familiar with this series, it involves any and all fairy tale and folklore characters you've ever heard of. They are all real and living in secret in our "mundane" world. Most have come to live among the "mundies," as they refer to normal humans, because of a fierce adversary who long ago drove most of them from their traditional homelands. That adversary was revealed and dealt with among many other tales in the first 100 issues of this series. The Wolf family sprang from the courtship and union of Bigby Wolf (the Big Bad Wolf, a werewolf descended from the North Wind, hence his prowess at blowing things down) and Snow White (her name is a little more readily recognizable). These two started off as co-workers in the Fabletown administration, but they didn't really like each other much. Their love story, a fan favorite of the series, evolved over time and has led to a litter of seven children -- three girls and four boys.

It's always fun to drop in on the Wolf family and see their adventures, especially with the addition of the children, six of whom inherited the ability to fly from their grandfather, the North Wind, and the ability to transform into wolf cubs from their father. These six -- Winter, Blossom, Therese, Connor, Ambrose and Dare -- all appear human most of the time. But what of the seventh, you ask? Ghost is aptly named as he is invisible, as all gusts of wind are. Their antics are always fun to read.

The current story arc beginning in this issue is titled Cubs in Toyland, so one can assume the destination the absconding boat has in mind for its passenger. And by the use of the plural form of "cub" in the title, one can further assume that the one child abducted will soon be joined by at least some of her siblings. But this introductory installment concerns itself with a toy boat cajoling young Therese to find some water in which they can play together. Once Therese finds some non-frozen water in the winter landscape near her home, however, the boat grows to a size which can carry her and sets off. Despite its new size, the boat itself still looks quite toy-like, but its reflection in the water looks much more sinister.

All of this happens against a backdrop of other snippets to keep other story lines advancing. For instance, Bigby and daughter Winter are not at home with the rest of the Wolf clan. Recently, the North Wind died and fate has decreed that one of Snow and Bigby's children is destined to be the new North Wind. While Ghost might seem an obvious choice, few people outside his family know of Ghost's existence, since he's invisible. It seems Winter is the one destined to be the new North Wind, as decided in a previous arc. Winter is being trained for her new role by her grandfather's servants, and Bigby has gone along to protect his daughter as she is only 9 years old. We also spend a few pages checking in with the majority of the denizens of Fabletown, who are trying to reclaim their secret neighborhood in the middle of New York City, an area that was recently lost to them in a battle with an entity know as Mr. Dark. If you've never read an issue, most of this background will mean very little, but this series has such wide appeal, I have little doubt most readers who find the basic premise even a tad interesting would enjoy catching up on the story through the various trade collections available.