He's Tugging At The Emotions

Fables 134
DC Vertigo
Bill Willingham, writer
Mark Buckingham, artist

One of the reasons I don't talk about Fables with every issue I read is because all I tend to do is gush about the title. I haven't much cared for some of the DC superhero work that Bill Willingham has written; his stint on Robin wasn't a half-bad story at all if he'd told it using an original character, but it really didn't fit the established personality of the Tim Drake Robin character; and his work with the magical-based heroes, Shadow Pact, or the legacy-minded Justice Society did nothing for me at all.

I can't say the same for his superhero work from other companies. I've long been curious about his Elementals series from Comico, but still haven't read any of those issues yet. And while those characters are superheroes, my understanding without having read an issue is that the Elementals characters have a lot in common with the Fables crew. That's one of the reasons I'm still curious to try that series someday.

But the world presented in Fables -- as far as I know pretty much wholly created by Willingham himself (Yeah, yeah, all of the characters are ages-old characters from fairy tales and folklore created by others, but the world they live in in this series and their current personalities and voices are pretty much all Willingham, right?) -- is just a fantastic read every single issue. Having said that, every now and then an issue of Fables comes along that is just a step above the usual greatness of the rest. This issue, focused on Little Boy Blue and Bigby in the afterlife, is one of those best of the best.

Blue died way back during the great war to overthrow the Adversary, and Bigby more recently met his end at the hands of the treacherous Prince Brandish. There has been hope offered that Bigby might be resurrected if all of his various pieces can be reassembled owing to the fact that he is a natural shape-shifter. This issue seems to further indicate that possibility while also revealing even more about the supernatural nature of Bigby.

As the issue opens, Bigby finds himself in an unfamiliar forest without any memory of how he got there or how long he's been there. In short order, Blue comes to meet him and explains that he is in a transitional period between worlds/realities/lives; the very nature of reality and life and death is much more complicated it seems than most suspect.

Blue has come to explain some things to Bigby about his situation before moving on. Blue has no desire to go back to his life in Fabletown, having found a measure of peace in his own transition, but he confirms that Bigby can indeed return if he wishes to do so, although the journey will not be easy. Blue also cautions Bigby that going back might not be the best course to pursue and warns that there is more trouble ahead for the denizens of Fabletown.

Of course, if you've seen the news that Fables has only about another year to go before the title comes to an end, the threat of danger lurking doesn't seem like a huge surprise. But the simple discussions between these two characters satisfies on many levels. This issue serves as a quiet, non-action issue in the middle of a larger sprawling epic. It is two old comrades who haven't seen each other in quite some time catching up. There are even a number of revelations given to readers, although in true comic book fashion, the revelations leave more questions than they truly answer.

As nice as the bulk of the issue is, however, the real heart-tugger moments come at the very end. Blue is not the only person to visit Bigby in this transitionary forest before the Great Wolf must decide his course of action. Someone else wants to speak with him before Bigby moves on, whichever direction he chooses to go, and this person represents a truly once-in-a-lifetime, no-parent-would-ever-wish-for-such-a-meeting-nor-turn-it-down reunion. Readers aren't privy to all the details of this second reunion, but we see enough that I think Willingham made the right choice in leaving the rest to the imagination.

There Be Unhappy Spoilers Hereabouts!

Fables 128-129
DC Vertigo
Bill Willingham, writer
Mark Buckingham, artist

In case you missed the header: ************SPOILER ALERT!************

I believe these issues are the last ones of the recent "Snow White" arc in Fables, all of which I have enjoyed reading, as always, except for one major plot point: They've killed off one of my favorite characters -- Bigby Wolf! To paraphrase the Emerald City coroner from "The Wizard of Oz," he's not only merely dead, he's really most sincerely dead. I say that because while Snow and several of the Fabletown witches believe there might be a chance to revive Bigby -- who was turned to glass then shattered -- this entire story arc has been narrated by an adult Ambrose, one of Snow and Bigby's children, and right after the shattering occurs, Ambrose says, "And that's how my dad died."

Now these are magical characters, so anything is possible down the line. But Ambrose's pronouncement seems to be a final nail in Bigby's coffin. To top it off, Bigby would not be the first major character to be killed off in the course of this series. Prince Charming died previously, as did Bluebeard, and both have remained dead ever since. And let's not forget Boy Blue, a major fan-favorite character of this series, killed off in the war against the Adversary. He's still dead, too.

There have been hints in recent months that bad things were going to befall the Wolf family. One of Snow and Bigby's kids has already died and another was forever changed, and not necessarily for the better. Now it looks like Bigby has died. He can always appear again in flashbacks, but it will be sad to know he is gone from the series in such a final way.

As for the rest of the issues, this arc has had Snow treated pretty poorly at the hands of Brandish. Bigby interrupted his search for the pair's missing cubs in an effort to save his wife, but did not fair so well against Brandish's trickery. Naturally, she's sad at Bigby's loss, but Snow is happy to be the one to strike down the villain as she vowed to do early in the arc. And she fulfills that vow with panache and style.

The artwork by Mark Buckingham is one of the highlights of this series, and he doesn't disappoint this time out. Both the fight scenes between Brandish and Bigby in No. 128 and between Brandish and Snow in No. 129 give a clear sense of the action and swordplay.

All in all, nicely done; I just wish they hadn't done that!

UPDATE: Just this past weekend, before this post went up but after I'd written it, news came out of ComicCon revealing the cover to Fables No. 134, which depicts -- Boy Blue and Bigby! No other details accompanied the release of the cover image, but there is renewed cause for hope. Especially since Prince Chaming has also recently been brought back from the dead in the pages of the Fables sister title, Faiest.

Part of the Pack

Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland hardcover
DC Vertigo
Bill Willingham, writer
Craig Hamilton, Jim Fern, Ray Snyder and Mark Farmer, artists
***mature content warning***

I am a big fan of Bigby Wolf, one of the principal characters of Bill Willingham's Fables universe. When introduced to the series in the first issue, he was the constable and an often strategist for the Fable folk in exile in New York City. Since then, the former Big Bad Wolf of legend has married Snow White and fathered a litter of cubs. Once that blessed event happened, Bigby stepped down as constable in favor of living with his family. Based on stuff I've read online, I'm not that unique in being a fan of Bigby; he's a very popular character in the series. But I like him in spite of his apparent popularity.

I've always liked wolves. They are noble, beautiful creatures; what's not to like. My appreciation of wolves extends to the monster genre. I like many kinds of monsters, but especially werewolves. Let everyone else swoon over vampires and swarm around zombies; I'll take the alpha monsters, werewolves! Bigby wraps both of these things up into one, with even more thrown in. He's also the seventh son of the North Wind, hence his ability to blow pigs' houses in.

But enough preamble. Let's get to this awesome book.

It features Bigby in a solo adventure, so naturally I wanted to order it as soon as it was solicited. But this isn't just a stand-alone Bigby story; I should have known better than that with Willingham's ability to constantly expand on the universe he has created for these characters. If you are new to the Fables universe, this can certainly work as a self-contained tale. All you really need to know is right there between these beautifully illustrated covers. But if you are a longtime Fables fan, this story builds upon the events from way back in Fables Nos. 28 and 29 from almost 10 years ago.

In those two issues, we learned that Bigby had taken part in the fighting of World War II. The Fables characters, magical beings, don't have traditional lifespans, and Fabletown has existed in New York City for decades. Bigby took a leave of absence in the late 1940s in order to combat the Nazi threat on his own terms. His position as constable of Fabletown includes policing but also protecting the Fable folk, he explains. Anyway, a very fun solo Bigby adventure was told in the pages of these two Fables issues.

This hardcover one-shot tells a current tale, but builds upon those WWII adventures depicted in Fables Nos. 28 and 29. Bigby is again on the road by himself doing work on behalf of Fabletown. This is an extended mission involving exploring regions of the United States. Bigby comes across a town by the name of Story City. That name alone might be enough to make him curious, but add to the city's name the fact that the entire population of the town are werewolves who all seem to know Bigby already. Those are the makings of a mystery. And this book is an excellent one!