Казки. Книга 11: Батьківщина в огні

Fables

by Bill Willingham (Writer), Mark Buckingham (Illustrator), Steve Leialoha (Illustrator)

Ось-ось почнеться фінальна битва між вільними казками з прозаїчного світу й імперією, яка окупувала їхню колишню Батьківщину. Наші наполегливі казкові герої спромоглися суттєво вирівняти шанси. Дерев’яних солдатів Ворога, раніше нездоланних, вдалося нейтралізувати, а імперія скоро познайомиться з новітніми технологіями — кулями з цільнометалевою оболонкою і бомбами з лазерним наведенням. Проте не можна завоювати сотню світів, дотримуючись правил чесної гри, — і у Ворога ще є несподіванки для мешканців Казкополя.

«КАЗКИ: БАТЬКІВЩИНА В ОГНІ» Білла Віллінґема, одинадцятий том коміксу, відзначеного багатьма нагородами, охоплює 70–75 розділи й містить післямову Віллінґема і спеціальний розділ ескізів Марка Бакінґема.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fables, Fairy Tales

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2008

About the author

In the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks. He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix.

In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The war has finally started.



I really enjoyed this volume even though at times it seemed like there was no real danger for our heroes and heroines.
Still at the end, sacrifices were made, though, how long the dead will stay dead is anyone's guess.
Also interesting to see what happened to the Adversary and (I think) even more interesting will be to see what happens to him from here on out.



This had a nice tidy feel to it that would (possibly) let you stop here if you wanted.
But who wants to stop?
On to the next volume!

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well that was fast, looks like i am getting back the old me fast enuff.
What an amazing end to war, and it was so easy most of the time, but we know because they had a plan and the factor of surprise on their side.
I was totally impressed by the heroism of prince charming and not that only, prince charming did a better job being mayor than king cole ever did imagine prince charming teaming up with snow white! they would rule for thousands of years and make the place amazing.
I was totally surprised by the amnesty they offered to Geppetto specially that he didn't really look into it he didn't really like being in fabletown at all and he looked like a beaten confused old man (its what he is right now but still...)
So the war ended in this volume
What else can the writer write about?
Maybe putting the different kingdoms of the empires up on their feet again after losing their emperor.
but will he write after that
That's what i am really looking forward to.
Its a challenge to keep this running and they did run it for 8 more volumes so lets see and read and enjoy the ride.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's here.. the Fables attempt at taking back the Homelands. So well thought out by Bill Willingham, with a well crafted game-plan, using information that had been drip fed to the reader in the previous 10 volumes; there's no crappy deus ex machina here. In addition, the story is narrated in the past tense by a few of the characters. Great stuff, that keeps Fables fresh and that opens up so many new future opportunities story-wise. We also get a nice Cinderella pre-war mission as warm up. 8 out of 12.

[Ярослава]

Жила-була і переклала - на цьому закінчується основна сюжетна арка і наша пригода з "Казками", аж трошки ностальгія в око потрапила авансом💔

The road so far: Батьківщину, звідки походять усі казки, поволі захоплює зловісний ворог. Спочатку прийшли по Смарагдове місто, але вони ж там больні на голову, потім по арабські казки, та й біс із ними, і так урешті імперія зла завойовує всі казкові держави, а останні вільні казки втікають у прозаїчний світ сучасного Нью-Йорка, де будують собі життя у вигнанні, але щороку підносять тост - "Наступного року на Батьківщині". І от нарешті той наступний рік у цьому томі настав.

Назву тому, "War and Pieces", хвацько вдалося локалізувати як "Батьківщина в огні".

Найсмішніший діалог тому:

Персонаж 1: Забагато! Їх там забагато! Ми всі загинемо!
Персонаж 2: Спокійно, друзяко. Скільки їх там, двісті до одного? Ну максимум триста до одного. Значить, покладеш триста ворогів — і решту дня можеш відпочивати.

[Calista · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is knocking it out of the park right now. This is the conclusion to the war of the fables, or so it looks like. This story was so satisfying. As in any war, there is much destruction and sadness, but wow. They had such a great idea for this. This series began 11 volumes ago with this war and it finally came to an end in this volume. I know there are at least 11 more volumes, so I wonder what the rest of the story is about. I’m just so impressed with this series and all the writing.

I love seeing all the fables with new stories to tell. Our library keeps getting rid of volumes, so I hope I am able to finish this series before all the volumes are gone. I might need to pick up the pace I’m reading these. Magic plus modern warfare makes for a very almost unbeatable army. They have a flying airship in here that is held aloft by magic carpets. That’s pretty good right. With the wooden army trees again, the emperor lost his best soldiers. I really am looking forward to where this goes next.

You could read just the first 11 volumes and have a great story and wouldn’t need to keep going. This is a pretty good end.

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am very disappointed how this series is progressing. The great Adversary, who provided the tension that made the story interesting early on (they were not just Fables living in the real world - they were Fables in exile of a great evil) is now just a chump TV villain that nobody has a reason to fear. Everything goes near-perfect for our plucky heroes, and even people who supposed to have no chance of survival manage to make it through alive with no explanation. The good guys make clever plans and the bad guys are morons. The one clever thing that the Adversary did should have been done far earlier in the war if he had half a brain (which, true, he does not, as he is made of wood, but you get the point). I am really, really disappointed and I am not sure if I will maintain interest in the series with the whole Adversary plot neatly wrapped up. The writing and characters are still great, but the plot has taken a nose dive that I do not think it will be able to pull out of.

Also, what is the deal with roasting wieners over the puppet king's corpse (who is a puppet both literally and metaphorical, and not nearly as responsible for the atrocities than the real Adversary), while the true evil, who committed inexcusable acts mirroring earth’s worse tyrants (but over dozens and dozens of worlds), gets a free pass, even though it is clear that he still wants to kill everybody? Geez.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite era of Fables. The culmination of what the series has been leading up to at this point, war with the Empire. I was a little surprised at how the war was handled, the story was much shorter than I expected. I did like the inventive ways that Fables mixed magic and modern weaponry. Mark Buckingham outdoes himself on the art with how he arms the animal Fables.

[Mohamed Metwally · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the drums finally stop rolling, the long awaited war that has been brewing for the past 10 volumes is here!

Summoning caches of modern weaponry, the Fables use mundy weapons to counter for their meager numbers compared to the hordes of the adversary. When a single bullet can take down a dragon, and a few soldiers can face an army armed with medieval weapons, then even magic can be of no help...

But would it be that easy? is this all there is to this tale? As Blue adequately puts it in the final pages, it would be naive to believe that this is the end and that all will live happily ever after Geppetto's capture...

I believe a sopecial note is due for Prince Charming whose massive turn of character and absolute cunning was key to the success of this campaign, he proved to be the kind of mayor/ leader the Fables needed at this stage, while King Cole was the right person to set up a sanctuary for the escaped fables, his leadership quaities were only taking them only as far as surviing comfortably in exile, someone as aggressive as Prince Charming together with a cunning mind was needed for the next stage, and it was the right person at the right place in time, because if Prince Charming didn't lead this offensive, then it would have been a matter of time before the adversary took matters into his own hand, and it would have been a totally different story. Kudos to Prince Charming and may he rest in peace, It would be really overkill if he makes a comeback, you have done more than enough to redeem yourself Prince, so let's leave it at that, and there is room for other characters to fall in...

This volume marks the half point of the series, so I believe a new arc is starting in the coming book, which I feel itching to start...

MiM

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Willingham's Fables is one of the few series I've stuck with since the beginning, and while it hasn't always maintained the quality and excitement of its best issues, it's been consistently entertaining without falling into too many predictable patterns, thanks to a single ongoing storyline that has dominated everything else: the war between Fabletown and the world-spanning magical empire of the Adversary.

In this trade paperback collection, the war comes to an end, which is an impressive milestone in itself. How often does a continuing comic book series predicated on some ongoing conflict that theoretically will reach an endpoint eventually actually reach that endpoint? Here, the Fables go to war with the empire and fight it to the end -- no kidding, no ambiguous ending, no new Adversary immediately rising out of the ashes to continue the struggle. And yet, the series is continuing, which means Willingham now has to create new stories and a new story arc.

So, being a graphic novel, there's no special effects budget and Willingham pulls out all the stops in an epic magical war with everything from bunker-buster bombs dropped from flying carpets to flights of dragons to endless hordes of goblins charging machine gun-wielding woodland animals. Fables will be a really, really expensive project if Hollywood ever tries to film it. And the Fables' tactics are as clever and ingenious as always.

That said, Willingham has a habit of using deux ex machinas with one Unstoppable One-Of-A-Kind Magical Artifact after another. The Fables' entire strategy depends on things like Boy Blue's Witching Cloak, which is an all-purpose teleportation device with unlimited carrying capacity + cloak of invulnerability, and a flying ship loaded with modern weapons which can outgun any dragon or sorcerer they send up against it. But Willingham overestimates the effectiveness of modern firearms -- if you're outnumbered by hundreds-to-one, some of the enemy are going to slip through, especially since they do have ranged weapons of their own, even if they are inferior. It's also annoying that the Fables have all these wonder-weapons and artifacts and Fables with super-special charms, and the Empire, which spans hundreds of worlds and has armies of sorcerers, only has a handful of tricks up its sleeve. Where are all the Empire's magical doomsday weapons and failsafe plans?

I probably should have expected this way back when Willingham (who's kind of a right-winger) had Bigby freakin' Wolf using Israel in his military metaphors. And the bad guys in this book actually give a "Woe is us, how could we have been so stupid?" speech about how being a police state with strict gun control is the reason why they're losing the war. So Willingham definitely gets up on his soapbox at times.

It was still entertaining, and satisfying to see an honest-to-gods conclusion to the big storyline that's been driving the series since the beginning. So, I'll be interested to see where Willingham goes next. (Hopefully without any Tea Party analogs.)

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm less than satisfied with the final conclusion of this story arc. I'm usually all for redemption and forgiveness, for giving even the worst antagonists the chance to reform rather than just vengefully and spitefully taking their lives - but that still requires them to be willing to give it an honest shot, and Geppetto here obviously has no intention or desire to do any of that. Hell, he was basically dragged into the whole thing against his will! How messed up is that?

Apart from that bit of disappointment, this story was... all right. I think it ended up as rather too easy and effortless for the heroes' side, despite valiant efforts on the writer's part to try and keep tension up. They could have stretched it out a little bit, afforded some crushing defeats, shown the Fables as the underdogs they are. It also skipped too much of what little we did see. But it wasn't awful, on the whole.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 2 out of 5]

The war with the Adversary starts and ends in this volume. It's the most anti-climactic war story ever written--not in a way that reveals the banality of war, but rather because Willingham has de-powered the Adversary's forces to such an extent. All the Fables make the right choices, every single time. The Empire's armies (which stretch over countless worlds and are comprised of a nearly infinite amount of soldiers) are destroyed basically off-screen, without any effort.

The story focuses on Boy Blue, who uses the Witching Cloak to transport and supply the Fables; Prince Charming and Sinbad, who fly an airship armed with guns; and Cinderella, who rescues Pinnochio and goes toe-to-toe with Witch Finder Hansel. I've never cared about Boy Blue, and this story didn't change my mind. Prince Charming was utterly out-of-character, and Sinbad was there so Charming could tell him plans and have Sinbad say, "Great idea!" Snow White, King Cole and Bigby get an appearance each, but have little to do. Cindy has the best story of the bunch.

And then, they defeat all the Adversary's armies, Boy Blue vorpal blades the Emperor's head off, and Gepeto is forced to sign the Fabletown compact. Annnnd that's it. Nobody dies. Nobody despairs. At no point did I fear for a single character. A very disappointing conclusion to a very long build-up.

[Conrad · Rating 1 out of 5]

A terrible conclusion to what was in parts a great series. Fables jumped the shark somewhere around the paeans to the Israeli Defense Force; in this book, the writer is marvelously impressed with his familiarity with such military esoterica as "concentrated fire" and "bombing." There's a spy story in the beginning in which said spy's internal monologue is about nothing but what an awesome spy she is. It's really risible. Finally, the last scene involving the Adversary makes absolutely no sense.

It's really unfortunate; the only storyline in Fables worth paying attention to didn't need a fairytale ending, in which everything goes so well for our heroes. As others have pointed out, it's also deeply unfair that the mock-Emperor is used for firewood while the guy who pulls his strings is offered Fabletown citizenship.

What I find most noxious, in the end, is the self-righteous, pseudopatriotic overtones in parts of this series. That Geppetto is granted citizenship is consistent with the American ideal (tactic?) of enveloping what you can't destroy - of driving cultural growth through successive absorption and assimilation of enemies. The war between the Adversary and the Fables is meant to strongly resemble America's modern wars, what with smart weaponry and debates over force strength. But it's a false metaphor. America is not a small, embattled clique of hunted survivors with magical powers, and the Fables don't value pluralism and forgiveness in such a way that makes Geppetto's assimilation believable. Willingham has reached WAY too far by trying to be topical, and anyone who doesn't think this ending is disastrous is clearly not paying very close attention.

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have mad love for this series. I tried to stay away, take a long break, but it pulled me back. I'm a fairy tale addict and Willingham gets fairy tales and how to take them and give them a modern update without destroying the essence of what makes fairy tales so appealing.

I like that while Bigby and Snow are much loved and favored characters in this series, they take a back seat and we see the heroism and the complexity of other Fables. I love how the backstories of the characters come into play through their actions in this book. It's a happy surprise to see which ones come to the forefront as heroes. Boy Blue is a standout character, and that's a very nice development in the story. Cinderella, though not even close to being my favorite fairy tale, is rocking the spy thing. I like it very much. Even Prince Charming shows that he does have some hero down deep.

Fundamentally, this book is about war and its cost. The author handles this subject with the integrity it deserves, and shows that fairy tales are fundamentally moral and allegorical tales that teach the reader something about humanity. So Fables as a series stays very true to the heart of fairy tales, and I love that about this series.

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

La guerra contro l'Impero inizia e finisce in questo volume, una guerra gestita bene e con inventiva, ma che alla fine mi ha lasciato un pizzico di delusione per la rapidità con la quale si consuma il tutto.

Ok, Favolandia ha sfruttato al meglio le proprie possibilità e le circostanze li hanno aiutati, ma una tale debacle da parte del nemico, un tale prendere sottogamba l'avversario mal si addicono a chi ha conquistato tutto i mondi uno dopo l'altro.

Come nel decimo volume, anche qui brilla la figura del Principe Azzurro, insopportabile e attivista in tempo di pace, ma che nelle avversità ha saputo tirare fuori il meglio diventando davvero un principe fiabesco.
Un'evoluzione incredibile, visto fa dove si partiva nel primo volume.

Così come si rimane a bocca aperta nel vedere in azione Cenerentola e la Bella Addormentata.


Fosse stato il finale della serie sarei stato abbastanza deluso per una conclusione tutto sommato sbrigativa e che non concede il giusto pathos a determinare situazioni. Ma è solo la fine di questo arco narrativo, le direzioni future sono già state indicate e non testa che aspettare per vedere cosa succederà, e quali eventuali nuovi personaggi arriveranno sotto i riflettori.

[Jonathan Terrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the other day I had a realisation in regards to a film which several people had curiously called a 'dumb film.' Then I read an article which pointed out that such a movie, judged linguistically may be seen as dumb. But the language of films, the article noted, extends beyond the dialogue or plot. It extends into the visual and therefore has a kind of visual intelligence. I would like to theorise that writing can be the same, that there are multiple types of ways to read a book.

One way I would argue is emotionally, to read into what you feel about a novel. To this extent a book might have a particular emotional intelligence - perhaps this is why certain books appear to sell well, when in reality they can be perceived by the general public as poorly written or trashy works. Another way is to read literally, to read linguistically into the words. There is perhaps a further way in reading into the sense or tone of a novel, which is something I personally do regularly. My point being that, to consider works of fiction from purely a linguistic perspective in this modern age may be a fallacy of sorts.

When it comes to a strong graphic novel series no doubt there will be both visual and linguistic intelligence at work. But perhaps we may overlook the less obvious emotional intelligence? Or the intelligence granted the reader through the use of tone? With Fables there are no doubt those who look at it as a dumb series, with some interesting ideas about fairytales - ideas that still have been done before. But perhaps they are reading it wrong?

What if instead we are meant to look at the ways in which these ideas are coming together with art, clever choices and consistent plotting? What if we are meant to note how fresh it is to have a graphic novel series that doesn't just focus on the story or just focus on the art - a well rounded series. Maybe that is worth a consideration?

[Aldo Haegemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit one-sided. There Still was allot of drama and it felt like it could’v changed out of nowhere. I’m curious What way the story Will go now.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well now, that was ... fast.

War! It's war! We're at war! All-out bloody war! And so are they. And everyone, really. Except for the Mundys who once again have no clue. *lol*





Seriously, considering how much Fabletown is outnumbered and, at least technically, outgunned, it was amazing how they went at it. Not gonna spoil the ending but good tactics obviously can make up for A LOT.

The only problem I have with this is how fast it all came to blows and, once it did, how even faster it was over again! At least considering the long-ass build-up. However, that might always be reality vs. expectation.

I'm curious about where the story will go now.

[Sud666 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Vol 11 doesn't hold back in terms of plot development and excitement. I enjoyed this "culmination" volume to the Fables story arc. The book is divided into two stories but more on that in a second.

The Fables and the Imperial forces are at a state of war. So Vol 11 starts with a two-fold preemptive strike against the Empire. The first part of the book deals with the covert side of the story. Cinderella is a truly impressive and badass covert operative. I really enjoyed her operation. Also kudos to the concept of taking the enemy's weapons with you! Don't leave weapons+ammo that you might need behind. Well done!

Then the overt military side happens in part two. The fables launch into Imperial territory using an innovative mixture of magic and modern tech to destroy the Imperial strongpoints and attack Imperial military forces. That was also an interesting story and unfolded in an interesting way. No spoilers.

Thus "ends" the major arc of Fables. The struggle between the Empire and Fabletown is over and the fate of Gepetto is poignant. Let's see the aftereffects of the decision. I shall say no more about that.

While the "main" arc may be considered over at the end of this volume (issue 75 I believe in terms of the single issues), I do look forward to finding out where they go from here. There are still quite a few issues I would like to see resolved first. So I need to find room on my shelf for more volumes of this excellent series. I'm still on board.

Any fables fan will love this exciting (lots of multi-page spreads) finish to the Imperial War story arc.

[Pat the Book Goblin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This volume was the War. It took 10 volumes to get to this point and it was great. A small part of me thought it could have been better planned but overall it was a great read. I can’t wait to read what happens next since the Adversary is no more but who knows...there’s always someone to fight.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume 11 of this Eisner-winning graphic novel collects issues # 70-75, and arrives at what Willingham had been working up to from the first issue of "Fables": Fabletown goes to war against the Adversary.

But, before the main event, the story arc "Kingdom Come"provides us with the last-minute war council among the leaders of Fabletown and also for Boy Blue's confession of love to Rose Red. We get a glimpse on the pseudo-transition of Fabletown government officials comes about in light on the attack on the Homelands.

Next is the two-part "Skullduggery" featuring our favorite super spy Cinderella, or Cindy as she prefers to be called nowadays, taking on a deadly mission to recover an invaluable package but runs into enemy agents. Cindy demonstrates why she's the world's greatest secret agent, and there's also an unexpected development with Rodney and June (with Junebug in tow), spies for the evil Empire living under the very noses of Fabletown citizens.

Even as Cindy is doing her covert thing as a favor to Frau Totenkinder, the war is already in progress. Narrated in three issues, "War and Pieces" brings to a climax the all out war between Fabletown and the Empire, in which Willingham manages to tell a compelling story.

With the Fabletown refugees so outmanned by the Adversary's minions, they have to resort to unconventional war tactics, and the Emperor does not even see coming. As such, they make good use not only of magic but also of modern mundy technology. The battle plan hinges on three main deployments: a flying wooden ship -- manned by European (with Prince Charming leading them) and Arabian (under the command of Sindbad) fables alike, and powered by many magic carpets tucked in its sides to keep it afloat -- out to target the Empire's interdimensional gateways; a secret camp in the Imperial Homeworld, established to serve as Fabletown's last getaway resort and supervised by Bigby Wolf; and the infiltration in the heart of the enemy's capital of a classic fairy tale character, armed with only a needle and two bodyguards.

It starts out well for the good guys as Gepetto's puppet Emperor is befuddled by this unfamiliar brand of warfare and frustrates his second-in-command, the Snow Queen. But, then again, the Emperor's got the advantage of overwhelming forces, even with the loss of his many brothers from the Sacred Grove, and he employs that.

Willingham goes into good detail about the minutiae of running a war, of presenting both sides' military tactics and strategies. And it's nice to see that, with things on the line, there's no one more efficient or reliable than Snow White in running the home office.

While I found this to be a satisfying addition to the series, it is not the end. There are a lot of questions and loose ends needing resolution. And of that, I'm relieved. I don't want the series to end but I'm admittedly curious as to how Willingham will be able to continue this saga now that the war is finally over.


Book Details:

Title Vol. 11: Fables: War and Pieces
Author Bill Willingham
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good read but written in a way with not a lot of actual action.

World: The art is amazing, there is simply not much else to say at this point about Buckingham’s art as it really does set the standard and the look of the world. The world building is amazing, this is the war, this has been building since issue one and this is the culmination of the idea of the Adversary and the Homeland and we finally have the pieces in place for it all come into play here.

Story: A wonderfully paced and large in scope story that does wish there was more action but the larger picture and view and the quiet moments really make this a character driven war over an action driven war. I really liked the quiet moments, the moments of character and planning and execution that gave readers a bigger glimpse of the things happening in all the lands. There is some small battle situations but this mainly is big picture. There is consequences and characters we love and hate both show their true colours here in the end and it’s a beautiful thing. I cannot get enough of Cindy as she’s amazing once again in her little tale. This was a satisfying end and opens the door for so much more drama in the next new larger arc.

Characters: What can I say, there are so many characters and so many character moments that I can’t list them all here but it’s all pretty amazing. From Blue to Red to Bigby to Charming to Beast the list goes on and one and they each have their moments and their actions matter. I love that we did not skip character moments over action (the reverse happened). There are consequences that happen and it makes sense and really does give readers a beautiful look at these characters and what they are at their purest form.

I love this series and this arc was a culmination that readers have been waiting since issue one.

Onward to the next book!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pieces that the title refers to must be what happens to your heart after the events of this volume. War has a price and the price in this case is high.

I wasn't expecting to wind up liking a particular character as much as I did or how heavy my heart would feel when they were gone. I knew he had some hero in him as we'd seen tiny snippets of it in previous issues so I wasn't surprised as his insistence of doing what he did. I am surprised at this character's demise and it again reinforces what I've said, no one is safe in Fabletown.

I do wish we had seen more of the Snow Queen. No, I don't want the bad guys to win, but after all the preparation and leading up to the war in the past issues, it seems just a tad bit too easy. Not that I think it's completely over by a long shot. The next one is called The Dark Ages, I am very concerned over who is going to the bite big one next. I'm not sure my fairy tale loving heart can take it.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The war is here and...it's okay?

So first we get the start of preparing for the war with boy blue. Then a super secret mission with our favorite spy. And then we have the war itself. This covers pretty much the start, middle, and end of the entire war.

Good: I liked the stuff with boy blue, the human moments with Bigsby, and the spy stuff. The rest?

Bad: Was kind of boring. The war didn't have any crazy fight scenes for me.

Overall this was a mehish volume. Probably one of the weaker ones so far.

[Celise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. And so ends an 11 volume arc. I'm both excited and nervous for the second half of the series. What can possibly come after?

[John Elbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that Fables is in the 'Public Domain', I thought it was time I read the entire series (including all spinoffs and specials) from start to finish in sequential tpb reading order. Here we go!

Fables First-to-Finale reading #16
Fables vol 11: War and Pieces

So Charming and King Cole engage in the Politics of Dancing. Cindy plays Spies Like Us. A lot of stuff gets blown up. The oneside war goes off without a hitch until it doesn't. Glory goes out in a blaze of glory! And just like that, the Empire strikes back. Heroes rise, and advarisies fall as the war ends. Let's catch our breath. Ok, what's next?

[Kayla (onthefritz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end of the great war, but not the series. This was good, but went as expected. Looking back at the earlier volumes, there was a lot more mystery and twists where the more recent ones were more straight forward.


1/1 – Blue gets friend-zoned by Rose, Beauty feels left out since she isn’t a secret spy.

1/2 – Cindy goes on an errand for Frau – to pick up Pinocchio who ran off from his dad, Charming steps down from office making King Cole mayor again and Beauty his deputy. Charming is in charge of the war. Pinocchio and Cindy get grabbed by Hansel wanting to know when they are striking, the war has already started.

2/2 – Cindy and Pinocchio escape to be stopped by Rodney and June (the puppet turned human couple spying outside of Fabletown) Pinocchio convinces them out of loyalty to their father to turn themselves in and help fight with Fabletown to relieve Geppetto from the evil of being the Emperor.

1/5 – War begins, all is going well. The Emperor sends all but one dragon at once to flying ship and an army finds the backdoor army camp with the bean stalk.

2/5 – Pinocchio is feeding the Fables information, the flying ship rains bullets on all of the dragons, Briar Rose pricks her finger in the Imperial City and puts everyone asleep along with a mass of thorny vines that covered the city

3/5 – With one gate left to bomb, everyone is overly confident. The Adversary’s last dragon hides in the trees and attacks the sky ship as it descends to get water. Dragon burns ship allowing stored ammo to explode, many abandon ship on magic carpets. Charming is severely burned, was able to direct ship remains to land in lake, one last bomb is underwater to use on the last gate.

4/5 – The Emperor sends word for all remaining allies to go to Fort Bravo, where the beanstalk is. An enchanted arrow that will always strike true hits Blue and Bigby, who are out for a while during a mass attack from the enemy. Bigby goes one-on-one with the Emperor, but Blue comes in with his magical sword and beheads the Emperor as before. The bomb goes off at the last gate, the great war was won.

5/5 – Charming died in explosion, Geppetto moves to Fabletown with the amnesty clause living on the 13th floor with the other sorcerers

[Jessi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I read in 2009, and I don't think I could have made a better choice. In War and Pieces, the war against the Adversary reaches it conclusion, and I found it very satisfying. The story starts out with Cinderella's clandestine mission to get the upper hand on the Empire; watching Cindy in super-spy mode made me wish she had her own spin-off. It would be just like Alias! And seeing Beauty's confused/enraged reaction to Cindy getting her own mission ("SHE-ONLY-SELLS-SHOES!") is priceless.

The war itself is told through Blue's perspective, and I really felt sympathy for him in this book. He's melancholy because he's been rejected by Rose Red (he has the worst luck with women!) and because being in the war reminds him of the past. He's a key figure, though, because he's able to use the Witching Cloak to keep the front lines supplied and to keep all the bases up-to-date. There's also a scene towards the end that had echoes of Blue-as-Neville in the final Harry Potter book, which made me love him even more.

There's so much to enjoy in this book. The conclusion of the "War with the Empire" story arc, of course, but also the return of some characters and plot points we hadn't seen in a while (Briar Rose turns out to be pretty important, and the zephyrs and magic beanstalk also have parts to play in the war). Prince Charming actually turns out okay in the end, which was pretty amazing. Flycatcher is mentioned but never seen, but after giving him his own story arc I guess that's forgivable.

I highly recommend this book to everyone - Fables is one of my favorite comic books, and this is a an impressive end to a long-running storyline. I'm glad the creators opted not to finish the Fables series with the end of the war, because I love the world they've created and I'm looking forward to more.

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was it with issue 70? The art could have been beautiful but no, the faces and character reactions were way over done. Rosy red cheeks, pancake batter on Red’s nose? I am beginning to think I only like darker graphics. I want some violence and dark imagery.

And whatever happened to Bigby and Snow? I mean, the writer must have a low opinion of parents, or at least think once kids pop out, people become boring. They’re married, shipped off to the farm, and drop out of the storyline. They show up for quirky little bits so readers can talk about the one or two pages where Bigby scowls and Snow, well, Snow doesn’t even scowl anymore. And then Bigby is suddenly in the picture, nearly killed, and is saved, all for what reason? I felt as though I was being jerked around.

Blue Boy is my favorite character, for some annoying reason. And I musn’t forget Frau Toten-whatever. I really liked her, probably the darkest character in the series, but even her story was skimmed over and I want more bloody details! So, I think I need to find some darker graphics. But I did enjoy seeing little bunnies and the like running around, shooting guns. Who would have guessed.

One last gripe. The volume builds up Charming, trying to force readers to like him (which failed) and then he was killed. I think a main character needed to die but the writer did not want to sacrifice a truly popular character so he attempted to force Charming into the spotlight. What a bad idea.

For now, I'm done with these. What a waste to finish all but the final volume. Maybe I'll come back in a few weeks.

[Ritinha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the «Cindy mode XIII*» segment.


*the Franco-Belgian comic by Jean van Ham

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy Blue makes a tactical error. He finally tells Rose Red about his feelings—much too late.

There are some very nice panels early on with the non-human fables at the Farm. They get the choice to move to Haven or to stay where they are. Surprisingly (or maybe not) many of them are not too keen to move. 🐻🐭🐮🐔

And then Cinderella gets to practice her skills as a spy in Skullduggery. Part Two dragged quite a bit. We do get a very unexpected development with Pinocchio. 🪵🪵🪵

Next is War and Pieces. Full Metal Storm, aerial battles thanks to flying carpets, dragons… and magical warfare thanks to Briar Rose. It looks great for our Fables, until it doesn‘t. And then it‘s really bad and looks like a last stand at Fort Bravo. Some good battle scenes and a surprising ending. 🐺🐺🐺🐺

And what do we get at the end of many battles and wars? Talk about Amnesty… and that part is truly a Fairytale! I liked it though. It put a nice end to a huge and pretty long story arc. Or let‘s call it an important milestone, as Bill Willingham does in the afterword. Took me a while to figure out what he was referring to when mentioning the German Fairytale road. I care to walk along for a little bit longer. 🧚‍♀️ 🧚‍♂️ 🧚 🧚‍♀️

Nice pencil sketches following the afterword!

Collecting: Fables 70-75

Full review with some artwork at my Wordpress blog