Kako se Snješka polako oporavlja od metka u glavi, ona i Vučko provode mnogo vremena zajedno. No, kad su objavili da zajedno odlaze i na odmor, čitav se Bajkograd šokirao … i ne samo zato što Snješka nikad prije nije uzimala slobodne dane. Njihov iznenadan odlazak iz New York Cityja - i smrtonosna opasnost u koju će uskoro uletjeti - nisu ni blizu tako opasni kao nemilosrdni neprijatelj koji još vreba duboko u šumi. Ova knjiga donosi i specijal BAJKE: POSLJEDNJA TVRĐA, o velikom ratu koji je prisilio Vučka Vuka, Kraljevića Bajnog i Plavobradog da napuste domovinu i potraže sigurno utočište. Dok bitka bjesni, upoznajemo i tajanstvenu ženu u crvenom i saznajemo zašto zamjenik Snješke Bijelić, Šegrt Plavi, na svojoj trubi svira samo blues.
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
Tomo II de « Fables ». En él seguimos las investigaciones de Lobo Feroz en Villa Fábula y sus tejemanejes junto al resto de los personajes. Barbazul, por un lado y El príncipe encantador, por el otro. Ambos ansían poder ¿pero quién se saldrá con la suya? Eso es lo que se averigua en este tomo. Conocemos a su vez a otros grandes personajes de los cuentos como es Zarza rosa (La bella durmiente) y su maldición en este nuevo mundo, así como el pasado de varios personajes ya vistos, entre ellos el de Lobo Feroz, el Chico de Azul o Caperucita Roja. En general me está encantando este cómics. Sin lugar a dudas, el autor y los dibujantes que colaboran se han merecido todos los premios recibidos. No puedo no ponerle menos de 5 estrellas.
"¿Qué define a la humanidad? (...) (...) lo que nos hace especiales y nos separa de las otras bestias es nuestra capacidad para inventar historias" (Willlgham, p.6)
Este segundo volumen me ha encantado, no sólo por la historia principal, la que tiene lugar en Villa Fábula, sino también por las historias dentro de la historia.
Aquí, además de las confabulaciones de Barba Azul; las investigaciones de Lobo y los intentos de apartar a los Mundanos de lo que ocurre en El Bosque, nos adentramos en el por qué del exilio de las Fábulas, en cómo llegaron a Nueva York y cuál fue el rol de nuestros protagonistas en esa huida. A través del relato que Chico de Azul le hace a Blanca durante la conmemoración de "Idus de Mayo", se van develando una serie de acontecimientos y personajes que, intuyo, luego serán fundamentales para la trama.
Otro relato que disfruté fue el que Lobo le hace a Papamoscas sobre los orígenes de Villa Pequeña y la tradición de las "novias de cebada".
Willingham es un guionista excepcional y las y los dibujantes, coloristas y entintadores/as de este número no se quedan atrás.
Bag O’ Bones. This American Jack story is a lot of fun. I would have much preferred to see these in the Jack of Fables series than what we got [7+/10].
Two-Part Caper. Another fun story, particularly for its intro of Briar Rose and for seeing a bunch of characters work together who we usually wouldn’t expect to. (I really miss Jack in the Fables comic!) Unlike the caper that kicks off Legends in Exile, this one feels important to the comic as a whole (though still a different sort of story than we’d later get). [7/10]
Storybook Love. This is a great arc, primarily because Willingham isn’t worried about changing up the status quo. He thus wraps up some loose ends from Animal Farm and puts things in motion for the future (some of which are still playing out!). The strength of his large cast is also becoming increasingly obvious [8+/10]
Barleycorn Brides. This story feels pretty small and unimportant, but it’s fun and well told; Willingham does fairy tales well. [7/10]
The Last Castle. This story is great first of all for its early view of the war against the Adversary. However, it’s all got a great element of tragedy that adds a lot to Blue, who hadn’t gotten a lot of screentime previous [8/10].
This was just as good as the first time I read it. The first time I read them as single trade paperbacks and I loved them. I was so happy to finally get back into the world of fables and read more about the characters. If you haven't picked up this series then I would definitely recommend picking it up as soon as possible.
I'm still pretty meh on these new deluxe editions...I say after reading only the second one.
Like Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1, re-reading this was much less enjoyable than reading those stories had been the first time around. I'm still blaming Saga, Volume 4. It ruins everything.
There were some stories in here I still enjoyed. There were some I didn't. And the Wolf Meets Snow And Her Sister story at the end of this volume, wasn't it illustrated when it first came out? Like, in comic format, I mean, and not with three B&W full-page pictures that accompany the story. Isn't that where the wolf-standing-on-Snow part of the cover from the first deluxe edition came from? (Nevermind. It's the tiger, not the wolf, standing on her) Am I totally misremembering that? I couldn't look at Vol. 3 to see if it started out with the illustrated version of that story because Gabe has it at work. Gabe's horrible. And so is my memory.
Anyway, I think I'm excited to enter some new territory. I am hopeful of other tales from the world coming into play because, really, it's just too many white people doing rich white people things and I can go up to Cherry Creek if I want that.
Solid sophomore effort, the second volume. A combination of some progression of the main plot (learning more about the Adversary or how far the Fables will go to protect their secret community in the mundy world), but a larger focus on world-building and character development of characters, such as Boy Blue, Jack of Tales, Prince Charming, and Bigby. The art remains very good, but the revolving cast of illustrators places an unnecessary burden on readers as characters look different in different story arcs. I also liked there was a mixture of short and long stories.
Ljubav iz bajke je postala moja ljubav prema ovom strip serijalu. Nisam ocijenio s peticom, a vrlo je blizu jer u ovom deluxe izdanju nema loše priče. Dobro sam došao. Ovog sam puta uskočio u vlak prema zvijezdama. 4.5
There are several different arcs in here, so let's break them down:
Bag o' Bones: One chapter detailing Jack's actions in the Civil War. It's gross on a lot of levels. Just, like, all of the levels. I don't want to get into it, but this definitely has been the nadir so far, also because it seems so irrelevant to everything else going on thus far. It's well told, but I very much question if it needed to be and also basically all of the decisions made here (like the Black devil).
A Sharp Operation/A Dirty Business: A reporter has uncovered the truth of Fabletown: that they're vampires obvs! This one is at least cohesive with the rest of the story, and I think it does some world building work. That said, it again does feel mildly unnecessary. As with everything else, it's gruesome and dark.
Storybook Love: The title is misleading as you might expect. It does center on the relationship of sorts between Wolf and Snow White. I want to be into it, but it does feel very "this was written by a man". And, uh, yeah, that kinda sums it up. The plot is intense though, and it was nice to be back to the main story of Fables.
Barleycorn Brides: There's some insight offered into the war here, I guess? But again this chapter seemed to do basically nothing.
The Last Castle: Despite being another side story essentially, this recounting of the final fall of the fable kingdoms by Little Boy Blue is so good and so painful.
Sort of a mixed bag here. The storytelling and art are excellent, but there are some very male decisions at times and also just some stuff that feels like spinning wheels here.
Really good second volume, these next 10 issues don't go much into progressing the main plot rather than doing some world-building and character development of main and second protagonists. It was interesting, both the sub-plots of Boy Blue and Jack of Tales, the small scrpit at the end about Bigby's background was excellent.
Enjoying this series so far through and through. Only reason I didn't give the 5 out of 5 is the continuous change of illustrators. It'll take some time for me to oversee it and completely enjoy the thrills this story so gerenously provides.
An even more entertaining set of twisted tales than the first Deluxe Volume.
I am arriving very tardily upon understanding why the series is held in such high regard! His intentions, gentle reader, were anything but honourable...
Having finished the second Deluxe installment in Fables, I can now safely say that I am 'into' this series. By which I not only mean that I am really enjoying it, but also, that I am immersed enough to really feel compelled to continue. The story lines in this second book are less coherent as a whole--although they do continue the overall plot arc--but they work really well to expand the scope of the world and give you great (and wonderfully tangential) background on a lot of the characters. Jack of Tales gets his first--of what I'm told are many--personal installment, as does Boy Blue. There are also some interesting plot twists that are, I think, actually pretty ballsy for how risky they are. For instance, major character gets killed off right when you were getting used to him (or her, I won't spoil) as a major plot instigator, in a rather surprising turn of events.
This compilation was also interesting because it intermixes the very different artwork and drawing styles of several different people throughout the story. In some cases, such as "Barleycorn Brides" story, it's a stand-alone story, so having a different artist (with a really playful 'comic-booky' drawing style) is a nice way to differentiate between a major plot arc and a sub-story, as well as really changing the episode's tone. ("Barleycorn Brides" is actually related by a fable as a fable to a fable... if you can follow that logic.)
However, the artist switch-ups are most noticeable in the major arc stories. The book starts with illustrations by Lan Medina, whose artwork I think is really stellar. Later in the book, Mark Buckingham picks up the illustrations. And while I recognize that he is a talented artist--and someone who is intricately involved in Fables, I have to say I don't like his artwork as much. I'm no expert on (graphic novel) art, but I just really prefer Lan Medina's character drawings. This is actually the first time I've had a preference for one graphic artist's work over another, though, so perhaps this means I'm actually developing something of an aesthetic.
This edition contains issues 11-18 (volume 3 - Storybook Love) of the series, as well as 'Fables: The Last Castle' and "A Wolf in the Fold'. A special introduction from the author is also included. There was not a single weak point in any of the tales within this fancy hardback. The collection of stories is of a good variety and I enjoyed them all very much.
'The Last Castle' is a graphic novel, whereas 'A Wolf in the Fold' is an illustrated short story - both provided an interesting look into the history of the Fable storyline, about how our favourite characters ended up where they are now.
The book finishes off with 'Treasures from the Woodland Vaults', which was also included in the first Deluxe Edition. This section is a collection of pencil sketches of various scenes & characters from the stories told within the book.
3.5* rounded down - Fables continues with the same main cast members as well as characters from stories I'm not familiar with, and widens the approach to world building and storytelling . Some of the stories include a trickster named Jack who traps the Grim Reaper with unexpected consequences, a heist using Briar Rose's special ability to set off a sleeping spell, Liliputian spies and Thumbellina brides, the last stand of the fairy tale refugees and their final flight to the world of the Mundanes, and the main thread, the developing 'Will they or won't they?' between Bigby Wolf and Snow White. There was also a full, non-illustrated tale giving insight into Bibgy's backstory.
This volume branches out in more directions, adding variety to the style (both written and visual) and the pace of the story arcs. I prefer the backstories that detail the flight of the refugees and how they acclimated to the Mundane World, but the modern day story is also engaging, action-packed, and loaded with dark humor. The random tales run a bit lukewarm for me as I'm not sure if they are riffs on stories/characters I'm just not familiar with, but they're entertaining and make the work more multi-faceted. Thus, the author/artists were successful in drawing me further in, so I'm on to the next volume and look forward to seeing what shape the work will take.
Well, I was not completely taken with Jack of the Tales' story at the beginning of the book. Something about him puts me off, as I expect it's meant to. However, I really loved everything that followed it: Briar Rose - even if I thought even Bigby's "peaceful" resolution of the situation beyond creepy; Snow and Bigby's vacation - his wolf shape is gorgeous, and one of the panels showing the wolf and Snow sitting under a tree was my favorite of the whole collection; the Barleycorn brides story - also kind of creepy in a way, but what were they to do; and especially the last one about the last boat out from the homelands. Then there was the wolf's story, before Bigby became human, something unexpected that I kind of wish had accompanying illustrations, but also not, because the story is quite strong as it is. I think that's the one that made me fully appreciate how good this collection was. I can't wait until I can get my hands on my more Fables issues.
This was great, if it isn't compared to the first volume. I enjoyed the hell out of it, but it was missing something, that something that made the story whole. This is the best I can explain it.
Finally, Goldilocks was dealt with. I've been waiting for this moment since 'Animal Farm', but I didn't even hope for such a gruesome, gory ending. Also, I thought this volume contains 10 issues, not 8, so I got a bit of a sneak peek on Red Riding Hood, and I'm HYPED for the next volume.
Simplemente maravilloso. Personajes perfectamente definidos, un excelente uso de los los clichés, renueva los lugares comunes y además pasa con fluidez de lo lúcido a lo trágico. Muy bien escrito y maravillosamente ilustrado.
I liked it, but half way through the style of the illustrations changed, the colors got a lot brighter, and the pictures became a lot less detailed. To me, that style didn't go as well with the story, it was too cartoony, I guess.
The second volume starts with a story about Jack set in civil war, in which he gets outed as much more sinister as his 'rougeish' persona suggested before. It wasn't a bad story, just nothing too special. 2,5/5
The second story in this volume is a bit more interesting. It shows how the Fables deal with humans who found about their secrets and it provided a lot of characterization for some of the Fables, which was nice. 4/5
The longest story in this book - The Storybook Love - had some good moments and some that felt a bit off and some that were just kinda eh. But it did forward the main story for sure, and there were nice character moments. I liked Bluebeard and Charming here. 3/5
Then there was a short story about origins of fable Smalltown. This one really felt more like a filler, but it was kinda nice actually. 3/5
The best for last. The Last Castle was a flashback story about the final battle against The Adversary, and it was very well told and I loved that we got a look at the desperate times in which the Fables had to abandon their Homelands 5/5
Better written and more engaging than the first book. Not great, but certainly good. There’s one long arc here, but I think the series benefits from the standalone stories that flesh out the characters and provide backstory. The one about Jack is a clever black comedy, while the Lilliputian and Boy Blue stories provide interesting peeks into the old world. I even liked the prose short about Bigby. I’m not attached to the characters but some are starting to grow on me.
Really enjoying this series so far. I find it so entertaining to see all the fairytale & childhood characters brought into a more modern, contemporary setting. The noir spin on it just adds a layer of grit that I absolutely love.
La historia sigue en plena forma. Varias cosas no me las esperaba e, incluso en aquello que mi personalidad no encaja con el tipo de historia, no tengo excesivos problemas.
Muy muy muy recomendable. En cuanto avance más tengo que hacer un análisis profundo de esta colección. Da para mucho.
I've been meaning to get to these for years and glad I finally have. A collection of wonderful, dark takes on classic fables with an engaging overarching story. Excited to see where it goes!