|
The long vertical panel style with thematically consistent side panels is an effective technique rarely seen elsewhere. I particularly enjoyed some of the full-page, detailed battle scenes.
This book, which encompasses original issues 70 to 75 is one of the strongest. Most of the action occurs in the Homelands instead of Fabletown.
What intense escapist pleasure reading the Fable series is. His way of tying in familiar concepts such as magic carpets and giving them, a modern day edgy sensibility is deeply satisfying.As usual in this series, the artwork is stunning.
What I find cool about Fables is not only the strong action storyline, but also the amazing characters. Bill Willingham breathes more than life into them - they explode off the page.
Drawings of the "Glory," the flying ship were especially interesting. Nice extras in this volume are Willingham's afterward (we rarely hear his voice outside of the work itself) and the sketches gallery.Like all other Vertigo titles, this is for mature audiences, not kids - adults will find Fables extremely entertaining.
Fables is an unique graphic novel that will make you rethink the old stories of your youth.
"Fables" isn't as experimental or out-there as some graphic novel experiences. In fact, the ending seems so solid that I really wonder what the next book will do to sustain the momentum.When these stories first came out as monthly comics, they never caught my interest.
Otherwise, everything you read about the later volumes will turn into a spoiler.But, if you're here, you've come to know the fairy-tale characters living in our New York (or something very like it). You've seen the tensions building up to the war between worlds - and you saw that brilliant, crippling first blow struck back in vol.
If you're new to the "Fables" universe, please do yourself a favor - begin at the beginning. Despite the thousands of pages that came before, this maintains the energy levels of the earlier books, and brings the war story arc to a satisfying close.
10. The war ends here, in a complex series of maneuvers involving the unique strengths of many favorite characters.
Well, I'm wrong a lot - or maybe not, since the suspense of waiting month after month for new installations, plus the chance of missing an issue would have driven me bonkers. Instead, it offers a good story, enjoyable characters, and a well-crafted alternative to superheroes in tights.-- wiredweird
It's not the ending to the series, but man, it should be, because it is a great ending to what has been a great series so far. I can't imagine how it could get any better or even keep up at the level it has been going for so long now. Great work Willingham.
If, by some chance, you've managed to let Fables go by under the radar the past few years, I strongly recommend going back to the beginning and giving it a try; once you get hooked, trust me, you'll be hooked for good. More twists and turns than a curveball clinic, action that never lets up, and the coolest flying ship this side of the old Wonder Woman comics.
Which means eleven more books. Glory be and hallelujah.
Bill Willingham, Fables: War and Pieces (Vertigo, 2008)The best thing about War and Pieces, the eleventh volume of Bill Willingham's wonderful series Fables, occurs in the afterword, and I don't think this is a spoiler that I'll be criticized for revealing: we are told that, despite this being the close of the story arc that's been building for the ten previous books, we're only about halfway through the greater work that is Fables. This is the book that changes everything.
Why. Because when I picked up the first one, I wasn't really sure about the series, but it took off pretty darned quick, and has become one of my most anticipated series as each book comes out (I get about as excited about The Walking Dead or the soon-to-be-ending 100 Bullets, but as far as American graphic novel series go these days, that's as far as that goes).Yes, here it is, the long-awaited war between Fabletown and the Empire.
How can you go wrong. ****
|
