[BOOK REVIEW] Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers Volume 4 by Bill Willingham

Title: Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers Volume 4

Author:  Bill Willingham

Artists:  Craig Hamilton, P. Craig Russell and Mark Buckingham


Genre: Fantasy / Adventure


Year Published: 2004


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fables #4


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository

Brief Introduction:

After reading the third volume in Bill Willingham’s popular graphic novel series, “Storybook Love,” I was interested in seeing more of the many adventures of the “Fables” characters!  “Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers” is probably the most intense volume I had read so far in the “Fables” series as it deals with the Fables characters being engaged in war!  Anyone who is a fan of the “Fables” series will definitely want to check this volume out!

What is the story?

The story starts out as a refugee had escaped from the Adversary’s oppression, which happens to be Red Riding Hood herself!  But when she reveals her tragic tale to the Fables community, some Fables like Bigby Wolf, suspects that there is something fishy about Red Riding Hood’s tale.  Bigby Wolf and Snow White have to find out if Red Riding Hood is who she says she is or else, something tragic will happen to Fabletown!

What I loved about this comic:

Bill Willingham’s writing!:  I honestly think that Bill Willingham’s writing was definitely exciting and intense in this novel as the Fables characters are experiencing the terrible forces of the Adversary!  I loved the way that Bill Willingham provided a prologue story called “The Last Castle” that actually explains about how the fables escaped from the Adversary and Little Boy Blue’s romance with Red Riding Hood since the story was truly unique and intense at the same time.  I also loved the intensity that Bill Willingham put into the story “March of the Wooden Soldiers” as the theme of war is explored and all the characters are truly affected.  Even though I usually do not like reading about wars in novels, I did wonder about how fairy tale characters would have to get involved in war and this idea did interest me as I read it.  I was also shocked at the ending of this volume as there were so many twists to the plot line that I never would have figure out in the beginning of this novel!

The artwork:  Just like the third volume “Storybook Love,” I loved the different artists working on each story (although in this case, there were only three artists working on this volume which were Craig Hamilton, P. Craig Russell and Mark Buckingham).  I loved the artwork that Craig Hamilton and P. Craig Russell did for the story “The Last Castle” as it provided so much creativity to the story.  I loved how P. Craig Russell did the artwork for the moments between Snow White and Little Boy Blue as Boy Blue is telling his story about how he escaped the Adversary as the artwork looks dark yet slightly detailed and I loved the way that the characters’ eyes actually shone in the artwork.  I also loved the way that Craig Hamilton did the illustrations for the flashback sequence in which Little Boy Blue was working for Colonel Bearskin as the artwork looks bright and colorful and I loved the medieval influence of the artwork as the characters wear medieval clothing to represent the time period that Little Boy Blue tells his story.  Mark Buckingham has done an excellent job with the artwork in the “March of the Wooden Soldiers” storyline as the artwork looks extremely dramatic, especially during the war scenes.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

For anyone who does not like gory violence and strong language, this volume has plenty of both.  There is some bloody and graphic violence in “The Last Castle” and “March of the Wooden Soldiers” as characters is killed off in a gory fashion (characters are slashed open or stabbed to death).  Also, just like the previous three volumes, there is strong language involved which includes the “s” word and the “f” word, so people who are uncomfortable with reading such words might want to skim over these words.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, the “Fables” series is really picking up the pace in these volumes and “Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers” is definitely one volume that is worth a shot to read through!

[BOOK REVIEW] Fables: Storybook Love Volume 3 by Bill Willingham

Title:  Fables:  Storybook Love Volume 3

Author:  Bill Willingham

Artists:  Lan Medina, Mark Buckingham, Linda Medley, and Bryan Talbot


Genre: Fantasy / Adventure


Year Published: 2004


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fables #3


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

Brief Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes in Bill Willingham’s well-praised graphic novel series “Fables,” I just had to check out the third volume “Fables: Storybook Love” and at this moment, this volume has restored my faith in the “Fables” series!  That is not to say that the first two volumes were not great, but when I read the first two volumes, there was not enough development going on for the characters and I felt that I was reading filler stories rather than a good introduction to this series.  For anyone who wants to read a good volume of the “Fables” series, this is the volume to definitely pick up!

What is the story?

In this volume, there are several stories that really make up the future set up for the Fables characters including “Bag O’Bones,” which tells the story of Jack trying to trick Death, “A Sharp Operation” where Bigby Wolf has to stop a news reporter from exposing the secrets of Fabletown, “Storybook Love,” the main story where Bigby Wolf and Snow White realize that someone from Fabletown is threatening to kill them and “Barley Corn Brides” where it tells the story of how the Lilliputian Forces tried to find barely corn to produce more women in their village.

What I loved about this comic:

Bill Willingham’s writing!:  Just like the first two volumes, I really enjoyed the way that Bill Willingham tied in all of the fairy tale and folklore characters into a more modern day setting as they were run out of their homeland by the Adversary and are forced to live in the human world.  I believe that Bill Willingham’s style of storytelling has definitely improved in this volume as the characters are much more fleshed out in this volume than they were in the previous volumes.  I really enjoyed seeing more of the relationship between Snow White and Bigby Wolf as they seem to slightly complement each other, with Snow White being proper and authoritative and Bigby Wolf being more gruff and sly.  Bill Willingham has also done a brilliant job at mixing in some snappy dialogue to the characters within a dramatic storyline, such as hearing funny lines from Little Boy Blue while he and Jack and Bigby are trying to sneak into the news reporter’s apartment to erase his photos of Fabletown.  I also loved the little side stories like “Bag O’Bones” and “Barley Corn Brides” as they not only go into depth about the characters such as Jack and the Lilliputian people, but they also slightly bring up points about how the Adversary affected their lives (which was something I have been complaining about how the first two volumes rarely went into detail about the Adversary).

The artwork:  This was the actual first volume I have seen from the “Fables” series that uses several different artists to tell each story and I think that it greatly fits with the mood of each story.  Probably my most favorite artwork in this graphic novel was the artwork done in the story “A Sharp Operation” which was done by Lan Medina.  I loved the way that Lan Medina gave details to the characters facial expressions as they reflect anger and sadness and I also loved the way that Lan Medina made all of the characters extremely realistic, which really brings out the dramatic nature of the story.  I also enjoyed the artwork in “Storybook Love” done by Mark Buckingham, although my only quip with the artwork is the way that the characters’ faces lack vivid detail like Lan Medina’s artwork.  The artwork done by Linda Medley in the story “Barley Corn Brides” was the one that truly stood out from the rest of the artwork as the characters look like cartoon characters and the colorings were much brighter in this story.  Bryan Talbot’s artwork in “Bag O’Bones” was truly realistic and dramatic as the battle scenes are done in vivid detail.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

Anyone who does not like strong language and gory violence in a graphic novel might be a bit put off by this graphic novel.  The language is extremely strong as it uses words like the “f” word and the “s” word and that might be offensive for anyone who does not like strong language.  Also, there are many gory scenes in this graphic novel, especially in the story “Bag O’Bones” and “Storybook Love” and since they are extremely graphic, this would be too unsettling to read through.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fables: Storybook Love” is definitely much more improved from the previous volumes as the characters are better developed and we actually get to see something really happening with the storyline.  Now, I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the “Fables” series!

[BOOK REVIEW] Fables: Animal Farm Volume 2 by Bill Willingham

Title:  Fables:  Animal Farm Volume 2

Author:  Bill Willingham

Artist: Mark Buckingham

Genre: Fantasy / Adventure


Year Published: 2003


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fables #2


Publisher: Vertigo Comics


Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 

Animal Farm…

In comic form!

Brief Introduction:

After reading the first volume in Bill Willingham’s popular “Fables” series, I was a bit interested in reading the second volume of this series, hoping to find out more about the Adversary who took the Fables’ land from them.  But in “Fables: Animal Farm,” we are actually introduced to a revolution on the Animal Farm where Fable characters who are not human or cannot maintain a human form reside.  “Fables: Animal Farm” is a great follow up to the first volume that will have you wanting to find out what happens next!

What is the story?

Ever since the Fables were forced out of their homeland by an evil being called the Adversary, the Fables who were non-humans were forced to live on the Farm so that way they would not be under the suspicious eyes of the mundane world.  Unfortunately, a revolution seems to take place on the farm as the non-human fables decided to take back their land from the Adversary and then try to rule both Fabletown in New York and the Farm itself and it is up to Snow White to stop this crazy revolution before it is too late!

What I loved about this comic:

Bill Willingham’s writing!:  If you have seen the title of this volume entitled “Fables: Animal Farm,” then you will definitely know that this story is pretty much similar to George Orwell’s classic novel, “Animal Farm.”  To be honest, I never would have thought that Bill Willingham would include a novel that is a satire on the Russian Revolution into his “Fables” series which mainly includes fairy tale and folktale characters, but I will admit that I was really impressed with the direction he took this story!  I loved the way that Bill Willingham included famous animal characters from fairy tales and folktales such as Shere Khan from “The Jungle Book,” Brer Rabbit, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the Three Little Pigs and wove them into a sort of satirical tale that is based on the animals of the farm forming a revolution against the people who rule over the Fables.  It was also interesting seeing how Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs were leading the revolution, which put an insane spin on our favorite fairy tale characters.  Bill Willingham did a great job at portraying the relationship between Rose Red and Snow White and it was quite shocking seeing how Rose Red treated Snow White although Snow White tried to make amends on their relationship and once it is revealed about why Rose Red hated Snow White so much, you cannot help but feel a little sorry for her throughout the two volumes of the “Fables” series.

The artwork:  Mark Buckingham’s artwork is truly brilliant to look at as the characters look truly realistic and I love the facial expressions on the characters, especially whenever Snow White is upset, you can actually see the tears and the frightened expressions on her face which made me truly feel for her throughout this book.  I also loved Daniel Vozzo’s coloring on the artwork as the artwork has dark coloring that truly reflects the dark atmosphere of this story.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

Now, I did have a couple of issues with this volume that mainly revolves around the plot of this volume.  Now, I understand that this story is about the animals and the non-human characters having a revolution on the Farm because they felt they were being treated unfairly compared to the fables who live in the city, but I felt that this story just came out of nowhere since it was never mentioned in the first volume about there being problems on the Farm.  Also, I felt that there was not enough focus on Snow White and Rose Red’s relationship since the bulk of the volume was focused on the non-human fables fighting against the fables from the city and I wanted to see more from Snow White and Rose Red’s relationship throughout this ordeal.  Also, the ending felt like it lost some steam after the first half of the volume was pretty exciting with the revolution going on and then suddenly, the story starts to slow down towards the end. 

~A bit of a warning~

This volume is definitely more violent than the first volume as there is a lot of gore and violence regarding the revolution.  Anyone who is not a fan of violence in graphic novels might want to skim over the violent scenes in this volume.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, despite my gripes with this volume and the fact that this volume and the volume before it has not answered my question (WHO IS THE ADVERSARY?), “Fables: Animal Farm” was a great read and I am still excited to see what will become of the fables after the ordeal in this volume.

[BOOK REVIEW] Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Title:  Fables:  Legends in Exile

Author:  Bill Willingham

Artist: Lan Medina


Genre: Fantasy / Supernatural / Suspense / Crime


Year Published: 2002


Year Read: 2012


Series: Fables #1


Publisher: Vertigo Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 16+ (Strong Language and Gory Violence)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 

 

Characters of Fairy Tale land, meet the crew from CSI!

At least, the plot of this volume seems like something you would see out of an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation!” 

Brief Introduction:

After I have been hearing so many good things about the “Fable” series, I just had to check this series out for myself!  So, I picked up the first volume of “Fables” called “Fables: Legends in Exile” and I must admit that this volume did have me interested in reading more from the “Fables” series, so we will have to see what will happen next in the fantastic “Fables” series!

What is the story?

In Fabletown, where all the fairy tale characters lived alongside normal human beings in New York, a murder case is afoot when Snow White’s sister, Rose Red is brutally murdered and only Bigby, a detective formally known as the Big Bad Wolf, is on the case to find her murderer!

What I loved about this comic:

Fairy tales, Fairy tales, Fairy tales and Bill Willingham’s writing!: If there is one thing I love so much about reading books, is that I have the opportunity to read about fairy tales!  I just love reading about fairy tales and folktales in general and after I heard about a comic book series that was going to dedicate most of their characters to famous fairy tale characters such as Snow White, the Big Bad Wolf and Bluebeard, I just had to pick this series up to see for myself!  I loved the way that Bill Willingham made the fairy tale characters adapt to the modern day world of New York City and I especially loved seeing the fairy tale characters take on jobs in the real world that you would never expect them to do such as the Big Bad Wolf being a detective or Snow White working as the mayor’s deputy, which the mayor happens to be Old King Cole!  I also loved the way that Bill Willingham set up the crime scenes in this book as it helped create a sort of suspense to the story and the plot is set up where readers have to find the clues to the murder of Rose Red either through the clues set up in the story or through the Big Bad Wolf who is on the case!

The artwork:  Lan Medina’s drawing of the characters is so brilliantly done as all the characters look extremely realistic and sort of echo the comics that you would normally see in detective comics.  I also loved the coloring done by Sherilyn van Valkenburgh as the colorings in the artwork made the artwork truly effective, especially when there were moments where the characters were in dark areas and the colors just darken to reflect the nighttime during those scenes.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this book:

The reason why I gave this volume a four star rating was because I felt that the story dragged on a bit too long in some scenes and I was wishing that there was more action in the story.  Also, there were several mentions in this volume about why the fairy tale characters ended up in New York since they were exiled from their homeland by an evil being called the Adversary and I wanted to know more about the Adversary and how the fairy tale characters will get their homeland back. I will admit, it was a little jarring to suddenly be thrown into a murder case without really getting to know the characters first, but I guess we might learn more about the characters in the future, so we will have to see.  Also, for anyone who does not like strong language, this volume has got plenty of strong language that you cannot even imagine, even though I am used to this kind of strong language after reading Neil Gaiman’s fantastic “Sandman” series.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fables: Legends in Exile” is a good start to learning more about the fairy tale characters that were introduced in this volume and hopefully, the other volumes after wards would explain more about the Adversary and how the fairy tale characters will get their homeland back.  Now, I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volumes in this series!

AWARDS:

* Winner: 2003 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story