Fables by Bill Willingham: A little something for folks who believe that good stories shouldn’t end at Happily Ever After... So, Prince Charming kissed Snow White, waking her from her stupor. And they rode into the sunset, even as the seven dwarves waved farewell — tears of happiness streaming down their faces. *And just in time, the Woodsman barged into the cabin, saving Little Red Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf. After slaying the mean animal, he escorted the girl back to the village, where she was reunited with her mother and father. Okay... and then what? You know these fairy tales can’t possibly end where they do, and ‘happily ever after’ just doesn’t cover it. There has to be more — probably somebody’s hiding something here. Well, if you ever felt like this after reading a chapter from your book of fairy tales, Bill Willingham’s Fables could be just the thing for you. Published by DC Comics’ s Vertigo imprint, it is something that tries to connect all the dots that traditional folklore has left missing, at times even blurring the lines between good and evil to achieve its goal. Featuring a rich starcast from fairy tales across the globe, it repaints every picture in a different light and gives actual human traits to non-complex characters that are no better than — forgive the uncouth expression — cardboard cut-outs. Okay, the story so far. Long after the Big Bad Wolf tries to make a meal out of Red Riding Hood and Snow White rides into the sunset with Prince Charming, the Homelands are invaded by the forces of the Adversary. However, the Fables had never really bothered to socialise among themselves until then, and are — therefore — unable to put up a united opposition. Realising that all is lost, they flee to the Mundane world (that’s ours, by the way) and set up a clandestine community in New York called Fabletown. In their new place of habitation, the members of this community have to follow certain rules — the first being that as they are supposed to keep themselves hidden from the human population, the use any kind of attention-drawing magic is forbidden. Secondly, as all the Fables have been granted amnesty from crimes committed back in the Homelands, they are forbidden to bring up ghosts from the past. Consequently, many of the ‘bad’ characters turn good. Strangely enough, the protagonist of the series turns out to be the Big Bad Wolf aka Bigby, while others like Goldilocks and Hansen become the bad ‘uns. The comic series starts off as a simple murder mystery, with Bigby (Sheriff of Fabletown) trying to find the person who has supposedly killed Rose Red, sister of Snow White, who is known more for her Promiscuity than any fairy tale exploit. As the story unravels, you realise that there is more to the mystery than what meets the eye. Later, the tales become more fantastic even as the Adversary begins launching attack after attack on Fabletown, and its members are forced to retaliate. Along the way, the community finds unlikely heroes in Boy Blue and the Frog Prince, and — among other developments — Miss Muffet becomes Mrs Spider and Geppeto is revealed to be a big bad man. Among the other characters featured in Fables are Prince Charming, Jack Horner of the Beanstalk, the evil Sher Khan of The Jungle Book, and the three pigs from Animal Farm. While Fables is quite an interesting read, one requires an open mind to enjoy it to the hilt. And, as the ‘Mature Readers’ label on its covers suggests, the series — like most graphic novels — deals with adult themes on certain occasions, and you have to be over 17 to check it out. A bummer, I know, but this one’s worth the wait! Image Link Photobucket, Source: Daily Protein
