Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]
Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days) (Vol 7) (DC/Vertigo) [4/4/3/4] (collects 42-47)
w. Bill Willingham; a. Mark Buckingham, Jim Fern, and many fine inkers and colorists
Willingham’s saga of refugee fairy tales living in the Real World continues in full charm mode. He continues to do a grand job of (a) fleshing out the 2-D protagonists of folk tales and myth into interesting individuals, and (b) tell a ripping good story.
In this volume, the Fables living in New York have a great opportunity, and a great challenge — the Adversary, back in the Homelands, is finally attacking the Fables of Arabia, and they’re seeking refuge in this world. But how will cultures clash as Prince Charming has to deal with Sinbad, freedom meets slavery, and the black magic of the Gingerbread House Witch has to deal with the black magic of a might Vizier and his Djinn?
And that’s about a tenth of what fits in here. Fables, which has just reached 50 issues, tops my list for consistently entertaining story-telling. And that’s pretty appropriate.
Buckingham’s art resembles Willingham’s itself, and is robust, complex, yet simple enough to be followed without trouble. The pages are framed such that the various subplots become even clearer. A backup pair of stories addresses two of the Adversary’s wooden soldiers who fall in love — and, scandalously, want to become flesh. Fern’s art here is much rougher and, well, wooden.
Triffic stuff. If I had to drop down to 5 comics to read each month, Fables would be on that list.
Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne (Vol. 5) (Marvel) [3/5/3/3] (collects FF #268-276, FF Annual #18, Thing #19)
w/a. John Byrne
Continues the review of Byrne’s incredible run on FF, here in 1984-85, at the top of his game. The Thing is off on his own, post-Secret Wars, so She-Hulk rounds out the foursome. We get masks of Doom, a Galactus-like Terminus, an increasingly peevish Invisible Woman, the wedding of Blue Bold and Medusa (with the the tie-in to X-Men 137), the discovery of Reed’s father, and …
This volume includes the infamous (and riotous) “She-Hulk Caught Sunbathing on the Roof” issue, which is just too freaking much fun, and practically warrants buying the book in and of itself.
Not a lot of comics from the 80s hold up to today’s eyes. To my eyes, these stories and art definitely do.
Girl Genius: Angela Heterodyne and the Circus of Dreams (Vol. 4) (Airship) [4/5/3/5]
w. Kaja and Phil Foglio; a. Phil Foglio
The steampunk fantasy continues, as Agatha, having escaped from the Count falls in with a strange circus in the woods, both of which old many secrets.
It’s hard to sum up otherwise, than to say that the Foglios have a wicked sense of humor and wonder, the world they’ve conjured up is rich to the point of baroque, and Phil’s art captures the amusement, danger, and horror of it all.
Take up and read. GG is being pre-published online (only), and installments go up every few days here. It’s worth going back and reading from the beginning (which, again, you can do online, or via the various volumes already published). A worthwhile effort to take.
(listening to: Fiedel, Brad, “Caught in the Act” from True Lies)
(listening to: Pomona College Mens Blue & Whites, “Come Go with Me” from Silence Profound)
(listening to: Raffi, “Tsetang Gangla” from Let’s Play)
(listening to: Enya, & Howard Shore, “May It Be (End Titles)” from LOTR1: The Fellowship of the Ring)
(listening to: Fyhrie, Jim, “Veni, Veni (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel)” from Winter – Music for the Holiday Season)
(listening to: Hammer, Jan, “Miami Vice” from Television’s Greatest Hits – III)
I’ll second the recommendations for Girl Genius and Fables.
Actually, I felt that Fables lost some momentum during the “March of the Wooden Soldiers” storyline. It was always at the top of my to-read pile before, but now it’s in the middle. It’s picked up from time to time, and the last few issues have been quite good. Eventually I realized that I just find Snow, Bigby, and Boy Blue more compelling characters than Prince Charming, Beauty and the Beast.
Have you had a chance to look at the first issue of the spin-off, Jack of Fables?
(P.S. typo in the last line of the Fables section — you wrote “Legends.”)
Well … um … Legends was pretty cool, too. 🙂
I agree on your assessment of the characters — at first. I’m finding PC/B&B to also be coming into their own, a lot more interesting than they once were.