bellatora's review against another edition
5.0
A nice return to the early spirit of Fables (less general Doom and Gloom). I do miss seeing Fables in the Mundy world and hope some storyline (not the Jack spinoff, which went off the rails early on) goes back to that. This one focuses on the realms of the Homeland, with Ali Baba (King of Thieves!) rescuing both Sleeping Beauty and the Snow Queen and the shenanigans that follow (Melting the Snow Queen's Heart! The evil fairy who cursed Sleeping Beauty coming to wreak havoc! A smartaleck bottle imp who may be playing both sides or may be working to reach a happily ever after for all parties!).
The main Fables series has been leaving me a bit unsatisfied recently, so I'm quite happy that this spinoff shows that the Fables world hasn't lost its magic for me entirely!
The main Fables series has been leaving me a bit unsatisfied recently, so I'm quite happy that this spinoff shows that the Fables world hasn't lost its magic for me entirely!
lilmatt050's review against another edition
4.0
I've been curious about adventuring out of Fables Comics for some time and see the diverse universes that Bill Willingham provides for us and for this first volume I found it okay, nothing interesting.
The volume discusses about what happens after the adversary is brought down and what happens to Briar Rose. You get an insight about her life and more action on the Snow Queen. I did not like the way they were drawn because I'm so used to Fables and to me it felt more like a superhero comic book than a fantasy fairy tale. As a bonus, you find out about another famous character and the dark secret that lurks in Fabletown. Most likely I will catch up with Fables and then adventure out into Fairest.
The volume discusses about what happens after the adversary is brought down and what happens to Briar Rose. You get an insight about her life and more action on the Snow Queen. I did not like the way they were drawn because I'm so used to Fables and to me it felt more like a superhero comic book than a fantasy fairy tale. As a bonus, you find out about another famous character and the dark secret that lurks in Fabletown. Most likely I will catch up with Fables and then adventure out into Fairest.
joanarcherknight's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vernip's review against another edition
3.0
Don't remember much, (checked out from the library in 2013 after all) but I remember the imp saying that he's got Firefly Season 7 in his pad and that just makes my heart crinkle & crackle a little.
fifteenthjessica's review against another edition
2.0
I'd been enjoying Fables lately, and when I saw that Briar Rose reappeared in Volume 18, I decided to read the first volume of Fairest (I was holding off until I could read the second Cinderella volume). I knew I had to lower my expectations because for a series about the women of Fables, men were the narrators and protagonists. Still, it was two low. The first story suffers from skipping over scenes to the point where the characters' motivations don't make sense and a exposition spewing character. The second story is great on it's own but is a mess in terms of continuity with the main series.
Ali Baba has been stranded in the capital of the Empire and is raiding it for treasures. I understand the need to have someone else take the reins with the Snow Queen and Briar Rose out cold. However, the focus seems to shift to Jonah Panghammer, a bottle imp trained in Earth knowledge. He has some elaborate scheme that he was working for most of the story (except the climax, which was an accident he started), and he got something he wanted. Not sure if it was what the plot was aiming for. On top of vague scheming, Jonah is an annoying prick who can't shut the hell up about the DVD collection in his bottle, spouts modern turns of phrase in spite knowing that Ali Baba and the Snow Queen won't understand (they're often lost on Briar Rose too for some reason), and gives out most of the ungodly amount of exposition that dominates showing in this story.
Snow Queen's character is odd. When we last saw her she was a dictator with a heart of ice and one of Gepetto's most ruthless and powerful generals. She starts out chomping at the bit to get vengeance for her cursed sleep, The reveal of her potential for redemption is sloppily handled and dumped out by Jonah.
In the climax, Jonah accidentally summons Hadreon the Destroyer, the Fairy Queen that cursed Briar Rose. Hadreon and Lumi fight (mostly off page) what little is seen is pretty cool and clever. Lumi tries to bring Briar's fairy godmothers to the fight, but Hadreon invokes a pact. However, Briar saves the day, by boxing the crap out of Hadreon, whose magic believes that she's already killed Briar (at least four times). Then the ending gets weird.
It ends with long talks about the meaning of love. Yawn. Also, the last appearance of Ali and Lumi is Lumi hanging him from the ceiling because he made a tasteless joke about marrying both her and Briar.
"Lamia" is an entertaining and fast-paced mystery narrated by the Beast. If Willingham had taken a chance on telling the story from Lamia's point of view, it could be even better. However, the story screws up continuity.
For "Wide Awake" the art is lovely, and the colors are great, but it is definitely a more fanservicy art style. Looking at the cover, my eyes tend to wander towards Snow and Briar's breasts, and Snow is wearing a turtleneck. The designs for the fairies shown in Wide Awake is also very fan servicey, with random holes cut out of a lot of them, and one wearing nothing more than an ivy band that conveniently blocks her nipples from sight. The second story, "Lamia," is done with a more cartoony style that gives it a very 1920's feel (fitting, since it seems to be the time period), and more fan service with Lamia, but plunging necklines go with her character.
Ali Baba has been stranded in the capital of the Empire and is raiding it for treasures. I understand the need to have someone else take the reins with the Snow Queen and Briar Rose out cold. However, the focus seems to shift to Jonah Panghammer, a bottle imp trained in Earth knowledge. He has some elaborate scheme that he was working for most of the story (except the climax, which was an accident he started), and he got something he wanted. Not sure if it was what the plot was aiming for. On top of vague scheming, Jonah is an annoying prick who can't shut the hell up about the DVD collection in his bottle, spouts modern turns of phrase in spite knowing that Ali Baba and the Snow Queen won't understand (they're often lost on Briar Rose too for some reason), and gives out most of the ungodly amount of exposition that dominates showing in this story.
Snow Queen's character is odd. When we last saw her she was a dictator with a heart of ice and one of Gepetto's most ruthless and powerful generals. She starts out chomping at the bit to get vengeance for her cursed sleep,
Spoiler
which allowed her to recover from the drugs that Gepetto had been giving her to make him work for him. She wasn't always a violent sorceress, she used to be addicted to stories. which sounds like a total asspull to me since she wasn't strongly associated with storytelling outside of narrating the genocide of Earth plan.In the climax, Jonah accidentally summons Hadreon the Destroyer, the Fairy Queen that cursed Briar Rose. Hadreon and Lumi fight (mostly off page) what little is seen is pretty cool and clever. Lumi tries to bring Briar's fairy godmothers to the fight, but Hadreon invokes a pact. However, Briar saves the day, by boxing the crap out of Hadreon, whose magic believes that she's already killed Briar (at least four times). Then the ending gets weird.
Spoiler
Briar doesn't want to kill Hadreon. The treaty keeps the other Fairies from attacking her. Lumi and Ali are busy proclaiming love. So they solve the problem of what to do with her by repurposing one of Hadreon's curses to imprison her so that Briar could kill her later.It ends with long talks about the meaning of love. Yawn. Also, the last appearance of Ali and Lumi is Lumi hanging him from the ceiling because he made a tasteless joke about marrying both her and Briar.
"Lamia" is an entertaining and fast-paced mystery narrated by the Beast. If Willingham had taken a chance on telling the story from Lamia's point of view, it could be even better. However, the story screws up continuity.
Spoiler
It looks like the Beast has some control over his power at this time, even though it's before Totenkinder gives him shapeshifting abilities. The real Beauty was killed by Lamia, who assumed her identity, before they met, so this whole time Beauty has really been part snake monster. Lamia occasionally remembers her old self and attempts to murder. Bigby arrives after this case to tell Beast that he'll kill Beauty if Lamia comes out again. Beast is willing to fight him. Beast's character so far has been established that he'd protect Beauty, so why does he and Bigby get along well for the most part in the main series.For "Wide Awake" the art is lovely, and the colors are great, but it is definitely a more fanservicy art style. Looking at the cover, my eyes tend to wander towards Snow and Briar's breasts, and Snow is wearing a turtleneck. The designs for the fairies shown in Wide Awake is also very fan servicey, with random holes cut out of a lot of them, and one wearing nothing more than an ivy band that conveniently blocks her nipples from sight. The second story, "Lamia," is done with a more cartoony style that gives it a very 1920's feel (fitting, since it seems to be the time period), and more fan service with Lamia, but plunging necklines go with her character.
aleena123's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
showlola's review against another edition
3.0
Fables is one of those books that I used to love, and while I don't love it anymore, I still like to read it. Mostly. Fairest, with its focus back on original fairy tales and new intersections, feels similar to the original arc of the Fables story. Good read, pretty covers.
otherwyrld's review against another edition
4.0
I've not been enjoying Fables very much recently, and I hated the spin off Jack of Fables. This first volume in a new series came as a pleasant surprise, though. It picks up a lot of threads left danging throughout the main story line and weaves them into a very nice tale of its own.
While the story is supposedly about the women of Fables, the bulk of the first story is taken up by Ali Baba, prince of thieves, and his never ending quest for treasure. The treasure his find this time though consists of not one but two sleeping beauties. The first is Briar Rose, used as a weapon by the Fables against the Adversary (remember him?) to send his capital city to sleep and therefore knock out the administrative heart of the empire. The other is Lumi the Snow Queen, one of the greatest weapons in the Adversary's arsenal, also trapped in the capital city.
Along the way we get to hear a great retelling of the story of the Sleeping Beauty, and learn a lot more about the Snow Queen. There's an immense battle at the end between Lumi and Hadeon, who was the evil fairy who cast a wicked spell on Sleeping Beauty when she was a baby. It's all beautifully illustrated and there is a genuine happy ending as well.
The second story is is a story of Beauty and the Beast, set as a flashback to the 1940s. It's a great little tale, with a real surprise at its heart, when we learn that Beauty isn't what we all think she is.
I will be looking forward to more of these stories if they are as good as this
While the story is supposedly about the women of Fables, the bulk of the first story is taken up by Ali Baba, prince of thieves, and his never ending quest for treasure. The treasure his find this time though consists of not one but two sleeping beauties. The first is Briar Rose, used as a weapon by the Fables against the Adversary (remember him?) to send his capital city to sleep and therefore knock out the administrative heart of the empire. The other is Lumi the Snow Queen, one of the greatest weapons in the Adversary's arsenal, also trapped in the capital city.
Along the way we get to hear a great retelling of the story of the Sleeping Beauty, and learn a lot more about the Snow Queen. There's an immense battle at the end between Lumi and Hadeon, who was the evil fairy who cast a wicked spell on Sleeping Beauty when she was a baby. It's all beautifully illustrated and there is a genuine happy ending as well.
The second story is is a story of Beauty and the Beast, set as a flashback to the 1940s. It's a great little tale, with a real surprise at its heart, when we learn that Beauty isn't what we all think she is.
I will be looking forward to more of these stories if they are as good as this
necessitteem's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I enjoyed this volume! Hopefully the series keeps up this fun vibe with a little bit of love. Liking it so far! I was particularly interested in the Snow Queen. I look forward to reading about another Fable character!