A review by iguessilikereading
Fables: The Deluxe Edition, Book Eight by Bill Willingham
5.0
Maybe my favourite book and the best issue to point to people when they ask why are Fables an incredible must-read comic.
On the surface, it is a classic knight story. A newly-made knight has to complete an insurmountable task to succeed, defeat his enemies, get the kingdom. One would think it is an outtake from the Morte d'Arthur. And the references to this work are plentiful: Excalibur, Camelot, Lancelot, the works.
But under the surface, that is where the fun begins.
Frau Totenkinder proves true to her name, as we find out from her conversation with Kay. Hints are made that she uses an abortion operation in the mundy world and thereby draws her powers. The story that she has given up on child killing and takes only a drop of blood from newborns is just that, a story to calm the other fables.
Her storyline and Flycatch... sorry, King Ambrose's are intertwined masterfully. Fly has a chat with Boy Blue about the role Haven will play in the politics of the worlds, and he sees it as a completely new player, an alternative to Fabletown and the Empire, but still allied with his friends. We are treated to all out war preparations, as the previously mentioned sides, the Arabian fables and the Cloud Kingdoms are getting ready for the big one. Meanwhile, Totenkinder reveals to the Beast that it is all meaningless. She realises that this war will play out on a scale no one else perceives - her against Geppetto.
It is incredibly amusing how this frail old lady pulls the strings, and gives us a hint of things to come in her comment that she might let herself get young and experience a fling. Unfortunately for the readers, that happens far after the series should have ended.
Buckingham's work is stellar here, but the cover work on these issues is masterful. I do not know if it is digital, or water colours but whatever it is, it deserves recognition.
On the surface, it is a classic knight story. A newly-made knight has to complete an insurmountable task to succeed, defeat his enemies, get the kingdom. One would think it is an outtake from the Morte d'Arthur. And the references to this work are plentiful: Excalibur, Camelot, Lancelot, the works.
But under the surface, that is where the fun begins.
Frau Totenkinder proves true to her name, as we find out from her conversation with Kay. Hints are made that she uses an abortion operation in the mundy world and thereby draws her powers. The story that she has given up on child killing and takes only a drop of blood from newborns is just that, a story to calm the other fables.
Her storyline and Flycatch... sorry, King Ambrose's are intertwined masterfully. Fly has a chat with Boy Blue about the role Haven will play in the politics of the worlds, and he sees it as a completely new player, an alternative to Fabletown and the Empire, but still allied with his friends. We are treated to all out war preparations, as the previously mentioned sides, the Arabian fables and the Cloud Kingdoms are getting ready for the big one. Meanwhile, Totenkinder reveals to the Beast that it is all meaningless. She realises that this war will play out on a scale no one else perceives - her against Geppetto.
It is incredibly amusing how this frail old lady pulls the strings, and gives us a hint of things to come in her comment that she might let herself get young and experience a fling. Unfortunately for the readers, that happens far after the series should have ended.
Buckingham's work is stellar here, but the cover work on these issues is masterful. I do not know if it is digital, or water colours but whatever it is, it deserves recognition.