My reaction to the first issue of this series was somewhat middling, as I found it read a little too much like a super-hero story. Those reservations were eradicated by this second issue, which completely won me over. This is a book full of bad guys doing bad things to one another. The reader is left cheering for Jack because he's one of the least reprehensible players and because of his roguish charm. There's a real edge and intensity to the plotting and characterization, and while the meta-message that the antagonist represents is far from subtle, it is one that is engaging. The art serves the story well, bringing a playful quality to these distorted storybook characters.
Jack Horner awakens in his cottage to face to uncomfortable truths: he's slept with the homicidal Goldilocks, who hasn't left yet, and he's a prisoner in a compound filled with captive Fables such as himself. If he's going to get out of this mess, he's going to need answers, so when the mastermind behind Jack's kidnapping summons him for a meeting, he makes himself available... but maybe a drink is in order first.
The dominant tone in the art is a lighter one, a cartoony look that reinforces the classic, innocent qualities we associate with these storybook characters. But there's an underlying edge to the art as well. There's a manic look in some characters' eyes, a desperate one in others'. Despite the brighter colors at play, there's still a sullen atmosphere that one can see. Akins's work here occasionally reminds me of Shawn (The Thessaliad) McManus's style. Akins handles the large and varied cast members with seeming ease, and the line between what appears to be everyday elements and the surreal, fantastic developments all around them is seamless.
The opening scene was perfectly paced, placed and plotted. In that brief scene, in which Humpty Dumpty attempts to escape the compound, we learn everything we need to know about the story. Furthermore, while establishing a desperate and creepy tone to the conflict, it allows the reader to connect with an image from childhood, a universally recognized and iconic memory from childhood, that has had a dark and adult tone incorporated into it. We also see the fanatical devotion that Revise's underlings have for him, and it brings a eerie, cult-like feel to the dynamic.
The one aspect of the book that slows it down and detracts from the overall appeal of this strong second episode is the lengthy pause the writers take to tidy up some Fables continuity. They take a lot of time to explain why Goldilocks is still alive and how she got from A to B. And it's really not necessary. She's a magical storybook being. She got better. She got caught. End of story. The lengthy flashback/exposition scene came off feeling like filler.
It's often been said that villains are more interesting that heroes because it's more fun watching someone being bad, thumbing his nose at the establishment, than watching some white hat maintain the status quo. And therein lies the appeal of this book. Jack is completely selfish and greedy. He's no hero, but in this field of contemptible baddies and pathetic surrender-monkeys, he stands out as a shining example. He's got it all -- bad boy and saviour rolled up into one. 9/10
