While Bill Willingham has dipped into the past of the Fables universe to show its roots both in fairy tales (as with the tale of the Barleycorn brides) and the modern world (such as Bigby's adventures in World War II), it is this latest arc, exploring the Homelands, that has really shown the depth of the world that he's created. As much as the interaction between the modern world and the old world of fairy tales makes for a fascinating monthly backdrop, seeing how the oft-mentioned Homelands run is perhaps even more fascinating. Even better, the lead tale takes one of the most likable characters, Boy Blue, and transforms him from sideline player to frontline hero, a swashbuckler in the classic sense played out on a classic background woven from a tapestry of stories. Throw in Buckingham and Leialoha's always accomplished artwork and you've got one of the best arcs of this remarkable series so far.
Fables, like Sandman before it, is sort of a modern fantasy series. Willingham takes the trappings of fantasy (swords, dragons, noble quests) and marries them to modern dialogue and social trappings for a fusion that retains the epic feel of fantasy novels but has the approachability of a modern TV show. The story in this issue involves a lone crusader fighting powerful demigods and dragons on his way to bring down a powerful empire, but the presentation involves a matter-of-fact guy trying to find (or at least avenge) his lost love and on bureaucrats realizing there's a threat to their bureaucracy.
While the Boy Blue scenes are terrific, it is the interaction between Minister Muddlecock and Senior Undersecretary Mudsnipe that steals the show, at least for me. In their interactions, their puzzling out the journey that Blue is taking, I see a fantasy equivalent of all the intelligence gathering and analysis of the TV show 24 or the Jack Ryan novels of Tom Clancy. The trappings are pure fantasy, but the way the two put together clues is very modern and procedural. Willingham and company also do some very cool inter-cutting between the analysis of Blue's action and some "real time" looks at how he achieved his acts of heroism (or terrorism, depending on your point of view) that keeps the book moving at a brisk pace.
Buckingham, Leialoha and Vozzo are the regular art team for this book, and while Fables always looks good, it is always at its best when the regular art team is onboard. Buckingham's imaginative panel design, with a sort of borderless approach to the fight between Blue and the Dragon that allows it to range all around and intricately designed panels for the scenes of Blue's fights with the nights, gives the book a nice touch of atmosphere, and despite the unusual costumes of the characters, he never fails to make them look like real people. This is very evident in his design for the villain revealed at the end of the issue, who has an unearthly, dangerous quality but who looks like a real person at the same time.
With memorable scenes, terrific characters, great moment-to-moment writing and art and a willingness to shake up the status quo, Fables is an ever-surprising, always delightful read. This arc promises to answer a few important questions, perhaps even the biggie of "who is the Adversary", but more importantly, it promises to offer up action, humor and drama in equal measure along the way. 10/10
