It's one thing to have a killer concept. It's another thing entirely to deliver on all that potential on a regular basis, which is what Bill Willingham has done with Fables. This latest story arc plays off of previous events more than any other before it, but it's full of the same humor, intrigue and strong characterization that has defined the book since the beginning. Willingham has another secret up his sleeve with each revelation, always teasing more questions with his answers, and the story is full of situations that leave me wondering what's going to happen next, even as I'm fascinated by the story unfolding right in front of me.
One of the advantages of being almost two years into a series is that you've got more foundation events set up to build on top of. Willingham is constructing a story around a number of events that have happened before, from the romance in The Last Castle to the death of Bluebeard in the previous arc, and it's a more intricate story than he could have started the book off with. The meeting between Little Boy Blue and Red Riding Hood in this issue is heart-breaking largely thanks to the relationship that we saw in Last Castle, and Prince Charming's actions are more interesting because we've seen the way he acts in previous arcs as well.
Which isn't to say that the book can't be entertaining to a newer reader as well. Willingham has a wit about his writing that always makes for entertaining storytelling. Charming's easy manipulation of the people of Fables by using the common political trick of promising to be everything to everyone is very much on the sleazy side, but it's also very funny. It's also hard not to admire Bigby Wolf's self-assurance as he assesses Red and makes a judgment about her character and mission. Willingham and Buckingham lead us into Wolf's supposition, which support what he's thinking, but I'm not convinced that everything is as he suspects. It's an interesting central mystery, wondering what the true story about Red is, and though it's possible that Bigby is dead on and Willingham has given that away for the most part, I suspect that there's more to the truth to be seen.
There's a great combination of characterization and plotting at work in Fables, all tied very much together. Though the characters are fairly nuanced, Willingham is also playing with certain archetypal personalities, such that Bigby, Snow, Charming and King Cole (among others) all sort of play their parts by reacting along one central tendency. For Cole, it's a benevolent (if somewhat clueless) kingly stature, for Snow a cold practicality, for Bigby animal instinct and for Charming (naturally) charm. Willingham's stories are more complex, but the roots of Fables in fairy tales and old stories show through every time.
Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha also continue to shine in their depiction of Fabletown. I'm not always crazy about some of Buckingham's weird faces, like the seemingly mouthless Bigby Wolf and Pinocchio, but I can't deny that he gives each character a very distinctive look. In addition, he does an excellent job with the basically mundane setting of the book, creating a very convincing portrayal of modern urban life while still maintaining a subtle layer of the fantastic.
