All Purpose Fables Thread

[noh-varr]

This is the thread to discuss all things Fables, Fables itself, Jack of Fables, minis and the upcoming Fairest. New issues, old story lines, character discussions, or just random questions. This is the place to post and discuss!

[snarkbunny]

Thanks, noh-varr.

Folks, We have a lot of people who read Fables via trades, so how do we want to handle the spoilers in here? I personally think anything that is in a trade should be fair game, but I'm torn on the individual issues.

What are other folks thoughts on this?

[Samorai_black]

I think new issues should just be marked as spoilers without using tags. It would seem like a lot of extra work if we get a long discussion on current issues.

[Armadillo]

Read only the first trade, thought it was pretty good, enjoyed it a lot. Does it maintain the quality throughout the series?

[snarkbunny]

Read only the first trade, thought it was pretty good, enjoyed it a lot. Does it maintain the quality throughout the series?

Pretty much. Some volumes are better than others of course, but I've found the entire series quite enjoyable to date. The second volume introduces you to the art of Mark Buckingham, who is the regular Fables artist (The original plan was apparently to have different artists on each arc a la Sandman, and they offered Mark the choice of the first two arcs and he chose the second arc to do. Somewhere in there there was a mutual decision that Mark would remain on as primary artist.)

I adore Buckingham's work. The details and cleverness of the background characters he fits in makes the art of Fables a joy for me.

[The Adventurer]

Read only the first trade, thought it was pretty good, enjoyed it a lot. Does it maintain the quality throughout the series?

Only goes up from there.

I've been reading Fables since issue 6 (when it launched I sort of misinterpreted what it was ABOUT, also I was very young in terms of experience with independent, non-super-hero comics. So I missed out on the first arc, but picked it up in TP when the next arc started. Fables probably did the most good with broadening my horizons in terms of comics as a whole) and am still at it today. I can safely say that the title has never wore thin with me, its always been a very strong title in my general reading list, and the fact that it has now made it to 110 issues is a hell of a feat.

I've recently been replacing my single issues with the Deluxe Hardcovers, and experiencing these early story arcs for the first time in years. Love those Deluxe Editions. Great for posterity.

[skylight]

How many deluxe editions do they release per year? It'll be a long wait if I decide to just get those editions. I am now waiting for #4 next year.

[joegeek]

Anyone have a good reading order for Fables, Jack, Cindy minis + all the trades?

[Donald]

Jack splits off from Fables in Trade 6, Homelands and crosses over in Fables trade 13. I don't have the Jack trades but I think it's TPB 6 or 7 that lead up to Fables TPB 13. Cindy's stories are pretty much stand alone, I'd wait until after I read Fables trade 12 0r 13 to start reading her.

[snarkbunny]

Anyone have a good reading order for Fables, Jack, Cindy minis + all the trades?

Try:
01. Legends in Exile (collects Fables 01–05 & "A Wolf in the Fold" short story)
02. Animal Farm (collects 6–10)
03. Storybook Love (collects 11–18)
04. March of the Wooden Soldiers (collects 19–21,23–27 & The Last Castle special)
05. The Mean Seasons (collects 22,28–33)
06. Homelands (collects 34-41)
07. Arabian Nights (and Days) (collects 42–47)
08. Wolves ((collects 48-51)
JOF 01. The (Nearly) Great Escape (collects 1–5)
1001 Nights of Snowfall -> Provides background info for the next TPBS.
09. Sons of Empire (collects 52–59)
JOF 02. Jack of Hearts (collects 6–11)
10. The Good Prince (collects 60–69)
JOF 03. The Bad Prince (collects 12–16)
11. War and Pieces (collects 70-75)
Peter & Max, a prose novel by Bill Willingham.
CINDY 01. From Fabletown With Love (collects Cinderella – From Fabletown With Love 1–6)
JOF 04. Americana (collects 17-21)
12. The Dark Ages (76-82)
JOF 05. Turning Pages (collects 22-27)
JOF 06. The Books of War (collects 28-32)
13. The Great Fables Crossover (collects Fables 83-85, The Literals 1-3, Jack of Fables 33-35).
14. Witches (collects 86-93)
JOF 07. The New Adventures of Jack and Jack (collects 36-40)
JOF 08. The Fulminate Blade (collects 41-45)
15. Rose Red (collects 94-100)
JOF 09. The Ultimate Jack of Fables Story (collects 46-50)
CINDY 2: Fables are Forever
16. SuperTeam (101-107)
Fairest starts here..

[The Adventurer]

Try:
01. Legends in Exile (collects Fables 01–05 & "A Wolf in the Fold" short story)
02. Animal Farm (collects 6–10)
03. Storybook Love (collects 11–18)
04. March of the Wooden Soldiers (collects 19–21,23–27 & The Last Castle special)
05. The Mean Seasons (collects 22,28–33)
06. Homelands (collects 34-41)
07. Arabian Nights (and Days) (collects 42–47)
08. Wolves ((collects 48-51)
JOF 01. The (Nearly) Great Escape (collects 1–5)
1001 Nights of Snowfall -> Provides background info for the next TPBS.
09. Sons of Empire (collects 52–59)
JOF 02. Jack of Hearts (collects 6–11)
10. The Good Prince (collects 60–69)
JOF 03. The Bad Prince (collects 12–16)
11. War and Pieces (collects 70-75)
Peter & Max, a prose novel by Bill Willingham.
CINDY 01. From Fabletown With Love (collects Cinderella – From Fabletown With Love 1–6)
JOF 04. Americana (collects 17-21)
12. The Dark Ages (76-82)
JOF 05. Turning Pages (collects 22-27)
JOF 06. The Books of War (collects 28-32)
13. The Great Fables Crossover (collects Fables 83-85, The Literals 1-3, Jack of Fables 33-35).
14. Witches (collects 86-93)
JOF 07. The New Adventures of Jack and Jack (collects 36-40)
JOF 08. The Fulminate Blade (collects 41-45)
15. Rose Red (collects 94-100)
JOF 09. The Ultimate Jack of Fables Story (collects 46-50)
CINDY 2: Fables are Forever
16. SuperTeam (101-107)
Fairest starts here..

The Fables Deluxe HC places 1001 Nights of Snow Fall after Mean Seasons. Granted now that I think about it, that may have been done for space limitations in the next two story arcs. But it definitely needs to be read BEFORE Arabian Nights (and Days).

[snarkbunny]

The Fables Deluxe HC places 1001 Nights of Snow Fall after Mean Seasons. Granted now that I think about it, that may have been done for space limitations in the next two story arcs. But it definitely needs to be read BEFORE Arabian Nights (and Days).

Yeah, 1001 Nights works well there and really even after the Wooden Soldiers arc it could be read. The Jacks can move around to some degree too.

I like 1001 Nights after Wolves because the comments in Arabian Nights is a tease for 1001 Nights, but that may be because I read it as they came out and 1001 Nights was first published after Arabian Nights.

[Sandinista]

(SOME SPOILERS FOLLOW)

I LOVE the first 12 volumes of Fables. I rank it up there with Sandman, Preacher and Lucifer. An amazing story with excellent twists and turns, great characters and absolutely gorgeous art. However, I am heartbroken to see what is happening to the series. Since the defeat of Gepetto Fables has gotten progressively worse and worse. The Dark Man run was absolutely terrible and incredibly anti-climactic. It was seriously like Willingham just ran out of stuff to say about him and ended him with an afterthought. Vol. 15 for me was the last straw. Super Group was terrible in every single way except the art. What a pointless volume.

I fear that Willingham is simply continuing this series out of either money (worst case scenario) or the sheer ignorance that the quality of his series has plummeted (best case scenario). I seriously do not want Fables to slowly fade away like The X Files. It should've ended with a bang at the end of Vol. 12.

If Willingham wants to keep telling stories in the Fables Universe by all means do so but do it like the excellent Cinderella minis or the gorgeous Fairest: short mini-series with different artists concentrating on different characters.

Some writers have to know when to say "The End" (I'm looking at you too Mark Waid)

[nightwing1982]

Hmmmmmmmmmm......no.

[CTpitch]

oh wow obligatory cynical post on the vertigo board