[4LR]∎ [PDF] Fables Vol 6 Homelands Bill Willingham Mark Buckingham Books

Fables Vol 6 Homelands Bill Willingham Mark Buckingham Books

Download As PDF : Fables Vol 6 Homelands Bill Willingham Mark Buckingham Books

Fables Vol 6 Homelands Bill Willingham Mark Buckingham Books

...you won't want to stop!

Collects issues 34-41

"Jack Be Nimble" A two-parter of Jack in Hollywood. Jack wants to assure his world-wide fame the best way possible: a blockbuster trilogy! Guest artist David Hahn (low detail, not a lot of background, mostly two-dimensional looking.) One of the better Jack stories.

"Homelands" in five parts. Art by Buckingham and Leialoha. Boy Blue takes his (well, it's not HIS, but...) Vorpal Sword in hand and goes Snicker-Snacking across enemy territory in order to rescue the real Red Riding Hood (here we go again with the impossibility of avoiding spoilers of previous volumes). Along the way, we meet a new enemy: Lumi (aka Winter, aka the Snow Queen), as well as the Adversary (aka the Emperor) himself!

"Interlude: Meanwhile" A one-shot with art by Lan Medina and Dan Green (okay, but I prefer the regular team). Sandwiched in during the "Homelands" story, this shows what's going on in Fabletown during Boy Blue's quest. Mowgli visits the jailed Bagheera. Charming sends Mowgli to hunt down Bigby and return him to Fabletown. A Fable has been discovered leaking information to the enemy.

This is the best volume of Fables up to this point.


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Fables Vol 6 Homelands Bill Willingham Mark Buckingham Books Reviews

The world of Fables continues to grow with this excellent volume in my favorite graphic novel series. Here we are treated to two major story lines that take us out of the NYC-based Fabletown. One run-away, Jack of Fables, lands himself in Hollywood with enough loot to make a place for himself. Another, Boy Blue, secretly travels to the Homelands, where he undergoes an epic-fantasy-like quest to take revenge and help his friend. Both stories are of the utmost importance for the rest of the series. Jack's exploits in Hollywood actually segue into a whole spin-off series, Jack of Fables (starting with The (Nearly) Great Escape), which is also apparently excellent (judging by the glowing reviews here on ). Boy Blue's quest into the Homelands is perhaps my favorite story arc so far in Fables. Much is revealed about the Fables' Homelands, as well as about Boy Blue himself. We finally meet the Adversary, and learn of his plans for the future. Simply put, this is a must read volume in the wonderful Fables series.
Volume 6 opens with Jack of the Tales in Hollywood, using the billions of dollars of loot he stole in the last volume to start his own studio. This story (and the entire volume) takes place over a period of years, so Jack's scheme actually works better than most of his previous ideas, though as usual, things don't turn out quite the way he wanted in the end.

But tying up many loose threads left dangling in previous volumes, the main star of "Homelands" is Boy Blue. No longer a blues-playing office clerk, in this volume he hacks and slashes his way across the many worlds from which the Fables originally fled, giving us a look at what this fantasy realm is really like and how the Empire ruled by "the Adversary" really works. On his quest to kill the Emperor, we get the answers to many questions, but the war continues, and the future of Fabletown is still an open question.

Back home, there are several interesting developments both in Fabletown and up on The Farm. We meet Mowgli of the Jungle Book, who has a conversation with Bagheera (imprisoned since his participation in the failed rebellion in Volume 2) and then is given a secret mission by Prince Charming. A long-time character is revealed to be a traitor, Snow White's children are growing up, and the volume ends with a sad twist. Many subplots from previous volumes have been wrapped up, but plenty of new ones are spawned.
I am on some kind of FABLES kick right now, as I rapidly tear thru the trade paperbacks. FABLES Vol. 6 HOMELANDS collects issues #34-41, opening with Jack Horner's departure of Fabletown and his dubious Hollywood adventures, which span several years (but only two issues). If you like the kind of protagonist Jack is (self-absorbed, scheming, a tad shady), then you might see how Hollywood is a perfect fit for him. It's a fun story arc, and Willingham manages a couple of wicked digs at Tinseltown. Jack does get his comeuppance at the end, and nobody really gets hurt except for several Hollywood low-lifes (but, then again, they're Hollywood low-lifes). Oh, and Jack turns out to be pretty mean to tiny, pocket-sized Jill, who left the Farm and went with Jack to see the world, only to find the world not as comforting as the Farm (and there's always that bit about having to stay out of sight of the humans). But Jill, in the end, is able to orchestrate her own measure of get-back at Jack.

As writer Bill Willingham puts it, "...Jack was never seen in Fabletown again, unto the very end of days." But for fans of this inept trickster, this two-part "Jack Be Nimble" storyline only paves the way for his own series JACK OF FABLES (see Jack of Fables Vol. 1 The (Nearly) Great Escape). From what I hear, it's not half-bad.

And then we get into the meat of this trade, the all-important five-part "Homelands," the central figure of which is the surprising Boy Blue, who one day simply left Fabletown.

But, hey, a segue FABLES first introduced Boy Blue as the unassuming but efficient office clerk to Fabletown's administrative offices, and as someone, it seemed, doomed to be perenially relegated to mere background character status. Occasionally, he likes to play moody jazz on his horn. But, hold up. We eventually find out that Boy Blue has had a tragic, bloody past. And, not one to toot his own horn (hah!), but Boy Blue, in truth, is quite the accomplished warrior. Last featured in Fables Vol. 4 March of the Wooden Soldiers, we learned of his part in the fables' last stand in the Homelands and his ill-fated romance with Red Riding Hood. We then learned of how Baby Yaga posed as Red Riding Hood and attempted to invade Fabletown, and how she caught and tortured Boy Blue for days. The invasion was fought off successfully. Boy Blue, in time, fully recovered.

"Homelands" is about Boy Blue getting his vengeance on, of an assassination in mind and the quest for the real Red Riding Hood. Armed with the powerful Witching Cloak and the fabulous Vorpal Sword of the Jabberwocky fame (and with his best friend Pinocchio's wooden corpse in tow), Boy Blue cuts a gory swath thru the Homelands, as he goes thru the magical back-alley gateways, each time getting closer to the Adversary's homeworld. It's very neat seeing Boy Blue in this light, as he cooly braves the dangers of the Adversary's conquered kingdoms. Man, there's plenty of bloody snicker-snack! action for those craving sword & sorcery derring-do. And, finally, finally, we find out the identity of the mysterious Adversary, who, after more than a millennium, has only now accomplished the total take-over of the European fable worlds (the Arabian fables are next!).

Then, for Boy Blue, there's one final bit of tragedy.

Issue #39 is appropriately titled "Meanwhile" as it cuts in the middle of the "Homelands" story arc to catch us up with current doings in Fabletown. In "Meanwhile" Mowgli, one of the Tourists (Fabletown's secret agents sent out into the mundy world), returns to Fabletown on mayor Prince Charming's behest. Charming has a proposition for Mowgli, who, having just discovered that his friend and mentor, Bagheera, is being kept caged for past acts of rebellion (see Fables Vol. 2 Animal Farm), is eager to broker a deal to free the proud panther.

Also, a traitor is unearthed in the confines of Fabletown.

As usual, writer Bill Willingham invests layers of realism and grit and twisted humor into these stories. His "Jack Be Nimble" stretch is particularly snarky. "Homelands" actually comes close to being a throwback to classic heroic fantasy, although Willingham throws in enough of a contemporary perspective to skew the traditional fantasy elements. Again, Boy Blue proves to be a sympathetic lead character and very impressive with the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal blade. David Hahn pencils and inks "Jack Be Nimble," and he shows off his simple, clean lines. But, predictably, it's Mark Buckingham, with inks by Steve Leialoha, who makes you sit up and take notice. His rendering of "Heartlands" is flawless. And, of course, James Jean's covers are worthy of long, long looks.

FABLES is hands down one of the best comic books currently going on. If you haven't yet checked this series out, you're in for hours of terrific reading. The good news is that it doesn't look like Bill Willingham's run of creativity will dry out any time soon. Hopefully, "happily ever after" is a long ways away.
...you won't want to stop!

Collects issues 34-41

"Jack Be Nimble" A two-parter of Jack in Hollywood. Jack wants to assure his world-wide fame the best way possible a blockbuster trilogy! Guest artist David Hahn (low detail, not a lot of background, mostly two-dimensional looking.) One of the better Jack stories.

"Homelands" in five parts. Art by Buckingham and Leialoha. Boy Blue takes his (well, it's not HIS, but...) Vorpal Sword in hand and goes Snicker-Snacking across enemy territory in order to rescue the real Red Riding Hood (here we go again with the impossibility of avoiding spoilers of previous volumes). Along the way, we meet a new enemy Lumi (aka Winter, aka the Snow Queen), as well as the Adversary (aka the Emperor) himself!

"Interlude Meanwhile" A one-shot with art by Lan Medina and Dan Green (okay, but I prefer the regular team). Sandwiched in during the "Homelands" story, this shows what's going on in Fabletown during Boy Blue's quest. Mowgli visits the jailed Bagheera. Charming sends Mowgli to hunt down Bigby and return him to Fabletown. A Fable has been discovered leaking information to the enemy.

This is the best volume of Fables up to this point.