When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklo...
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reviews
Oct 30, 2010
Brian
rated it: 
Grabbed this comic off the bargain pile because the premise seemed promising: all the characters from fairy tales have been exiled in New York City because of some mysterious adversary that slaughtered their people and forced them out of their fairy tale land. If the authors had simply stuck to THAT premise, it would have made for a cool story.
Instead, the first volume disintegrates into nothing more than a comparatively lame murder mystery (in the style of "Clue") over " More...
Instead, the first volume disintegrates into nothing more than a comparatively lame murder mystery (in the style of "Clue") over " More...
6 comments
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(5 people liked it)
May 09, 2008
Nick
rated it: 
I have finally caught up on the current 70 issues (Vol. 1-10) of ‘Fables’ and am at a loss of words about how great this series truly is. Willingham, Jean, and Buckingham have created a highly imaginative world of depth, maturity, and beauty in all possible aspects. They have managed to redefine and present characters in a universe I have grown to sincerely care about. I originally intended to write a lengthy spoiler-filled review but found I cannot, as I feel I should refrain until the series
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2 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jun 17, 2007
Punk
rated it: 
Graphic Novel. The denizens of fairy tales and nursery rhymes have been forced from their fabled homes by the Adversary and for the past two hundred years have been living in exile, in New York City. Snow White is deputy mayor of their secret diaspora. Now happily divorced from Prince Charming, she's the one that enforces the laws and keeps their people in order. Today that means yelling at The Beast for reverting to form whenever Beauty is less than pleased with him. It also means teaming up wi
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0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 04, 2009
Shanon
rated it:
I origionally rated this as a 3 - then I got smart and realized I only read chapter 1! Oops.
This is the first graphic novel I have read. I loved that the author is playing on all the classic fairy tale names/characters. I also enjoyed the art and story. This is a fun seires and I am looking forward to reading the rest.
This is the first graphic novel I have read. I loved that the author is playing on all the classic fairy tale names/characters. I also enjoyed the art and story. This is a fun seires and I am looking forward to reading the rest.
2 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Feb 24, 2011
Amber
rated it: 
This graphic novel really couldn't impress me that much. The straight visual quality is good but, despite the fairytale origins this story's meant to be drawing on – an immediate attraction, to me – the majority of the graphics are sadly simplistic. The graphics are the meat of a graphic novel, right? – and no matter how good the mashed potato text is, you can't have a good meal without a juicy (soy) steak, rich and chewable to the eyes. Compared to the finer graphic novels, there seems to be a
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3 comments
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(5 people liked it)
May 29, 2008
Alison
rated it:
When I saw this in my local comic book shop while I was waiting out a sudden rain storm, I found myself immediately comparing Fables to an illustrated version of Gregery McGuire's stories, which I really enjoy (Wicked, etc.). The first three collections in this series were only 10 bucks each, so I grabbed them all. The guy at the counter told me, "You'll be back for more tomorrow, trust me." He also told me that the first was his least favorite, he said they get better as the series
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0 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 30, 2008
Mike
rated it:
A friend gave me this, and I enjoyed it. I was never steeped in comics or fantasy, and so my appreciation of a newer (newish? or maybe just newish to me) wave of writers engaged with either/both can be troubled.
I mean, with not one ounce of snobbishness intended here, there was a reason I didn't read comics [too short, and I read too fast, and this seemed like too much buck for too little bang] and fantasy [I just couldn't stand the portentous heroism of most fantasy]. So I had t More...
I mean, with not one ounce of snobbishness intended here, there was a reason I didn't read comics [too short, and I read too fast, and this seemed like too much buck for too little bang] and fantasy [I just couldn't stand the portentous heroism of most fantasy]. So I had t More...
2 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 20, 2008
angrykitty
rated it:
ok....before i give a review....it's come to my attention that i have been reading an inordinate amount of comics lately.....all i can say in my defense (and no...i'm not going to claim i'm not a nerd....i am one, and i came to terms with that long ago) is that i have recently begun to appreciate comics again. that's all.
anyway, my review. this was a really interesting comic in that it sets up the idea that all the characters from fairy tales are real, and that they're all living i More...
anyway, my review. this was a really interesting comic in that it sets up the idea that all the characters from fairy tales are real, and that they're all living i More...
0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 12, 2010
Keely
rated it: 
I remember being somewhat taken aback the first time I read an original Fairy Tale. They aren't child-friendly, in fact many of them were written to unnerve and frighten children. The characters in fairytales are usually half-mad, murderous, sexually-charged, and grotesque.
Authors have returned to them again and again for inspiration, exploring the history of storytelling, moralizing tales, propaganda, and archetypes. Gaiman's 'Sandman' is notable for some remarkable insights into t More...
Authors have returned to them again and again for inspiration, exploring the history of storytelling, moralizing tales, propaganda, and archetypes. Gaiman's 'Sandman' is notable for some remarkable insights into t More...
2 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 05, 2011
Seth
rated it:
Fractured faery tales and contemporary reimaginings of the classic fables have proliferated over the last several decades. Perhaps marked by the playfulness of postmodern revisitation, traditional narratives have seemed a ripe harvest for gleaning new meaning from old stock. So with Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham’s Fables, we can’t really find ourselves wowed by the ingenuity of exploring third-millennium expressions of old yarns—after all, it’s not as if it hasn’t been done oft More...
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(2 people liked it)
Mar 10, 2009
Stacy
rated it:
I was hesitant to start this series. I thought the premise - fairytale characters like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty living a shadowed life in modern day New York - would be too gimmicky and the story would just be one big in-joke.
As it turns out, Willingham never goes for the obvious plot, and these well-known characters are more human (even the inhuman ones) then they ever were in their own stories. Snow White, for instance, is a put-upon workaholic that serves as the Deputy Ma More...
As it turns out, Willingham never goes for the obvious plot, and these well-known characters are more human (even the inhuman ones) then they ever were in their own stories. Snow White, for instance, is a put-upon workaholic that serves as the Deputy Ma More...
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(1 person liked it)
Feb 02, 2011
Susan
rated it:
Ecellent! Faerie Tales were real; the characters have been driven out of their various lands and are exiled in (of all places) New York City.
What are they doing there, you ask? Behaving as they have to.
re-read 11/6/2010 -
What are they doing there, you ask? Behaving as they have to.
re-read 11/6/2010 -
0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jan 15, 2009
Mattyj
rated it:
This is THE best book being published in the realm of comics and I would consider there to be some distance between this and anything else. That said, the first trade is the weakest of all the volumes. When I first picked up the first issue I found it boring and never even finished it. Then after selling out (repeatedly) and not being able to get restocks I waited. Finally a friend made me take the first four volumes home one weekend... and I thank him repeatedly. I've never devoured any co
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0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Dec 29, 2011
Ashley&May (Firestarbooks)
rated it:
This comic was a brilliant read! The murder, the lies, the suspense, and the alteration of our favorite childhood fairytales twisted into 119 pages of comics.
The graphics had the classic comics drawing. Each characters had their own spice. They were all different from the characters we remember as our childhood fairytales. The plot was breath-taking; I was at the edge of my seat. When the murder was solved it had the moment of "Holy crap! I didn't expect that! Look at all the deta More...
The graphics had the classic comics drawing. Each characters had their own spice. They were all different from the characters we remember as our childhood fairytales. The plot was breath-taking; I was at the edge of my seat. When the murder was solved it had the moment of "Holy crap! I didn't expect that! Look at all the deta More...
0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 18, 2011
Seak (Bryce L.)
rated it:
Really interesting world created here, but the detective story was pretty boring, especially the ending. I'll read more probably, but this is the first strike.
3 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Aug 09, 2011
To make all the characters of our childhood fairytales living in modern New York City, either hiding in the guises of humans or living in the remote area for non-human characters known as The Farm. No longer are these characters living Happily Ever After. They have been chased out from their own homes by the invading Adversary and now live in the Fable Community. They refer to themselves as the Fables and the humans as the mundanes.
It's an interesting concept and the series has potential. The co More...
It's an interesting concept and the series has potential. The co More...
Jan 01, 2009
The other John
rated it:
What if characters from fairy tales were real? What if they lived in the real world? How would they survive? How would magic and modern technology interact? That's part of the premise of the Fables series published by DC Comics' Vertigo line. In this series, the Homelands--the worlds of the people and creatures in our storybooks--have been invaded and conquered by an entity known as the Adversary, causing many to seek asylum in other dimensions. A fair number have ended up in our world, making t
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Feb 01, 2012
Andrew
rated it:
As a longtime reader and writer of retold tales, I've had the FABLES series on my radar for a while. I finally downloaded the Kindle edition of Vol. I, which fans seem to be divided on: It was either their most or least favorite in the series. The two stars I gave it look somewhat pathetic, but "it was ok" really does feel accurate.
The premise is one of those rare ideas that is both cliche and original at the same time -- the essence of a retelling, I suppose. What's more, su More...
The premise is one of those rare ideas that is both cliche and original at the same time -- the essence of a retelling, I suppose. What's more, su More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 02, 2012
Rick
rated it:
Fables, Vol 1: Legends in Exile collects Fables #1-5 from the ongoing DC-Vertigo series.
Bill Willingham accomplishes everything in this introductory volume of Fables that any good comic should.
For starters, it's a fantastic concept. I can't imagine anyone in the world who isn't familiar on some level with the source material whether they read nursery rhymes and fairy tales as a child or watched Disney animated classics like Snow White and Cinderella. Fabletown is immedi More...
Bill Willingham accomplishes everything in this introductory volume of Fables that any good comic should.
For starters, it's a fantastic concept. I can't imagine anyone in the world who isn't familiar on some level with the source material whether they read nursery rhymes and fairy tales as a child or watched Disney animated classics like Snow White and Cinderella. Fabletown is immedi More...
Dec 12, 2011
Clark
rated it:
So, I've been "stacking" this title for years. In other words, I've been buying it, but not reading it. I like to read comics like novels, so I tend to read them in chunks of a hundred or so at a time so that I can get a more concentrated experience with the story. If I read them as they came out I'd have a hard time remembering and following the arc.
So: I've been told that this is one of the great non-Superhero comix out there and I'm excited to finally be getting into it More...
So: I've been told that this is one of the great non-Superhero comix out there and I'm excited to finally be getting into it More...
Dec 04, 2011
Sharon
rated it:
I sometimes forget to mention the books I co-read with my husband, one of which is the remarkable Fables series. One of the reasons I was so crushed by the appalling mediocrity of Grimm and Once Upon a Time was to see how heavily they borrowed from Bill Willingham's magnificent Fables graphic novel series, and how poorly those series worked in comparison.
You see, Fables, like Once, is the story of fables and faery tale characters in our own world. Unlike Once, these characters aren' More...
You see, Fables, like Once, is the story of fables and faery tale characters in our own world. Unlike Once, these characters aren' More...
Nov 27, 2011
Jacki
rated it:
Imagine all the fairy tale creatures and characters that you have come to know, love, and perhaps fear, are walking the "real" world. How would their lives look while the try to intermingle into human society? What would have to the three little pigs and the big bad wolf?
Fables, beginning with Legends in Exile, shows us just what happens when the fairy tale creatures are run out of their world and into ours. To start, murder, greed, and jealousy still reign supreme when Ro More...
Fables, beginning with Legends in Exile, shows us just what happens when the fairy tale creatures are run out of their world and into ours. To start, murder, greed, and jealousy still reign supreme when Ro More...
Nov 06, 2011
Tanabrus
rated it:
Il mondo delle fiabe è stato sconvolto da un attacco senza precedenti: l’avversario è emerso dalle sponde di ciò che è e, con il suo esercito, ha conquistato rapidamente le terre delle fiabe, una dopo l’altra. Prima il regno di Smeraldo, poi il regno del Grande Leone, e poi tutti gli altri. Le fiabe catturate venivano fatte prigioniere, schiavizzate.
Un solo luogo era al sicuro dall’ombra dell’avversario, il mondo terreno. E attraverso dei passaggi segreti, le fiabe fuggitive si sono More...
Un solo luogo era al sicuro dall’ombra dell’avversario, il mondo terreno. E attraverso dei passaggi segreti, le fiabe fuggitive si sono More...
Sep 26, 2011
Jess
rated it:
The characters from fairy tales and legends have been exiled to New York from their homeland by a brutal invasion, living together in a luxury apartment complex and attempting to keep their fable powers and nature secret from the mundane population of the city. Volume 1, Legends in Exile introduces us to recognizable characters, Snow White, Rose Red, The Big Bad Wolf, and so on, in different form: Snow White is the deputy mayor who keeps all the fables in line, Rose Red a wild party girl and The
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Sep 21, 2011
Maxine
rated it:
Graphic novels are still often dismissed as just thicker comics to be read only by pimply-faced male adolescents who will probably never lose their virginity And that's a shame (the attitudes not the virginity) because graphic novels, at their finest, are not only beautiful to look at but are written by some of the best writers around. Neil Gaiman's Sandman, for example, has been listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century and who can deny the brilliance of Maus, a story definitely not
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Sep 21, 2011
Skipper
rated it:
The first volume of the popular Fables comics by Bill Willingham. It's an introduction to the premise really, a getting-to-know-you volume which proves to be fun, but a bit fast and loose.
The tattered Fabletown community has existed undercover on Earth (Mundania to the Fables) for two hundred years, having narrowly escaped certain doom from the creature called the Adversary and its minions. Snow White, divorced from Prince Charming (he's a total tool, has recently become More...
The tattered Fabletown community has existed undercover on Earth (Mundania to the Fables) for two hundred years, having narrowly escaped certain doom from the creature called the Adversary and its minions. Snow White, divorced from Prince Charming (he's a total tool, has recently become More...
Sep 15, 2011
Nan
rated it:
This book has been on my radar for years. I've heard that it was good, but I never had a chance to pick it up--until I was lucky enough to find a copy in the swap.
Ten years ago, I was a serious scholar of fairy tales. I did my Master's paper (my school didn't do a thesis, which is one sign that I didn't go to a very good school *sigh*) on the Brothers Grimm. (And, no, I won't allow anyone to read that paper.) Anyway, one of things that fascinated me about literary fairy tales is More...
Ten years ago, I was a serious scholar of fairy tales. I did my Master's paper (my school didn't do a thesis, which is one sign that I didn't go to a very good school *sigh*) on the Brothers Grimm. (And, no, I won't allow anyone to read that paper.) Anyway, one of things that fascinated me about literary fairy tales is More...
Jun 12, 2011
Marissa
rated it:
I started out reading Fables as kind of a dorky guilty pleasure. It reminds me a lot of the kinds of comic books I was really into as a teenager. Admittedly modern reworkings of fairy tales have been done to death and there's not too many especially clever interpretations here, but the series really does draw you in. I really enjoy comic books which focus on an ensemble team, as an old school X-Men fan and someone who enjoys BPRD more than Hellboy on his own. Fables fit into this really nicely,
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 11, 2011
Martin
rated it:
I really, REALLY liked this graphic novel! Its world, its characters, everything in it is so great and inspiring, you simply can’t refuse to recognize the greatness!
Fables is a story about fabled characters living in the modern world today. They were forced to leave their home world, which was invaded by the Adversary, so they are kind of stuck here. And the best thing about the novel is how greatly it balances its mythology. The novel is not just “beautiful and dreamy like a fable” nor is More...
Fables is a story about fabled characters living in the modern world today. They were forced to leave their home world, which was invaded by the Adversary, so they are kind of stuck here. And the best thing about the novel is how greatly it balances its mythology. The novel is not just “beautiful and dreamy like a fable” nor is More...
