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25th out of 76 books
—
13 voters
Jack of Fables, Vol. 3: The Bad Prince (Jack of Fables #3)
by
Bill Willingham (Goodreads Author),
Matthew Sturges (Goodreads Author), Tony Akins , Andrew Pepoy , Russ Braun , Andrew Robinson
Collecting JACK OF FABLES #12-16! Jack's now a wayward Fable in the heartland of America. Follow his extreme road stories as he reveals the secret of his former relationship with the illustrious Snow Queen (when he took her powers and became known as Jack Frost).
Paperback, 126 pages
Published
July 8th 2008
by Vertigo
(first published January 1st 2008)
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3 1/2 Star review! Original review on A Great Book Is The Cheapest Vacation!
Bill Willingham knows how to put together an interesting read. His dark twist on the classic fairy tales are always engrossing. This read was no different!
The Fables series is a long running, fantastic ride. Animal Farm has so far been my favorite, but all of them are great. This series is a spin-off of the Fables tales, following the many trials and failures of "the famous (and infamous) Jack of Fables".
As always, th...more
Bill Willingham knows how to put together an interesting read. His dark twist on the classic fairy tales are always engrossing. This read was no different!
The Fables series is a long running, fantastic ride. Animal Farm has so far been my favorite, but all of them are great. This series is a spin-off of the Fables tales, following the many trials and failures of "the famous (and infamous) Jack of Fables".
As always, th...more
This time Jack and his sidekick Gary, the Pathetic Fallacy, have left Las Vegas and are headed for Nevada and Arizona. They get intercepted by Pris Page, in the service of Mr Revise and his Bagmen who are out to trap and rid the world of all Fables. Jack meets his erstwhile "twin" Wicked John whom he hates because he is so much like him. They have an accident and fall down into the Grand Canyon where they encounter an ancient oracle who pierces Jack with the sword Excalibur. As an adjunct we are...more
This volume, like the first in this Fables spin off, involves a slew of Fables not associated with Fabletown, as well as dealing with the family of magical beings revealed as The Literals by Kevin Thorn for the first time herein. Having read the entirety of the Fables run to date, including the issues collected along with a slew of Jack of Fables issues in The Great Fables Crossover, I know bits of the Literals story already, but getting it here as it was first presented is proving quite interes...more
Reason for Reading: next in the series.
This entire volume except for the last chapter is devoted to the title story arc "The Bad Prince". Jack has a run in with Excalibur and learns a shocking truth about his existence. All the regulars are here and it was great to see the return of Paul Bunyan and Babe from Vol. 1, though they've been shrunk down in size as punishment for their part in the Great Escape. A new character is introduced and an old character from Fabletown shows up. This is a minor...more
This entire volume except for the last chapter is devoted to the title story arc "The Bad Prince". Jack has a run in with Excalibur and learns a shocking truth about his existence. All the regulars are here and it was great to see the return of Paul Bunyan and Babe from Vol. 1, though they've been shrunk down in size as punishment for their part in the Great Escape. A new character is introduced and an old character from Fabletown shows up. This is a minor...more
Jack once again runs into one of the Page sisters, who try to take him back to Golden Boroughs and take him off the Fables map.
The Jack v. Borough conflict is starting to get a bit tired, but the rambling adventures of the most egotistical fable besides Prince Charming is becoming a more enjoyable book than Fables. While the main title is dealing with more epic stories like The Good Prince, the spin-off The Bad Prince can bring in more fairy tale and legendary characters as bit players in Jack'...more
The Jack v. Borough conflict is starting to get a bit tired, but the rambling adventures of the most egotistical fable besides Prince Charming is becoming a more enjoyable book than Fables. While the main title is dealing with more epic stories like The Good Prince, the spin-off The Bad Prince can bring in more fairy tale and legendary characters as bit players in Jack'...more
Even though Jack is perhaps my least favorite Fable in the wonderful imaginative universe that Willingham has created, I once again have underestimated what Willlingham and Sturges can do. This addition to the sequence features some truly wonderful twists. There are also a number of additions to the overall Jack narrative that significantly increases the complexity of the tale.
The big surprise is that the revelation that Jack is the not the original of the Jack/John stories, but the copy. If yo...more
The big surprise is that the revelation that Jack is the not the original of the Jack/John stories, but the copy. If yo...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Jack of Fables, Volume Three: The Bad Prince explores more of Jack's questionable past. On the run again, Jack and Gary find themselves kidnapped by Priscilla Page and thrown into the Grand Canyon. After being stabbed with Excalibur, Jack and the gang settle in for a round of campfire stories, this time Jack's connection with his doppelgänger, Wicked John.
What elevates Jack of Fables above the series from which it originated is the level of self-awareness and playfulness that it shows in regards...more
What elevates Jack of Fables above the series from which it originated is the level of self-awareness and playfulness that it shows in regards...more
Dagnabbbit. My OCD/completionism compels me to read the whole spin-off so that i won't miss anything when it crosses over into the regular series. Thank goodness for eBay!
Jack is NOT charming, he's NOT clever, and he was introduced to readers of "Fables" as a pathetic loser of a con-man, an interesting background or minor character, but hardly a "leading man". It seems they've tried to retcon him into a more solid trickster character, but it just doesn't work. He simply comes off as arrogant, se...more
Jack is NOT charming, he's NOT clever, and he was introduced to readers of "Fables" as a pathetic loser of a con-man, an interesting background or minor character, but hardly a "leading man". It seems they've tried to retcon him into a more solid trickster character, but it just doesn't work. He simply comes off as arrogant, se...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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What I wrote about Volume 2 continues to be true for Volume 3. Now we're introduced to The Literals and learn more hints about the origins of Revise and The Pathetic Fallacy. (Note: The word 'pathetic' in this use is related to 'empathy' and is not pejorative. The term was coined by the critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) in his 1856 work Modern Painters , in which he wrote that the aim of the pathetic fallacy was “to signify any description of inanimate natural objects that ascribes to them human c...more
Finally, Bill Willingham has given mea reason to keep reading this series. That reason is Babe, the Blue Ox. Trapped in diminished stature and neglected by Paul Bunyan, Babe has created elaborate fantasies that far outstrip anything Jack has come up with.
Oh, I guess I should cover the majority of the volume. Jack is somewhat humbled in this volume and that makes for better reading than the past two. In part, it's becuase of his literal run-in with Excalibur, but also because the origin of Wicked...more
Oh, I guess I should cover the majority of the volume. Jack is somewhat humbled in this volume and that makes for better reading than the past two. In part, it's becuase of his literal run-in with Excalibur, but also because the origin of Wicked...more
Looking up the "Pathetic Fallacy" was very helpful. It means treating objects as though they have feelings. The character "The Pathetic Fallacy" is able to wake up inanimate objects and talk to them and understand them. This is a bit amusing. But, I do have to say that the main character's flaws have ceased to be interesting. He is just too shallow and uninteresting to make a good lead for a character. The main Fables universe switches main characters often, I think to avoid this problem of gett...more
#1 The great Fable readathon has begun! Now, not the biggest Jack fan as I've mentioned before, but this was really funny. The sword in the stone (aka Jack) was hilarious (though the cover artists should pay closer attention to which direction the sword was in him, just saying). Also the history of John vs. Jack was great as was the development of what I asume will be the Fables "creators." Favorite bit though was Babe the Blue Ox's daydreams... I think the Pirate one wins, with Graham Cracker t...more
Jack is such a great character to spin off from Fables and this book made me laugh far too much for a surreptitious read when i should have been working.
It's been a long time since I read book 2 but as always they do a good job of recapping the previous volumes so I didn't feel like I was missing out by having a bad memory.
At times it verges on being silly but overall there is a great sense of fun and some intelligent playing with words, literature and storytelling that more than makes up for t...more
It's been a long time since I read book 2 but as always they do a good job of recapping the previous volumes so I didn't feel like I was missing out by having a bad memory.
At times it verges on being silly but overall there is a great sense of fun and some intelligent playing with words, literature and storytelling that more than makes up for t...more
Feb 24, 2013
Otherwyrld
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
graphic-novel
Two good things happen in this story - Jack gets run through by the sword Excalibur, and the debut of Babe the Blue Ox (who has been miniaturized for reasons too complicated to go into here). Babe's one page musings and rich fantasy life are possibly the only highlights in the whole series.
One of the girls is portrayed with such big breasts that it's a wonder her back doesn't break under the strain. At least Jack is taken down a peg or two when he finds out he is just a copy, and not the origina...more
One of the girls is portrayed with such big breasts that it's a wonder her back doesn't break under the strain. At least Jack is taken down a peg or two when he finds out he is just a copy, and not the origina...more
Not much happens here aside from discovering that Jack has weirdness magnet turned-up to 11 and seeing that the Pathetic Fallacy is part of a larger non-Fable group called the "literals". This is all interesting getting into the mechanics of how Fables work, but I'm worried it somehow won't all work out right.
I guess I just don't read these often enough to be deeply involved in the world-building, which is a bit unusual for me.
Oh, and the Page sisters are hot.
I guess I just don't read these often enough to be deeply involved in the world-building, which is a bit unusual for me.
Oh, and the Page sisters are hot.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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This is my favorite in the series so far, as it was much more humorous than the last two volumes AND becomes much more meta--in a good way. I always like "self-aware" books when done well, and this one definitely works. The art, too, seems to have hit its stride, as the artists has some spot-on facial expressions for Jack.
The best, too, are the mini-stories from Blue, Paul Bunyan's ox.
Good stuff, people. Check it out.
The best, too, are the mini-stories from Blue, Paul Bunyan's ox.
Good stuff, people. Check it out.
Good fun. I love Fables, and this continues to be a fun off-shoot all about Jack of Fables and new fable characters surrounding him. We spend a lot of this episode out in the desert, setting up for the next storyline. And I guess that's why this book gets only 4 instead of 5 stars...I guess I felt I was waiting for the story to begin through the whole book. Still, a lot of it was important set-up.
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I don’t have much to say about this one, though I did like it. There were a few parts where I got a bit bored and skimmed, but that’s probably because I’ve read this before and the twists weren’t as shocking. I loved the Jack-O-Lantern parts at the end. The whole making deals with the devil was really funny. I’m interested to see what will develop with this further in the series. You can only run so far before your past deals catch up with you.
Liked: Priscilla, Jack becoming the Stone for the Sword, backstory development for Gary the Pathetic Fallacy and Revise as the mysteriously powered Literals, Jack getting the best of Wicked John. Hated: the stupid and seemingly pointless revelation that Jack is a copy and not the Beanstalk/Giant Killer fable. Why? You get 3 stars for that Willingham
Jack of the Tales is back and this time he and the Pathetic Fallacy have a dangerous encounter with Mr. Revise's minions at the Grand Canyon. This leads to the return of a familiar face and a surprising reveal about Jack's past. Meanwhile, Hillary Page is up to something and is trying to enlist Paul Bunyan's help. All in all, I wished the pace would have moved a bit more quickly, but being able to take this book in directions that would not necessarily work in the original Fables series gives pr...more
Reprints Jack of Fables #12-16. Jack and Wicked John learn their true origin and Jack tells how he sold his soul to escape Hell. The Jack of Fables series isn't as fun as Fables, but it still is a good comic. Jack may be the weakest part of this comic since many of the supporting characters are more interesting and multifaceted.
This one started off rather slow. By the end of the first issue it felt like not much had happened. Then things got slightly more interesting. There's stuff in here that's intriguing enough with regard to the greater Fables mythos to keep me reading even though the Jack series seems to be getting even sillier.
Jack gets a sword stuck him, finds out his origins and tells us about the time he became Jack Frost. I still don't love Jack - I'd like to see him grow up a bit, as a good character should - but the books are fun, and I enjoy Gary and the Page sisters. And, of course, Babe the Blue Ox.
My favourite parts of this series are the chapter endings where Jack describes what is coming up next in his adventures. The stories do meta really well, and play around a lot with the notion of characters who know they are characters. I'd hoped Fables might play around with that (and they've touched it just a bit) and so I am enjoying this aspect of Jack a lot.
Again with the highly entertaining FABLES franchise (and off-shoots). A little more insight into who Gary is, the revelation that Jack has an evil twin (or clone?) of sorts, and a just-for-fun Halloween story to wrap it all up. Good stuff, that bombastic ol' Jack!
There was a time when I thought, who would ever want to read a series about Jack. Jack is really not that interesting. Well I have been proven wrong.
I've never seen a plot point about having a sword stuck in you be so dang effective.
I've never seen a plot point about having a sword stuck in you be so dang effective.
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In the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks. He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many...more
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