REVIEW: Fables Vol.1: Legends In Exile by Bill Willingham and Illustrated by Lan Medina

Fables: Legends in Exile (2002) written by Bill Willingham and Illustrated by Lan Medina is available in paperback, published by Vertigo and retails for $9.99 US.

This is an ongoing series featuring fairy tale characters who find themselves uprooted from their fairy realm and living in secret exile in upstate New York.

Do you enjoy fairy tales? You know, Snow White and the seven dwarf’s? Or Beauty and the Beast? Or how about Cinderella? Make no mistake, Willingham’s rendition of the fables is for adults only. It seems innocuous at first glance, with all the pretty pics of fairy tale creatures on the cover but it is a comic for adults.

Where to begin? Well, as the title suggests and as I mentioned above, the fables are in exile and have made New York their temporary home. The fables “kingdoms and lands” were taken by someone who only goes by the name of “the adversary.” After they’ve been forced out of their home, they travel to our world in the hopes that the “adversary” will not follow. They set up a secret fable government slash society where King Cole is mayor and Snow White is his deputy mayor (who does most of the work behind the scenes).

All nonhuman fables who can’t blend into human society must live on the Farm, which is located in upstate New York. You have Fabletown in the city and then you have the Farm. Since being relocated from their homeland, many of the fables are faced with the social and economical issues that plague the rest of us. Many of the fables were forced to leave much of their fortune’s behind.

As the story opens, Beauty and her husband, Beast are having marital issues that has instigated her husband’s curse. He looks like well, like a beast, and that’s not good. Acting as a marriage counseler, Snow White informs the couple that he must hide his “beastly features” with glamour or move to the Farm where the rest of the nonhuman fables reside.

Every year the fables have “Remembrance Day” where they pay homage to their past and collect donations to help support their secret community. Amnesty has been given to ensure a clean slate and rules must be obeyed to make sure that humans remain oblivious to their existence in the city.

Fables: Legends in Exile is a character driven story as there’s not much action in it. Many of the fables we’ve enjoyed as kids are introduced and are given a modern touch. Willingham has essentially taken our beloved fairy tale characters and breathed new life into them. Take for instance, Snow White. She runs Fabletown almost single handedly by herself. She’s smart, devoted to her job and has plenty of attitude to spare. She doesn’t mince words.

Then there’s the Big, Bad Wolf who goes by Bigby Wolf. He’s refrained from blowing down houses and is now sheriff of Fabletown. Decked out in sheep’s clothing, he has to investigate the disappearance of Snow White’s estranged sister, Red Rose. I can’t say that the mystery was all that difficult to solve but it was fun watching it unfold. He and Snow White work together and interrogate other “legends” like Bluebeard and Jack with his missing magic beans, among others.

There are other principal players like Prince Charming who is a free loading narcissist, who added plenty of humor and flavor. I especially enjoyed the barbs that flew between he and his ex-wife. The pages relatively flew by quickly in this first volume and I’ve already started on the second.

I’d bought these two volumes last year but never got around to reading them. As I was re-organizing my bookshelf, I had started to put them in a box for storage, but then I started to read the first few pages and was immediately hooked. The artwork is well done and I especially enjoyed seeing the emotional expressions of the characters done so accurately. Snow White was hands down my favorite fairy tale character in here. She can hold her own, doesn’t take lip and can dole out the insults (especially with her ex) with the best of them.

Other fairy tale characters apart from the main cast for this first story arc include Jack, Red Rose (in spirit), Bluebeard, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast, among others. Fables: Legends in Exile was a blast to read and I look forward to reading more of these stories. My grade, B+.

*****

This post is apart of TBR Day Challenge where readers explore their TBR piles in search of those “buried” treasure reads that they never knew they owned. [g] Please visit the other readers of this challenge and enjoy.