Jack of Fables, Vol. 3: The Bad Prince
November 22, 2008
Loved the book; and even though I made the mistake of beginning with Vol. 3 instead of one. I now want to read the entire series.
Series tracks the lives of a group known as the Fables. It is an interesting twist on all the fairy tales we knew as children.
Great comics on its own and as a companion piece!
October 8, 2008
Willingham's JACK OF FABLES companion series to FABLES lovingly and laughingly extends and macerates this creative world of fairy, folk, and myth tales. This latest addition to the growing oeuvre is fun and highly entertaining fare. The characterizations of such stock characters as Jack (Horner; and the Beanstalk; Frost, and we learn here, O'Lantern), the Snow Queen, and Paul Bunyan (in greatly "reduced" circumstances and oh! the fate of poor blue ox Babe) engage and delight the imagination as do more original concept beings as Gary the Pathetic Fallacy (a truly brilliant ideation), Kevin the Literal, Mr. Revise, and the Page sisters. While definitely a character-driven tale, the plot is intricate and intriguing and easily lost on those who aren't paying attention. These are comics for the literate and are a darkly luminous joy. No Disney princesses here.
Many laughs to be had
(4 of 6 Found this Helpful)
August 15, 2008
I am a huge fan of the Fables series, and this spin-off is just as satisfying. I enjoyed Jack of Fables 1 and 2, and number 3 was no different. I applaud the authors and artists for creating such a imaginative series. Bravo!
A brilliant continuation of the Fables' Universe
(6 of 8 Found this Helpful)
July 28, 2008
Even though Jack is perhaps my least favorite Fable in the wonderful imaginative universe that Bill Willingham has created, I once again have been completely blown away by one of his collections. 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 you've read any studies dealing with European folktales, you have undoubtedly encountered the idea of Jack stories (very similar in Native American folklore concerning Coyote stories). There are a host of stories centered on this character, more of a type than a specific individual. Here the idea is introduced that through the Powers that Be, Jack was a copy of John, insted of the other way around. The stories were actually about John, whose memories Jack has been provided.
The real meat of the story, however, lies elsewhere, as we learn a great deal more about Mr. Revise and hints about the particular kind of being that he is, as well as the revelation that there are others like him. I am not buying the individual issues of this series as they come out so I have not checked to verify this, but I suspect that the next group of issues focus on this. Suffice it to say that this book is crucial in introducing essential plot twists to come.
The book also ties in rather nicely with Volume 10 of the FABLES story, in a couple of ways. First, this volume is entitled JACK OF THE FABLES 3: THE BAD PRINCE, while the other is FABLES 10: THE GOOD PRINCE. Second, in the Jack volume a sword is rammed through his chest by someone who appears to be Merlin. In the FABLES volume we learn that the sword may have resulted from more than just that.
All in all, another great addition to one of the best ongoing comics series around. If you love comics, you should definitely add this to your collection, but only after you've added the previous FABLES and JACK releases.
A Disappointment
(2 of 8 Found this Helpful)
July 25, 2008
If you've read my other reviews of Mr. Willingham's work on 'Fables' and the 'Jack of Fables' you'll find I am a tremendous fan. One of the things I have marveled at is how Mr. Willingham keeps the series engaging and fresh. In this, the third of the Jack novels, he finally stumbles.
For those of you not familiar with the series, in Mr. Willingham's universe, the characters of folklore and mythology are real. A lot of them have been forced from their worlds to live in secret in our mundane world. One of these is Jack as in Jack Frost, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.
In order to really understand the series, you should start at the beginning and stop reading this review.... :-)
For those of you familiar with this series, Jack, the Pathetic Fallacy and Wicked John have been captured by the evil librarians of the Golden Boroughs Retirement Home. The van crashes into the Grand Canyon where our favorite scoundrel get a sword through his body. The sword is Excalibur and only the one true king can remove the sword.
In this graphic novel, we learn more about the nature of the Pathetic Fallacy and Mr. Revise. We also learn the connection of Wicked John and Jack and why they hate each other. Despite these tidbits the story is uneven. The characters spend much of their time bickering. this simply appears to be a means for Mr. Willingham to fill in gaps in the story and the narrative.
While this is better than the average fantasy graphic novel, it still falls short of of the overall excellence of the 'Fables' series.
