Digital Ink: Review of "Fables #1"
It's Wednesday everyone, Happy New Comics Day! Chris here again from Obsessive Comics Disorder (http://ocdcast.com). While I, like many of you, wait patiently to get into Diablo III, I thought I'd post this week's comics review - "Fables #1" by Bill Willingham/Lan Medina/Steve Leialoha (Vertigo, $0.99). Okay, now I know that *technically* Vertigo is a part of DC Comics and I said I'd review something other than that, but given the popularity of Fables and the fact that A) I hadn't read it yet, and B) they had a big sale on the comics this week, and C) it isn't your standard Batman/Superman or other super hero comic book that you guys would let it slide. Am I right?
Fables is all about what happens with "Happily Ever After" meets reality. All of the characters from various children's fairy tales seem to be involved in the story, where these characters have been evicted from their fantasy homes and forces to live in New York City. Those that can't pass as "normal" get magical disguises so that they can move through the city without raising any suspicion. In fact, this is the number one rule of the "Fables" -- as they call themselves -- that they must not reveal the existence of themselves to the normal world. Therefore, a small underground government has propped up to take care of matters between the various characters. We get glances into what these characters would be like if they had to face the harsh realities that we deal with everyday.
When I finished this book, I was very conflicted. I have heard from years from many different people how good this book is. Yet, from just reading the first issue, there really isn't much here to pull me in. A story is set up involving the disappearance/possible murder of Snow White's sister Rose Red, but I am not pulled into the storyline as much as I feel I should be. Honestly, if it were not for the reputation of this book, I wouldn't bother picking up any more issues of this book. I find myself wondering more about how these characters got to this point than what is going on now. If the comic had started with some of that storyline, I would have been more drawn to this.
As far as the art goes, it seems to blend nicely with the storyline. By that I mean while this is a story set in modern times, you get this fairy tale-like experience while reading the book. Even though I was reading this on my iPad, I could see this comic getting made into a giant leather-bound book. I'm not the biggest fan of this art style, but it seems to work in this book. It would just take me awhile to get used to it.
My Rating: 2 out of 5. As of right now, this comic seems to suffer from the problem of being over hyped. Coming in fresh, I just do not see what people see in this comic. However, I am willing to give this a couple more issues to see if it grabs me. Yet, as the first issue is still only 99 cents, anyone out there should give this a try. As always, if you have any opinions, feel free to comment below or send me an email at chris@ocdcast.com