I have not read the Fables comic book in the past, but when I saw that the comic was starting a story arc that would take the characters of classic fables and put them in to a super hero type of story, I decided to give it a try.
Fables # 102: Super Team! Part 1 of 5 from DC’s Vertigo imprint takes us to the kingdom of Haven, a fantasy realm where the characters of classic myths and folklore live. As the story opens we follow Flycatcher as he meets Bigby, brings him back to Haven, and briefs him on the current situation. The Dark Man roams the boarders of Haven where he is kept at bay by an invisible barrier that is maintained by Frog. The Dark Man claws against the barrier, using his power to weaken it more every day. It is only a matter of time before the powerful villain will break though.
To prepare themselves for an inevitable battle the denizens of Haven are assembling a team that can take on The Dark Man. And they plan to do this by following classic archetypes of comic book super hero teams. The reason for this is that magic draws power from belief and strong conviction. So, as Pinocchio reasons, going the super hero route will give them added power from the belief of generations of comic book readers. The stage has been set, now we wait for part 2 to see who makes the team.
I enjoyed this issue. Bill Willingham’s story about fairy tale characters preparing to follow in the classic archetypes of comic book super heroes was a lot of fun to read. I love Pinocchio’s explanation about the role that he will play on their super team, and of why the comic book super hero team dynamic is needed in this adventure. And it cracks me up that he’s “smoking” a pipe that makes bubbles and is carrying around a stack of comic books for reference. The land of Haven with its population of mythical characters provides a great background for the story. And even though this story has its light hearted moments, the great evil lurking at the gates adds a sense of urgency. This looks like the set-up to a classic adventure. The artwork looks great. Mark Buckingham pencils this issue, with Steve Leialoha inking, Lee Loughridge providing colors, and Todd Klein providing the letters. And fittingly, they create a comic that is reminiscent of the art from 70s era Marvel comics.
There is a lot of history to Fables that I don’t know about. And there are many characters in this issue that I’m not familiar with, and some that aren’t even named in this issue. Still, I think this is a good issue to pick up on. Willingham does a great job of setting the stage so that you can get into this particular story even if you don’t know about everything that came before. And you don’t need to be able to know each character on sight to be able to understand what’s going on. This is an extremely well told story. You can just dive right in and you pick up on what’s going on as you read along. This is a must buy issue.
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