Customer Reviews

Fables Vol. 9: Sons of Empire

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"Sons of Empire" is the latest in Bill Willingham's Eisner Award-winning series "Fables" graphics novels. In the previous edition, "Wolves", Bigby Wolf successfully executed a brilliant plan conceived under the leadership of Prince Charming as retribution for the Empire's attack on Fabletown. As payment for this, his years of service as well as Snow White's dedication, they are given a house as well as the valley formerly occupied by the sleeping giants.

Back in the Empire, the ruling inner circle debates as to what to do in response to the Fabletown attack. "Debate" isn't the proper word. What the Adversary and company want is nothing short of the destruction of Fabletown and our mundane world. The main issue is not `should they' but `how should they'.

Anyway Lord Hansel is dispatched to Fabletown as the new ambassador for the Empire. That's `Hansel' as in "Hansel and Gretel" as in the two kids who pushed Frau Totenkinder into her oven. Overnight, Prince Charming and company realize their world will never be the same again. They either step up their game or die.

Meanwhile, Bigby Wolf and family have settled down to domestic bliss in their first Christmas together. However as her Christmas present, Snow White asks that Bigby visit his father with his family. Of course the problem is Bigby blames his father for his mother's death......

At the same time, Pinnochio finds out on a personal level what a monster his `kindly' Geppetto is.

It is interesting in how Mr. Willingham's characters evolve. Prince Charming is proving to be an excellent wartime Mayor of Fabletown. Even when he is angry he is still able to think clearly and act decisively. In this way he is a lot like his wife Snow White. Boy Blue may have the love of his life underneath his nose.... Bigby Wolf is a sensitive, caring father.

But don't forget he's still "the biggest, baddest wolf of all!"

This graphic novel is not at the same level as "The March of the Wooden Soldiers" or "Wolves". What Mr. Willingham is doing is redirecting the series and refreshing it with new plotlines and new characters as well as tying up a few loose ends while building up to a climax. Even so, this is a worthy addition to the series.

At the heart of this collection: evil machinations, plans and schemes in the Adversary's Empire; a long-lasting conflict between a father and a son coming to a resolution of sorts. Add to this a very grim twist on the aftermath of the Hansel and Gretel story that makes Frau Totenkinder look almost benign; a hint that the humblest and maybe most tragic of all the residents of Fabletown may turn out to be their savior; little snippets of background material and vignettes on Fables plus one potentially significant non-Fable.

One of the things I like most about the characters is that even the most evil ones do have a story behind the, which reveals the choices and paths that made them become whom we meet here. And the good ones are never quite as clean as we might like to think of them either. Everything has more than one side and Fables makes a point of virtually never letting us forget that.

As always, or maybe even more so, simply brilliant.

We have seen Fabletown respond to the Empire in a devastating way. We cannot expect the Empire to roll over after just one hit. The first story arc shows us how the empire plans to respond and their council of war. Plus we meet, and discover the history of, Hansel who has been made Ambassador to Fabletown. A strong story that sets the stage for much to come.

In the second main story arc we see Bigby and his pack travel to the lands of his father for a family visit. This is the first chance we have of seeing Bigby with Mr. North. An excellent story that includes a Christmas special as only Fables can pull off and one of the best side jokes I have seen in a while. Unfortunately the art on this one is far from the best.

Also included in this collection are a series of short stories that fill in all sorts of little details about the Fables we know and know of. One series of short stories is concerned with answering readers questions.

Two good stories for the price of one plus all the other stuff equals a real bargain in the graphic novel world. An absolute must-have for Fables fans.

What can I say? Fables continues to be the best comic book series out there--period. Sons of Empire maintains the excellent status quo by setting up a major storyline to come, giving us an interesting Christmas tale, and further exploring the relationship between fathers and sons. Most entertaining, though, is a series of "short stories" throughout the volume that fill in some gaps on lesser characters and events.

Really, if you're not reading Fables, you're missing out on the best series going.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

Some SPOILERS for those who haven't yet read the prior FABLES trades.

Bill Willingham keeps knocking this thing out of the park, as FABLES remains one of the enduring top notch comic books currently being written. Willingham took popular characters from various fairy tales, folklore, mythology, and literature and plonked them all down in a Manhattan neighborhood secretly known as Fabletown. There, these immortals live in exile, having, many centuries ago, been driven out of their Homelands by the rapacious Adversary. In issue 50 (see Fables Vol. 8: Wolves), Bigby Wolf succeeded in his mission to strike back at the Adversary, who of course isn't tickled pink by this development.

After the big 50th issue hullabaloo, Willingham slows the pace some. This more contemplative set of issues (#52-59) reprinted in FABLES: Vol. 9: SONS OF EMPIRE lends a sense that, in this particular stretch, Willingham is merely biding his time. In fact, what he's doing is setting the stage for some very huge explosions down the road. Things do happen in these issues, just not so much on a grand scale.

The 4-part "Sons of Empire" kicks things off. This story arc differs from the norm in that it's narrated mostly from the perspective of the Adversary and his lieutenants. If you've read Fables Vol. 6: Homelands, then you already know that the mysterious Adversary turns out to be Gepetto, the humble old gent who carved Pinocchio. Not too many denizens of the Homelands are clued in that Gepetto is the real power behind the throne, the homie who runs the joint, and that the awesome Emperor is merely a figurehead and another of Gepetto's carved puppets. In "Sons of Empire," Gepetto and his inner circle meet to formulate a plan of action in the war against Fabletown which Gepetto means to initiate in three years' time.

We also meet a grown-up Hansel (but no sign of Gretel), and he cuts a rather sinister figure. Today, he's known (and feared) in the Homelands as the Inquisitor General Hansel. He also becomes the Adversary's ambassador to Fabletown (but, of course, we know there's an insiduous hidden agenda, right?). At the end of each of these issues are tacked on brief stories focusing on several of FABLES' ancillary characters. So, for instance, we find out how Rapunzel and her hair (which grows impossibly fast) cope in the mundy world.

Issue #56 is the Christmas extravaganza and reveals, to no one's surprise, that Santa Claus is himself a fable. This also catches us up with the Wolf household, as Bigby, Snow, and their shapeshifting cubs celebrate their first Christmas. And something happens to Flycatcher, which sets up the upcoming 9-part story arc "The Good Prince" (Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince).

Then comes the two-part "Father and Son" story arc, in which Bigby and Snow take their children to visit their grandfather, the North Wind, for the first time in the Homelands. There, Bigby continues the cubs' training by instructing them to hunt for a kill in the woods. But what Bigby doesn't know is that ravening monsters roam the North Wind's backyard. It's always satisfying whenever the Wolf clan is featured, as I've grown very fond of Bigby, Snow and their rugrats. "Father and Son" also explores more of the uneasy relationship between Bigby and his father, and we also meet Bigby's no-good brothers (these guys really are poster boys for family dysfunction). If nothing else, this two-parter demonstrates that no one is still quite as big and bad and awesome as Bigby Wolf.

But where's Ghost, Bigby and Snow's seventh (and invisible) son?

"Burning Questions" is this trade's final issue, and in this one Willingham strives to respond to the readers' most often asked questions. So if you want to get the lowdown on things like the training methods for new recruits in the Mouse Police, or Prince Charming's first love, or who caught Snow's wedding bouquet, then this issue'll serve up some answers.

Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha keep on churning out exemplary artwork. They handle pencils and inks for the 4-part "Sons of Empire" and "Jiminy Christmas," while Michael Allred is decent on the 2-part "Father and Son." Meanwhile, a host of artists take on the 16 really short stories included.

Storywise, these issues are rich in content, even if nothing truly momentous happens (unless you count the Adversary declaring his intention to war with Fabletown and the good old U.S. of A. - but, c'mon, that was a given). As usual, Bill Willingham provides depth, humor and twists in his storytelling. Fifty issues plus, and the man refuses to slack off.

As this collection opens, The Adversary plans war against the world to which the Fables have been exiled - our world. As part of the ploy, The Adversary sends a diplomatic envoy to the Fable. It's an undiplomatic choice of ambassador, though: a Fable who was exiled because of his taste for murder, and who defected to the expanding empire.

Not all of this collection carries that grim foreboding, though. Christmas arrives, and a family that we've come to know celebrates it in their magical way - but every silver lining has its dark cloud, too. We catch up with others among the Fables, as well, in a brief but kaleidoscopic set of impressions at the end of this collection.

The world of the Fables has been well established in the eight collections leading up to this one. New readers really ought to start at the beginning, so the know the context and personalities involved. Without that, I'm afraid, much of this set would be non sequitur. However, if you've been following along, you'll see excitement building in the major plot line, and more back story emerging from secondary threads. If you've followed the Fables this far, you're in for a treat.

-- wiredweird

Another great chapter in this wonderful series. As this tale continues it gets more and more complicated (in a good way) my enjoyment level grows just as much. This volume spends a great deal of it's time back in fableland with the Advisaray and his council. This really helps to expand the Fable Universe.

I discovered FABLES perhaps a bit later than many others, but I'm making up for it with my enthusiasm for it. I've now read all of the nine main books, the 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL spin off, and the two Jack of the Fables books (even though Jack is possibly my least favorite character in the books). I look forward to getting the tenth book this June. My point is: this is an addictive series.

The issues that make up this volume pretty obviously are setting up big events in the future. We see a war council held by Gepetto and his minions. We see Snow White and Bigby and their brood visit his father the North Wind. We are introduced to several new characters. We get new wrinkles, such as Rodney Greenwood, who seems to almost like the residents of Fabletown.

But while FABLES has great stories, what I most enjoy is the way Willingham explores all the various facets of their fictional world. From the very beginning the series has never done just one thing. There is an astonishing variety, just as the cast of characters really could be characterized as an ensemble cast. If you were forced to identify the "lead" characters, it might be Snow White and Bigby Wolf, but there have been several issues in which they've not appeared at all, sometimes several issues in a row.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

This is an amazing comic series that just keeps getting better. The art is fantastic, and the stories are familar yet riviting and new. I think that this is one of the best story lines out there for the fantasy fiction folks. The pages aren't glossy, but if you are careful with it, it will hold up just fine.

Bill Willingham, Fables: Sons of Empire (Vertigo, 2007)

Now that we've had our idyllic break from the storyline, Sons of Empire is going to drag us back into the war brewing between Fabletown and the Homelands. This is a book where nothing much actually happens; there's a lot of strategizing and a great deal of setup. Not that that makes it any less riveting. Willingham's series is one of the stronger American comic series on the market today, and the ability to pull off a "bridge" book like this is one of the reasons. ****