Customer Reviews

Jack of Fables Vol. 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All customer reviews posted at the time of this writing would have you believe that if you enjoy Fables, you will necessarily enjoy its spin-off Jack of Fables. Not so fast! I want to encourage you to at least proceed with caution.

I only recently discovered Fables and have quickly read the entire series. I love myth, fairy tales and fantasy and I think the Fables series is wonderfully entertaining (though it arguably features more intrigue and mystery than standard fantasy fair). Bill Willingham's characterizations are believable and endearing, his stories are sweeping and epic, and the artwork and design are remarkable (paneling and layout are unlike anything else I have seen).

Other reviewers note that Jack may be the least likable of the Fables characters in the original series. But whereas he is self-serving and self-pitying in Fables, there was something underneath that made him tolerable if not likable. Yes, he was a jerk, but he was not devoid of all merit. Through the first two books of this series, his jerk factor has really escalated. Perhaps it's just because the focus now resides so squarely on him. Perhaps even more likely it's because these tales are primarily narrated in a first person voice. You get inside Jack's head and thoughts and his arrogance and braggadocio are just overwhelming. He constantly tells the reader how much better he is than everyone (including the reader), he closes each story with a teaser for the next in which he lauds himself and insults the reader or where he tries an infantile trick or insult to get you to read on. Whereas I assume this is supposed to be humorous, it falls completely flat for me. It lacks wit and seems amateurish.

And this brings me to the real problem plaguing this series. Both Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges are credited as writers. Whereas I do not know what actually occurs, I had to wonder if Matt Sturges wasn't the primary or almost exclusive writer. Willingham may have editorial control or input (and it is certainly his character), but I cannot believe that he is directly responsible for this. Willingham has amazing talent as demonstrated in Fables, but it is not in evidence here. The plotting feels telegraphed and the pacing is frenetic. Aside from the writing, the beautiful artwork and design of the original are also missing.

In fairness, some of the magic is still here. You meet more fairy tale characters which has its own inherent fanciful appeal. Plus you get some back story and tie-ins to the Fables series. The idea of the Golden Boughs Retirement Community and its mission to remove all magic from the world (fable or otherwise) has wonderful potential. In fact, if that plot device were rolled into Fables, I imagine we would have a great story. But the writing and presentation here are just sub par.

I got and read the first two books but I will not be getting any subsequent volumes. Whereas the vocal few seem to love this series, it is not a foregone conclusion that liking the original Fables means you will also like this spin-off. By all means proceed to look into this series for yourself, but do so with caution.

Jack of Fables gets his own spin-off series! I have to admit, at first, I was sort of like, why? But, now I understand. It's because Jack kicks butt! In case you don't know, Jack also goes by Jack of the Beanstalk, Jack B. Horner, Jack of the Tales, and apparently Jack Frost in colder climates.

When we last saw Jack in the Fables comics, he had become a huge player in the Hollywood scene, with fame, money and lots of girls, only to have it all taken away from him by the sheriff of Fabletown, The Beast (from Beauty and the Beast, of course). Left to fend for himself, we meet up with Jack as he walks along a highway with the million dollars Beast let him keep. Suddenly he is picked up with a strange woman and two bagmen (men who are, well, bags, it's weird I know) and taken to a place called The Golden Boughs Retirement community. There he finds Goldilocks (missing from the Fables comics for awhile as well) and other various and sundry fable characters many of whom are very obscure. Someone did their research! Among them are Mother Goose, the Pathetic Fallacy, and a quick little guy called Sam. There are also cameos by Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Toto, and many others.

There Jack meets a rather nefarious guy called Mr. Revise who runs The Golden Boughs. Mr. Revise's mission is, apparently, imprison fairy tales until the world at large forgets about them, making them less magical. Mr. Revise's sinister intent is to do away with them and rid the world of magic forever

As I said before, I was surprised when they decided to spin-off Jack. Now that I can see where the story is going, I totally understand. This series looks to be completely separate from the Fables universe (no Adversary, none of the regulars from that comic) and has a great story going. The parallels to our own world and the issues we face with censorship are expertly addressed in the story arc with Mr. Revise and the Golden Boughs. I can't wait to see where Bill Willingham and crew go with this in the next part of the series.

And, as always, the art was simply amazing, especially James Jean's beautiful covers. And, I would advise catching up on the Fables comics, not because this can't stand alone because I think it really can, but because they are just so fantastic they need to be read too!

Bill Willingham's "Fables" series has already taken some of the world's best-loved characters in a new and thoroughly modern direction. Now, Jack of the Tales -- a.k.a. Jack the Giant-Killer, Jack Horner, Jack Frost, John Trick and Jack B. Nimble -- has broken with the fold (OK, he was banished) and is out on his own. It doesn't take him long at all before he's tossed unwillingly into the Golden Boughs Retirement Community, where the dread Scissorman keeps story characters captive until they fade from the collective subconscious and lose their power.

On the bright side, the revolutionary and homicidal maniac Goldilocks is there, not at all dead as previously believed, and without Baby Bear to sate her, she's willing to get kinky with Jack. (There's nothing explicit, but this isn't a book for youngsters.) But Jack wants to escape the inescapable, and with the help of Humpty Dumpty, a handful of fairies, a large flock of birds and an elderly Sambo, he just might do it.

Anyone who enjoys the "Fables" series will love this. And since everyone should enjoy "Fables," you might as well pick up your copy now.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

The "Fables" series never ceases to amaze me. The brilliance of Bill Willingham and Co. consistently maintains a level of high quality. The title has the word "(Nearly)" in it. It should be removed. The title should say, "Jack of Fables: The Great Escape".

For those of you not familiar with the Fables universe, here is the premise. The people and creations of folklore (Goldilocks, Prince Charming, Snow White, etc.)really exist. They have been forced into our world after being run out of theirs by the mysterious Adversary. Settling in our boring, mundane world they secretly establish Fabletown. The enclave in Manhattan is for those that are able to appear human. The none-human Fables (Thumbelina, Mr. Toad, the Three Little Pigs, etc.) live on "The Farm" in upstate New York.

Of course the story isn't quite what really happened....

These characters are virtually immortal as long as the "mundanes" tell their tales. In fact the more popular they are, the more difficult they are to kill. One of these is Jack Horner. He's also the guy that grew a magic beanstalk. :-) His character is that of a con man and trickster. By nature he is a jerk.

This brings us to this new series where Jack is the star. He's been exiled from Fabletown because one of his schemes went too far. After being busted, he is hitchhiking when he is kidnapped by a beautiful woman and her non-human henchmen. He is transported to a very comfortable, remote prison camp. In this prison are other fables like Alice, Mother Goose and the mysterious Sam. They are all there so that they may be 'forgotten'.

Well nobody locks Jack up! Thus begins his great escape....

I'd love to tell you more but I would spoil the story. Fans of the series will see this as a worthy addition to the Fables universe. If you're new to Fables, you will be cuirious about some of the back stories of characters like Goldilocks and get hooked yourself.

I'd never thought all that much of the Jack character before, but he fills out nicely in his own series. The inventiveness and the creativity of this series is wonderful. Mr. Willingham is a fine student of folklore and mythology as well as clever. Several times he sent me to the Internet to find out more about his characters. Especially the mysterious Sam...... I know we will see more of him.

This was money well spent.

I'm a huge fan of Bill Willingham's FABLES series, but I was rather loathe to give the Jack books a try. Why? Of all the characters in FABLES, Jack was easily my least favorite. I found nothing about him to be at all interesting and in fact found him to be quite unlikable. So, I figured that this would be an unlikable, unpleasant book.

Was I ever wrong! To be honest, I still don't like Jack, but the book introduced a whole new collection of Fables, many of American origin (like Paul Bunyan and Babe or Dorothy and her buds from the WIZARD OF OZ). Maybe of the others seemed to be of more recent origin, like the several characters from Lewis Carroll who populated the story, including Alice. The most surprising fable was Sam, who for the life of me I couldn't identify until very late in the book, when he ran so fast he turned tigers into butter. Very few people today are familiar with the widely reviled former children's classic LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, but Sam turned out to be that story's title character. Goldilocks was back and we learned about her unpleasant (though deserved) fate after her attempt to kill Snow White and Bigby Wolf. All in all, this was just a great collection of characters and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of their story.

So if you are like me and don't like Jack, no worries. If you love FABLES, you'll love this. It has all of the magic, originality, humor, and charm of the main series. Even before I had finished reading this I had run to my computer and ordered the second Jack book.

If there was still the least doubt that Bill Willingham was a masterful writer in the pantheon of comic book genius along with Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Linda Medley, and Neil Gaiman, this book surely dispels it. Wit, erudition (absolutely spot-on research on often obscure characters --- loved seeing Little Black Sambo again!), and fast-paced engaging storytelling abound.

Toward the middle of the collection, when we find out how Dorothy really has felt about Toto all these years, well, this writer was still trying to compose himself and stop rolling on the floor in spasm of laughter a good forty-five minutes later. Absolutely delicious.

As with the other FABLES stories, these are not for the young. Rather, Willingham brings these wickedly flawed characters back to the shady and earthy sexiness and violence from which they originally sprang, before they were tidied up for Victorian and 20th century nurseries. Ironically, this is one of Willingham's themes throughout the FABLES tales (which are all also wonderful and highly recommended).

After the comparatively benign and very romantic Wolves, this spin-off from Fables features the incorrigible Jack plus that decidedly nasty character 'Goldilocks', plus what qualifies as an 'evil conspiracy'--against the folks we have come to like and Fabletown as a whole-- giving this set of tales a decidedly nasty character. I love nasty conspiracies. Won't tell you how this one ends, but for one thing: it ain't over until it's over.

I mean, I knew Goldy wasn't killed by Snow White, despite the axe buried deeply in her skull, blood sloshing all over the place, plus the truck that collected her on the windshield and the plunge into the river. Goldilocks is hard to kill, because...

Well, I'm sure Bill Willingham has read Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and had Dahl's delinquent B&E girl in mind when he characterized Fables's Goldilocks. Because she is just about what you'd expect from the more grown-up young lady described by Roald Dahl as "Goldilocks, that little toad, That nosey thieving little louse, [who] Comes sneaking in your empty house...". But, of course, a 'Fable' survives partially on its popularity with the common folk, and Goldilocks is, after all, very popular.

Goldi was the one who shot Snow White in the head, but fortunately the latter also is very popular, and therefore survived for long enough to have Bigby Wolf's odd little cubs. Here we have one of the great antitheses of these stories. On one side the selfish, murderous Goldie, who led a bloody rebellion at 'The Farm', and turned out to be the worst of self-serving cynical ideological agitators in the stories. On the other a less-than angelic tough-chick Snow White, the right hand and executive mayor of 'Fabletown', who ran the show for centuries, before this thing with the cubs happened.

A similar contrast exists between Jack and Bigby Wolf. Jack is the charming cad, whose only interest is himself. Period. He isn't quite as nasty as the late Bluebeard, but take away the wife-killing fetish of the latter, the two are damn close. Whatever Jack does is for Jack's benefit. Egomania as a driving motive for action, ethics and everything else is fascinating. It isn't 'evil' per se--or maybe it is more evil than the 'evil' that's recognizable as such. I'm still pondering that one.

Contrast him to Bigby Wolf, a man who spent most of his life as a giant wolf--and still spends the occasional stretches of quality-time in that condition. At one time he was a creature of simple appetites, which went to killing whatever came his way. His father was the emotionally-distant 'North Wind', whom Bigby once describes as 'truly evil'. Bigby's animal nature was transformed and he was redeemed into becoming a human being through the intervention of Snow White, whose scent he could never forget since the first time he caught a whiff of her. Ever since then his life has been, in one way or the other, about her. Redemption by love and all that--ultimately for both of them, because Snow has her issues, too; all of which are called 'Prince Charming' or connected to that particular cad.

No such redemption for Jack, who is a true psychopath and therefore unredeemable. Same goes for Goldilocks, and so the story of Jack of Fables and the conspiracy plays out. As usual, cool stuff; this one on the nasty side.

This book is a spinoff from the popular Vertigo series FABLES. Whereas FABLES is an ensemble book, this series focuses on the character Jack of Fables (Jack Horner, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant Killer, etc). The FABLES characters are those legendary characters in our storybooks (Snow White, Goldilocks, etc) and they have been secretly living in our "mundane" world as immortals.

This book is written by Bill Willingham (writer of FABLES) and Matthew Sturges. As such it feels very much like reading a FABLES book, the tone and pacing of the story is the same. The penciller is Tony Akins who does a wonderful job (I had not come across any of his work before). The inker is Andrew Pepoy. Amazon has mistakenly credited them as "photographers".

As I had only read a couple of FABLES TPBs before, and this was several months ago, I wondered if I would understand the characters. Thankfully, the book is reader accessible as the first few pages of the first issue gives a recap and an introduction of what the character and the world he inhabits is about.

This book reprints the first five issues of the Jack of Fables comic book, and contains 128 pages. Extras consist of 6 pages of character designs (in pencil) by Tony Akins. Each chapter is preceded by a reprint of the cover of the comic book's particular issue. The only minor complaints I have about this book is that we only get 5 issues worth for the $15 cover price (normally this cover price nets 6 issues worth), and that as with other Vertigo titles this book is published only in newsprint quality paper. Considering the quality of the artwork and the story, this definitely warranted a higher grade of paper. That aside, this book is highly recommended for your comic book library!

For a spin-off of the Fables series, this one is definitely fun to read, and even better, follows a Fable with a wonderful and interesting story of his own. Not every Fable fan might like it, but goodness knows I did. Solid storytelling and illustrations make for an entertaining read.

The (Nearly) Great Escape is the first collection in Jack of Fables - the spin-off series from Willingham's long-running 'Fables'.

Jack is a bit of a weasel - he's unpleasant, sexist, mean and kind of a loser. But he's a loser that's been around for a long, long time, and, whether or not he wins, he loves to play the game.

Unfortunately, Jack's in bad shape at the start of this story. Although virtually immortal thanks to his successful movie franchise (see 'Fables'), he's penniless and stuck on the road. He's quickly snapped up by the Page sisters and Mr. Revise - a group of 'vigilantes' that are trying gather up fables and hide them away until they disappear so...).

As an adventure, The Nearly Great Escape is straight out of Fables, but it is colored throughout by Jack's unique, sarcastic and unusually non-self-aware tone of voice. He's a hilariously and strangely engaging character, off on a very wacky and extremely enjoyable adventure.

This volume also introduces many of the characters that resurface throughout the later Jack of Fables adventures. So not only is it terrific on its own, but it keeps on rewarding the reader in later volumes as well.