by Josh@TFAW

Remember the stories your parents told you when you were a kid? You know, stories about three little pigs and a big bad wolf, Jack and the beanstalk, or Snow White and Pinocchio? Well, what if those characters weren’t just based on myths and legends? What if you learned that they’re real, they’re still alive, and they live in New York? That’s right, our first Graphic Content entry tackles Fables: Legends in Exile, which collects the first five issues of Bill Willingham’s acclaimed series, Fables.

This book lays the groundwork for the rest of the series and introduces us to the key players that we’re still reading about 80+ issues later. The Fables were displaced from their homelands by someone called The Adversary and are trying to get by in our world. Beauty and the Beast are having marital problems, Pinocchio is still prepubescent after 300 years, and Snow White runs Fabletown as deputy mayor.

Fables is not a story you’re going to read to your kids. Willingham wrote it for you, and he needed to pull a couple of things off to establish the longevity of the series. First, he had to write a compelling story to keep us interested for the first few issues. He definitely accomplished this goal, but we’ll get to that in just a moment. Second, and probably most importantly, he had to introduce us to Fabletown, the key players, and the current state of things. He certainly did that, and he did it in spades.

So what’s the hook of this book? Snow White’s sister, Rose Red, has been murdered. Who’s going to solve it? The Big Bad Wolf. You know it!

Okay, that last part was a bit of background to get you situated into Graphic Content, our new weekly graphic novel book club! We’re starting with Fables, and to get you started, we offered the first four Fables TPBs at 20% off, so you can start reading them ahead of time and participating in our discussion. When you comment below, we’ll send you an exclusive coupon code so you can continue to receive 20% off!

So, let’s get down to our Graphic Content questions. Because this is a book club, we’re assuming you’ve read the book–if you haven’t, be warned that there will be some pretty MAJOR SPOILERS ahead:

What were your overall impressions of Fables: Legends in Exile?

EF: First off, the artwork is gorgeous–Lan Medina and Steve Lealoha’s artwork reminds me of Alan Davis crossed with George Perez, if that makes any sense. I loved fairy tales as a kid, so seeing these characters in “real life” dealing with the modern world was really interesting. Bill Willingham did a great job of making each character unique, and the mystery was nicely handled.

JC: Ditto. Medina and Lealoha both knocked it out of the park. I’m also really impressed with the way they’re handling flashbacks. I also thought the story was really tight. You could tell that Willingham really thought this one out and poked the reader to guess “whodunnit.”

Which character did you enjoy the most, and why? Which character did you like the least or were you most surprised by, and why?

EF: I really enjoyed Bigby, the Big Bad Wolf reimagined as a gritty, tough-talking detective. He’s there to clean up the other Fables’ messes, although most of them don’t like him–especially the pigs! The one I least liked? I’d say it’s a character I more loved to hate: Prince Charming. Instead of a powerful monarch, he’s a broke, manipulative bounder, blithely using unsuspecting women to finance his expensive tastes.

JC: Again, pretty much along the same lines. I really enjoyed the new interpretations of pretty much every character. My fave: Pinocchio. Holy hell, I couldn’t handle it either! I actually liked Prince Charming’s character. He was the antithesis of what we’ve come to know from the character, and I thought it was cool. I’m not too sure about Snow White at this point, but we’ll see in the next few books . . .

What did you think about Rose Red and Jack’s plan to fake Rose Red’s death?

EF: I thought it was pretty despicable. I remember the first time I read this book, I was pretty disgusted by Rose Red–I mean, it turns out she broke up Snow White’s marriage by sleeping with Prince Charming! That they did it to avoid a commitment Rose made–to marry Bluebeard if he gave her money, which she in turn gave to her deadbeat boyfriend, Jack, who lost it–made them both look stupid and selfish.

JC: It would have worked if it wasn’t for you darn kids! . . . er, I mean, yeah, despicable. I thought the outcome was actually a lot more than they deserved. I guess when your sister is the mayor, special treatment is just a part of life.

What about you? What did you think? Have anything else to add to the conversation? Let us know below and we’ll email you a special code that will save you the fifth Fables TPB, Fables: The Mean Seasons. And make sure to meet back here next Friday, May 15, to discuss Fables: Animal Farm.