This ties into Bill Willingham's Vertigo series Fables...the story of public domain fairy tale characters living as reclusive immortals in modern day, mundane NYC.
It's a mixed bag. Some of the most hyped of the stories did not satisfy me.
We learn what happened to the Seven Dwarves, for instance...but the why of it is left unanswered.
Still, it was interesting to see that the lies in the Prince Charming/Snow White marriage did not begin with Charming.
Likewise, the story of how Bigby became the infamous Big Bad Wolf felt more like a Cliff Notes summary than a meaty, full story.
On the other hand, some stories that didn't receive much hype at all were greatly enjoyable.
The story of how Reynard the Fox saved his Fables was charming and funny.
The story of how Old King Cole and his friendship with some famous animal Fables was also good.
And the truth about Flycatcher's family brought on a misty-eyed moment. I think most readers expected the revelation...but it was still powerfully depicted.
At $20 US, it's far from too pricy...still, it's not quite what I had hoped it to be.
Worth a check out from a library's GN collection, but possibly not to own.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Bill Willingham is fun to read, and I love Fables to death, but he cheats readers so often that I want to seriously hit him with a stick. I'm at the point now where every time I see a plot unfolding, I know that no matter what the buildup, the resolution will almost certainly be some big secret that he kept from the readers and will pull out at the last minute, rather than letting the plot run its course.
Thanks for the heads up about 'A 1001 Nights...'. I'll take a look at it.