Fables 10: the Good Prince: fairyland's armies mass for the final (?) battle

The tenth collection of Fables comics, "The Good Prince" (and its companion volume, The Bad Prince) continues to delight with its thoroughgoing exploration of one of the better conceits in comics today. Fables is the long-running, multiple-award-winning comic series in which every legendary being of every land -- and all of the elements of storytelling, like the pathetic fallacy -- are exiled to earth by a cruel and conquering emperor.

The Fables creators have lots of room to play with this idea -- fourteen volumes so far, including four spinouts -- and they're really going for it. The side-plots have explored everything from Hollywood's vulnerability to Jack of Fables to the special problems of human-wolf mating, the handling of conspiracy nuts who get too close to the truth, and the claustrophobia of a whole world when you aren't allowed to reveal yourself in it.

But all the way through, Fables has been moving toward a conclusion, a major battle in which the Fables try to reclaim their ancestral lands from the evil emperor. And that's where The Good Prince comes in. In this volume, the stage is really set for the final conflict between the two armies, through a set of transformations to some of the series oldest and most complex characters (some of whom have been offstage for a book or two).

At nearly 250 pages, this book feels roomier than some of the others, and there's a lot of laying-of-groundwork going on, the sense of pieces being put into place for a major offensive. And for all that, there's still a complete and satisfying chapter in this one. Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince, Link to all Fables collections, Link to free download of Fables 1

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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OM

“Bill Willingham illustrated one of my RPG books way back when (’81?). Nice to see he’s moved up in the world!”

…Which book was that? I’ve probably still got a copy of it stashed somewhere.
Cory Doctorow

I took a stack — 20+ — books to Wales last weekend and read through most of them and queued up reviews going through to mid-Sept, one a day for every weekday.
Nelson.C

Cory @6: You read 20 books in a weekend? What did your other iterations do?
Stefan Jones

Bill Willingham illustrated one of my RPG books way back when (’81?). Nice to see he’s moved up in the world!
Stefan Jones

@14:

“Vault of the Ni’er Queyon,” an adventure for the “Space Opera” RPG, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited.

Bill’s friend Jeff Dee also illustrated.
Jelf

Cory, your link to the free download is for the first issue of ‘Jack of Fables’ (one of the spin-off series) not the first issue of ‘Fables’ itself. Here’s the correct link:
http://www.dccomics.com/graphic_novels/?gn=1606
Jason Pitzl-Waters

Just FYI, while issue #75 will see the conclusion of the big war between Fabletown and the Emperor’s massive army, Bill Willingham has stated that Fables will keep going long after that.

“Is â€œFablesâ€ ending? Willingham emphatically denied it, saying that it would only end if he died or if Buckingham wanted to do something else. But he said things will change after issue #75: ‘The prequel’s over, now we start the real series.’”

Which is good news for fans of this excellent series.
Peter Gasston

Volume 2 of Fables put me off reading the rest; when they performed summary executions on the dissidents, I lost all empathy with the characters.
holding_rabbits

is no one upset that it isn’t ending? it seems that one of the best things about stories is that they end! most vertigo series are 75 issues long…i guess i’m just afraid that it’s going to turn into some typical unending comic like the xmen…any thoughts?
Cory Doctorow

Thanks, Jelf!
Chris Fedde

Cory

I love that you’re posting so much cool stuff. But don’t you think you should pace yourself?

:-)
Anonymous

Executions of dissident Fables isn’t like executing mundies. Fables have a way of coming back. Even from the bottoms of wells.
Stefan Jones

I like series that end myself. I think it provides, um, storytelling discipline.
MCLeopard

I’ve greatly enjoyed all of the previous Fables books, but this one is by far my favorite. Over the rest of the books, you’ve grown fond of the titular “Good Prince,” and in this book, you can’t help but be moved by him. This is the best book of one of the best comic series going on. I hope everyone can get a chance to read it.
Anonymous

I actually thought this one was pretty bad. The dialog’s stiff and all this sort of came out of nowhere with fly becoming all poweful. Just felt kind of like a cop out to all the dramatic tension that had been building up
Anonymous

Volume 2 of Fables put me off reading the rest; when they performed summary executions on the dissidents, I lost all empathy with the characters.

I can see where you’d get turned off by that. However, remember that these characters did not spring from the dreams of late-20th or early-21st century Westerners. They may have been in the Mundy for centuries, but they reflect the values of an earlier age. I found the execution scene to be disturbing, but in keeping with their natures.
TheMostHorrible

It will end. I love Fables’ storytelling style and pacing and I’m thrilled to hear it is relatively indefinite. But I’m sure it will end and right on time.
Ever since I started reading Fables I’ve looked at nursery rhymes and fairy tales in a whole new way. I hear “Wee Willie Winky” and I wonder if he survived the wars and if so, what’s he up to now? I think there are lots of stories to be told.
The fact that I love it is what makes me sure the series will end.