Fables: Super Team V16 (TPB)
Vertigo
Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, etc.
I previously reviewed volume 15 (TPB) of Fables and I’m glad to be back reviewing this next volume, which features the Fables as Superheroes! How cool is that?? I love that Bill has taken characters that are familiar to us, such as the Big Bad Wolf and Snow White, and turned them on their heads so they’re something completely different and creative. Fables, in my opinion, is the most unique continuing series on the market right now. This series constantly leave me speechless, in a good way, at the twists and turns that you never see coming and this collection is no exception. This collection collects issues #101-107 plus its normal little extras like the covers for the series.
We return to the realm of Fables in this 16th volume as our heroes continue their battle against Mr. Dark. In the last volume Frau Totenkinder’s battle against Mr. Dark has failed and the fables have been forced to retreat to Haven and Flycatcher cannot hold the barrier against him much longer. But all is not lost. Pinocchio and Ozma have hit upon a plan to pull their most powerful heroes together to form a superteam to tackle and defeat Mr. Dark. They’ve picked superhero names, costumes, and everything and are almost ready for the battle. But before their battle can begin Bigby and his father, the North Wind, have to settle the issue of Ghost, Bigby’s invisible zephyr cub. And then…everything takes an unexpected turn and Mister Dark is seemingly defeated. In other stories we get to check in with Bufkin, our hero of the lost business office, who manages to find his way back to his homeworld of Oz in “The Ascent” and continues his quest to be the best hero he can be. And we also check in with our lost hero Sleeping Beauty in “Waking Beauty.”
This collection of Fables got a lot of mixed reviews and I can see why. The final battle against Mister Dark feels very anticlimactic compared to the previous one with Frau Totenkinder since there isn’t the big explosion and long drawn out battle. It’s just not what a lot of people really expected out of it. But…I think that’s one of the things that makes Fables so great, is that Bill doesn’t follow the “normal” path of resolving a conflict. I mean look at how Geppetto with finally defeated. This battle fits the overall feel of Fables and just like the defeat of Geppetto, will have far lasting implications into the future that I don’t think we can yet predict. One thing that does bother me in this issue involves one of the Fables picked to be on the superteam, and I’ll avoid mentioning much since it would be a spoiler, but this Fable suddenly loses their “power” and not much is ever mentioned more of it. I’m sure it will crop up in later issues, but it just left me feeling like I missed pages that talked more about what happened.
The artwork again is absolutely fantastic and I’m always impressed with the effects that they manage to pull off, such as the final battle with Mister Dark and the chaotic winds. It just really brings the characters to life and gives us this impression that they really exist in our world. I think some of my favorite scenes though are towards the beginnings where they depict the barrier, Flycatcher, and Mister Dark and just the tension created as Flycatcher attempts to keep Mister Dark out of Haven. One of the nice bonus features that we get to this collection is some of the drawings done of the costumes the heroes were to where, including Bigby’s which was never actually worn in the collection (at least not that I saw.) It’s nice to see such depth and time they put into creating things that never quite make it into the issue.
I have no doubt that my question about the missing powers will be answered in the future volumes and I really look forward to seeing where Bill goes with the story. This is such a great universe and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
