You might not think Jack could support his own series, especially one stretching nearly a dozen volumes. But he is the right combination of shallow and stupid to be entertaining. Maybe like Deadpool without the swearing.
This could have been done within the main Fables series and is up to the same high standard but there is so much packed in here it would have bogged everything down horribly. Jack as a character and his action-adventure is definitely enough to hold his own.
The art is great, and despite having a different artist (no Mark Buckingham) the style is very much true to the original. The layouts and framing are top notch stuff with plenty of bold choices delivering great impact. Even printed on the standard matt newsprint of most Vertigo books the colours can be incredibly vivid and really add to the fantastic nature of the Fableverse.
A surprising Thumbs Up!
This is a nine chapter volume that alternates between Fabletown and mini stories elsewhere. As Willingham specialises in battles he has sown the seeds of his final conflict early and tension is rising to fever pitch. Each chapter is marked “the Last Tale of…” so you know things are bad.
This is a meaty volume comprising ten issues of story. We flit all over the place from Geppetto’s machinations to Junebug’s discovery in the cellars of Fabletown. You will be glad there is the cast list in the front to remind you who everyone is. Most of the stories are strong and the single issues set up plot points for the future. The two issue “Boys in the Band” at the end might build to something in the future but seems flat.
The first part of this volume ties up what has been happening in Oz. It has a different artist with a not unpleasing style. There is nothing wrong with the story and it certainly has some quirky characters but is nothing special.
This is from the same Indian company that did Three Men in a Boat and are slowly hoovering up all the Western World’s public domain literature.
This 4 issue miniseries, based on a DC character from the 1970’s is superb. There is a quality of writing and subject matter that blows most modern offerings out of the water.
The original work was started in the 1940’s and is a tapestry of short stories which all use the same version of Mars but only a few returning characters. This early example of Sci-fi now appears dry to the modern reader who is more used to space opera.
This is the second and unfortunately the last collected edition of Scout. Whilst this is a self-contained story many of the minor characters, and some new ones, are given plot hooks which would have featured in future issues.
This is a comic written in the 1980’s about a dystopian future of 1999 and so it has a certain quirky charm. Unusually, even today, the protagonist is a Native American. This is quite the political tale of what could happen, but looking at the world of today it seems much of it did. There is a supernatural element present but the clever part is that this could be magical realism or allegory.
