Jack Of Fables Trade Paperback Review by Clive Andrews

Jack Of Fables Vol. 1 The (Nearly) Great Escape

Writer: Bill Willingham
Artist: Matthew Sturges
Type: Graphic Novels
Publisher: DC Comics, Vertigo
Content: The content is of an adult nature

Review:

When I was asked to review this book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. I had read a few of the fables comics and graphic novels and wondered how well Jack would do on his todd (English for being on your own).

If you’re not familiar with the fable tales let me recap. Fables takes characters from fairy tales and folklore, isolated them to one modern age community, lights the torch paper, stands back and awaits the explosion. The back drop to the stories are that we (the Mundi’s), are not aware of Fables living among us. The Fables are forced out of their homelands by another fable fraction. The more human like Fables live in New York, whilst the rest are forced to live on a secret farm like Colin one of the three little pigs.

Written by Bill Willingham the Fables books are gritty and dynamite. I have to say I don’t have the same drive for this graphic novel. It starts off with Jack telling his tales of woe and introducing him as a main character rather than his ‘supportive’ role in Fables’. Jack finds himself in a prison camp with other fables such as sassy Cinderella and down and out Humpty Dumpy to mention a few. Jack then plans The Great Escape hence how the story unfolds. The Novel gets off to a slow start and never really speeds up. This is a shame as the original Fables story lines are quite frankly, brilliant.

If art work is your thing then you will not be disappointed. The art work makes the book stand out, looms large and is most impressive. This book collects Jack of Fables #1 - #5 and is of a mature nature. I do think if you are a fan of the Fables then it might be worth you reading the book. I not saying that this an entirely bad read; no it’s just a spin off that doesn’t spin very far. The book does have its moments, for example some very clever dialog between Jack and his inmates will keep you reading, but it left me thinking, ”How was it that this is nominated for the 2007 Eisner Awards best new series?”

About The Reviewer:

Clive Andrews is a guest reviewer for About.com. He also has a website that is a comic, book, and rare book store at www.thebookcorner.net.