jakebe | Comic Review: Fables #74

Things regretfully don’t blow up in this one. Apparently the pieces are still being put in place for the double-sized issue 75, which brings the conclusion of this arc and presumably the entire war. If the whole thing does begin and end in the span of three issues, I’ll be a little disappointed. It’ll be an anticlimactic ending to the build-up of the past two years.

When we last left our heroes, the Glory of Baghdad had been found by the flying horde of the Homelands, a collection of dragons, gryphons and other flying beasties sent to take out the ship that had been blowing up gateways left and right. Camp Bravo had been discovered by a passing patrol, which had sent word back to Imperial City. The puppet Adversary had revealed to the Snow Queen that there was one last trick up his sleeve.

By the end of the issue, we find that Boy Blue and his Witching Cloak proves indispensible in turning back the flying horde (that battle was over in what, three pages?), the reinforced patrol is easily defeated by the Camp Bravo forces, and Sleeping Beauty’s enchantment does in fact work, sending everyone in Imperial City (minus the Adversary) to sleep and ensnaring the capital in impassable thorns.

We also learn that Pinocchio has been the guy providing information on the location of the gateways to other worlds, and that his father, Gepetto, is in the ruins of his grove mourning the lost of all of his ‘children’ while the Empire is crashing down around his ears. Also, the apparent decision is made to outright kill Gepetto instead of sending him into an enchanted slumber, simply because he’s gotten too dangerous at this point.

Though the treatment of the war so far still feels a little shallow, it’s starting to at least get interesting. Seeing Gepetto in the state he’s in is more than a little disturbing; that more than anything tells me there isn’t going to be much of a fight left here. You have to wonder if the defection of Pinocchio only made things worse, or if he was like this before his number one son split on him. When Pinocchio rallied Rodney and June over to his side, he did say he was doing what’s best for the old man, who wasn’t really meant to run the Empire.

There were also a few curious lines that sound innocuous but could point towards bigger things in future issues. The Adversary freaked when the Snow Queen fell under the spell of Sleeping Beauty, which makes me think he had a thing for her. How this might play out is anyone’s guess, since he’s encased in thorns along with everyone else in the Imperial City, but this is hardly a thing Willingham would let lie. After the (way too short) battle with the flying horde, a couple of the Arabian fables aboard the Glory of Baghdad made comments like “We’re unstoppable!” and “We could conquer worlds with this ship!”, which is hardly the thing you want to hear when you’re trying to destroy a dictatorial regime.

Still, we might not want to look past Gepetto and the Empire just yet; the double-sized 75th issue hits the stands tomorrow, as a matter of fact, and it’ll likely be used as the springboard to take Fables in its new direction. Who knows what might happen?

The art, as always, is just great, and there are a few things worth noting especially. The haunted look of Gepetto as he sits in the ruins of his grove; the panicked look of the Adversary as he holds the body of the Snow Queen; and a rabbit shooting a tiny turret gun on the back of a turtle. Seriously, that last one is worth the price of admission alone. I want to blow it up to poster size and put it on my wall!

Rating: 7/10