Thursday, November 25, 2010

Fables Vol1-11 - Bill Willingham

I just finished a marathon session of reading Fables Vol1-11. One of the thing that strikes me is that unlike other Vertigo series, this is pretty much a straight story - It doesn't have the layers or complexity of a Lucifer or Sandman - i.e. a second reading doesn't add much to the storyline. The story is of course a solid entertainer but there isn't much else to it.
Another thing that detracts from my reading experience is the subsequent knowledge that I have of Bill Willingham - He is a conservative. Not in itself a problem - But when Bigby wolf states how he doesn't like the French because they have no gratitude - Is that really Bigby's voice or the conservative's ? For some reason conservatives equate lack of gratitude (for saving the French in WW-II) with criticism(of American war policies). And when the criticism is from an American it is of course unpatriotic except when a Democrat is in charge. See distracts from the story. Similarly Bigby's actions in his mission - Operation Israel , provides such a warped perspective of the Israel - Palestinian conflict. Further the glorification of Guns in the final war with the adversary - A standard conservative shock and awe tactic. Go in bomb everything , problem solved - Except we know it doesnt always work. Vietnam , Iraq, Afghanistan - you name it.
Anyway , the story is still good enough that I can ignore the above, Willingham mostly manages to keep his characters honest. It's also interesting to see how he manages to find his voice after a few issues. The first volume with Bigby as detective is cute but has a sort of amateurish feel to it. It takes about the third volume before Willingham gets into his groove - or perhaps thats the amount of time it takes the reader to realise this story is more than just a gimmick.