BlogGlue

Greetings!

Here are a few of my favorite things: Nintendo, Penny Arcade, The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Pokemon, Harvest Moon, Fallout, Dungeons and Dragons, books, dice, Professor Layton, Shadow of the Colossus, Minecraft, and so much more. I'm going to talk a lot about video games, I sincerely hope you don't mind.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Fables - Fairy tales come true

Don't read the plot synopsis on the webpage for this. You will get some MAJOR spoilers -_-

I am really enjoying this series.

I knew nothing about this one. Andrew felt confident that I would enjoy it, at least more-so than I did Hellboy. Who would have thought that this was a comic book based on fairy tale characters being in the real world? So awesome! (And right up my alley)

Absolute first impression? The art style looks super old (remember my inexperience with comic books!): muted color palettes and lots of details. I thought I didn't like it, but I actually do. The character's faces are great and easily recognizable. I like the fact that my brain is under the impression that the comic is from the 70s (because of the color palettes and my association with older comics), seeing as I've always wanted to read comics but never have. It's like I'm tricking myself into believing that I'm "starting from the beginning".

So far I've read the first five issues. They encompass a story arc, so it seemed like a good place to stop for now. I read rabidly, very anxious to see where the story went!

I encountered estranged families, romance, mystery and fancy galas! There were suave gentlemen, grizzled detectives and beautiful stern women. The writing style appeals to me; the dialogue doesn't feel terribly forced or fake. I've never heard of Bill Willingham, but he apparently has contributed to a lot of other works. I'd definitely like to look into other things that he's written. I like his way with words!

The idea of having fairy tale/nursery rhyme/folk tale characters living in "secret" in New York City is so brilliant and awesome. I wonder if Enchanted took some inspiration from it? Certainly seems like it!

As characters are introduced, small narrative cues are given to let the reader realize who the character is in well-known fables. The jolts of realization and immediate mental images of long-loved and familiar tales makes for an enjoyable experience. Almost like meeting an old friend after not seeing one another for years, and then realizing that they're now alcoholics who sleep around.

I remain simultaneously amused, betrayed and gleeful by the character transformations from "perfect" role models to "real" people with faults. They've grown up with me, although I've taken a better path <3

At this point, even though I've only read two different comics so far, I feel fairly certain that I'll be reading more of Fables before I continue any other titles!

-MJ

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