Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

9 reviews for Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

1. 

   Veronica Mills – March 25, 2025

   A Feel Good Comic Book!
   I love Bill Willingham’s writing style and the work of the illustrator. I became interested in this series because I grew up watching Disney movies, listening and reading these fable stories, and did role-playing with the characters as a child. Also because these fables are a part of American childhood culture and I was enthusiastic that the author created a series for adult taste that I can enjoy during this age of my life. I also appreciate art as well. Some fable characters that are in this book are Snow White, Cinderella, the Beauty and the Beast, Jack from the beanstalk fairy tale, the wolf and the three little pigs, and more.All of the fable characters live in a town called Fabletown in New York. It is reclusive to only its fable members. They have been in exile due to a powerful god or woodland sprite called the adversary. The wolf is the detective and he has to find out what happen to Rose Red which is Snow White’s sister. He suspects that she is the victim of violence or possibly homicide or suicide. Snow White works for the government as director of operations. She assists the wolf during most of the investigation.It is very suspenseful and the writing style and illustrations help keep the reader interested. This comic book shows that in reality fairy tales may not happen or as often as we want them to but if we stay diligent and work hard we may be able to reap some rewards in life. I expect for more stories to unfold in the following volumes. You have to read it for yourself and the ending will literally blow your mind. I also like how the illustrator draws flashbacks during some scenes when a person is talking. The story is presented like a movie which is what I love the most. There are also lots of surprises in this book that will have you thinking, “ I didn’t expect that to happen”. I also like that there is a lot of text in this book. It takes me longer to read this book than it does with another type of comic book that is the same amount of pages.The only thing that could have been better is if the characters had been more interesting, unique and developed. But it’s still a 5-star graphic novel to me due to the suspense, humor, plot, writing style, illustrations, and being a feel good comic book!

2. 

   Kindle Customer – March 25, 2025

   Fables rewritten for adults
   I love this book. It has all the usual fairy tale characters interpreting modern day tasks in a modern day world. I love the “whodunnit” plot twist.

3. 

   Sally M. – March 25, 2025

   Great set-up to an even better series
   In the center of New York City, a strange community lives in secrecy, hiding their true natures so that they can exist side-by-side with ordinary humans. These are the Fables, refugees from other realms — who happen to be the stuff of our world’s fairy tales and legends. They’ve been driven out of their homelands by someone known, at the moment, only as the Adversary; his troops, from what we see in flashbacks, consist of gruesome monsters, goblins, orcs, etc — the nastiest of the nasty, rapers and raiders, fixed on destruction. They took over territories one by one, and over a period of a couple of hundred years, the Fables fled, first finding their way into other realms, then finally into our world. Most of them live in an luxury apartment building, with their businesses on the surrounding street. Those who can’t pass for human (the Three Little Pigs, for instance) live upstate at the Farm. The nice and the naughty live side-by-side thanks to the Amnesty — an agreement that any Fable seeking asylum both forgive and be forgiven for any past crimes, on the condition that they go forth and sin no more, so that wicked stepmothers, vile sorcerers, and the like, now reformed, can live peaceably with their former victims.The first installment focuses on Snow White and Bigby (the Big Bad Wolf given human form) as they investigate the apparent murder of Snow’s wild-child baby sister, Rose Red (this series merges the two Snow Whites, she of the seven dwarves and she of the bear). Along the way, they introduce us to some of Fabletown’s greatest heroes and villains: Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Beauty and the Beast (whose curse reverts when his wife gets mad at him), the Frog Prince, Pinocchio, the thrice-divorced Prince Charming (Snow was his first wife, followed by Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella), the formerly-murderous Bluebeard, Little Boy Blue. The interpretations of the characters, bringing them into our modern world, are all quite clever, and sometimes surprising. Prince Charming is pretty much a professional playboy, mooching off of the women he sweeps off their feet (we learn that he’s recently worn out his welcome in some of the royal courts in Europe). Snow is the Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, the brains and sweat keeping the whole organization running, while Mayor King Cole gladhands and takes care of the feel-good publicity. Beauty works in a bookshop. The Frog Prince is Fabletown’s janitor. Cinderella’s profession is as-yet unspecified, but we see her looking pretty badass, taking fencing lessons from Bluebeard.Bigby reveals the details of Rose’s disappearance at the Remembrance Day ceremony, a Fabletown holiday on which they gather to honour those who fell defending the Homelands, to reminisce about their lost pasts, and to pledge themselves to, someday, reclaiming their former dominions. It’s a nostalgia-fest, and some members of Fabletown are more cynical than others, but it’s also the one time when pretty much all the Fables come together — making it the perfect opportunity for a tell-all. There’s some nice detective work going on, but that’s far from the focus or importance of the story — what’s far more crucial is what the chain of deceptions and revelations tells us about the characters involved and their relationships.This is a great series, and the first installment does a good job of setting up the primary characters, as well as the world in which they operate. One of the loveliest moments is at the Remembrance Day ceremony. The official toast is the narration for a series of flashbacks — the first we see of the Adversary’s war and the Fables’ flight out of the Homelands. It shows the struggles to escape — in a somewhat different art style, with more saturated colors, higher contrast, more, well, epic tableaux than the usual style. For everything these first few issues reveal about the characters, they tantalizingly hint at a dozen more secrets and yet-unrevealed backstories. It invests the series with a narrative richness that I find utterly captivating — I love the complexity of it, the threads of story stretching backwards, forwards, and sideways. I love the spaces between, the stories left untold, the character nuances that hint at past tragedies, scarred-over but never-forgotten.

4. 

   DVF – March 25, 2025

   Very smart, well done, fun and awesome
   Great read. Totally original and just a great idea to use the old tales as new age real people and the whole thing from story to characters and art were great. Would love to read more and hope for a little more excitement in the next. This was plenty great for the nostalgia and also very solid story but not something that would’ve grabbed me if it weren’t the characters they were.

5. 

   JMB – March 25, 2025

   J’ai découvert le comic en jouant au jeu “The wolf amongt us”. J’ai tellement adoré que j’ai voulu commencer la collection, et je ne regrette pas, l’univers est vraiment intéressant, et j’adore voir les personnage de conte sous un autre angle.

6. 

   Tina – March 25, 2025

   A really good book, super interesting and hard to put down!

7. 

   Sg – March 25, 2025

   Me resulta creativo, divertido y muy humanizante . Una visión muy terrenal de después de comer perdices

8. 

   Susana – March 25, 2025

   Es exactamente lo que estaba buscando. Si vienes de jugar the wolf among us no lo lamentaras, totalmente recomendado. Es Ona obra con ilustraciones increíbles e historia envolvente.

9. 

   Kindle Customer – March 25, 2025

   It’s a really good book for people wanting to waste their time on something,Good fun to read in lockdown especially