Rereading Fables: Vol 4, March of the Wooden Soldiers
I have finished March of the Wooden Soldiers. This is easily one of my favorite in the series as it is when the status quo shifts. You can finally see that this story as a goal at the end of it.
Fables: Vol 4, March of the Wooden Soldiers
Writer: Bill Willingham
Penciler: Mark Buckingham
Inks: Steve Leialoha and Mark Buckingham
Covers: James Jean
Issues: 19-21 and Last Castle (reread elsewhere)
Price: $17.95
This arc starts with Red Riding Hood returning from the Homelands and ends with the beginnings of the Adversary’s invasion of the Fabletown. It is the first battle in the war to come and it is very nicely executed.
First off, our character arcs continue to develop. Bigby and Snow’s relationship is on the rocks at the beginning, but that sorts itself out in the end, when Bigby returns from closing the open gate to the Homelands. In his return, we also continue to see why he is intimidating, as he destroys the last remaining wooden soldiers. Also, the revelations of his view on defending the US are an interesting idea that goes well with the wars he fought in. We also get the mysterious hints of a darker past. Snow’s strength is seen in her ability to strategize, and to do so without the aide of Bigby.
Prince Charming is shown to be the leech that he has been all along. I enjoyed his statement about how politics is just a romance with a lot of people. When paired with his comment from the last trade about how he is not good at maintaining a relationship, it makes me wonder how long his term as mayor could last. At the same time, we see again that the Mayor is not a terribly effective leader and that Snow should be in charge. It would probably be harder to get the signatures if that were the case.
Boy Blue’s tragedy from Last Castle continues as Riding Hood turns out to be Baba Yagga. His hands are destroyed by her interrogations, leading him to wonder if he will ever play again. At the same time, we see the slight conflict in his character as his friends try to console him. He has been a childlike character since leaving the homelands, effectively burying this past that has com back to haunt him. In the same way, Pinnochio’s character has deepened. He wants to find his father and protect Fabletown. The wooden soldiers offer the ability to do both. His ‘death’ is an interesting turn. The developments of these two characters leads me to wonder what will happen with Flycatcher, the last of the trio.
We also get a new character in play. Frau Totenkinder, the witch we saw interviewed in the first trade, now comes into the spotlight. She is powerful enough to challenge Baba Yagga and calls into doubt the way in which a Fable’s immortality and power is generated. After all, she only appeared in one story.
The story itself sets up Riding Hood as a tool of the Adversary rather quickly. It works, though, in that the reader sees how she is able to do things with the (almost) full knowledge of who she is. The more important element is the addition of the nearly unstoppable wooden soldiers. The battle against them is hard fought, resulting in the deaths of several minor characters we had previously been introduced to. This sets up a strong opponent for Fablekind.
We also see a little bit more of the political issue side of things in this arc. Snow’s reaction to the idea of abortion is one of the obvious instances. She recoils, stating that she has not gone native and that she still recognizes the responsibilities that she has. It is an interesting statement, that, while it fits the character, also speaks to the author’s ideas. It is more interesting, in that the pregnancy is the result of a dual rape scenario in which neither party consented to sex. This seems to be the perfect case for abortion. Another obvious item is the family that watches the wooden soldiers march by. Here we see the amusement of the author at demonstrations and the stereotypes about demonstrators. We also see his reaction to those who give conservative people a bad name. The last political issue is that of the lack of preparedness for an emergency situation. The Fables became lax and did not know how to react. It shows that not preparing for attack, even if it is believed that the attack will not come, invites disaster. These are all inserted into the story in a way that fits the universe and dose not remove the reader from the story, but they are interesting to consider, both for their places in and out of the narrative.
Well, thats all for this one. Until the next volume.
