Rereading Fables, Vol. 6: Homelands
I have finished the next volume.
Fables, Vol. 6: Homelands
Writer: Bill Willingham
Penciler: David Hahn, Mark Buckingham, and Lan Medina
Inkers: David Hahn, Steve Leiahola, Dan Green
Colorist: Dan Vozzo
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: James Jean
Issues: 34-41
Price: $14.99
This trade, again, covers multiple stories, though in a slightly different way. The first story is on its own, then there is the titular story which is interrupted by an interlude done in one. I will cover the interlude a little in the “Homelands” discussion and more in its own section.
“Jack be Nimble”
This is an interesting two part arc focusing on Jack after he leaves Fabletown. Remember, he left at the same time as Snow and Bigby. It serves three purposes. The first is to set up his spin off series that is still a couple trades of at this point. The second is to give small ideas as to the future of Fabletown. The last is to explore the popularity equals immortality idea again.
Basically, Jack steals a portion of the Bluebeard fortune and goes to Hollywood to found his own production company. The sole purpose of the company is to create three films about his exploits which will result in increased popularity and, thus, increased strength.
This creates the surface level immortality idea. These three films are designed as blockbusters. They are supposed to rival Lord of the Rings for popularity. Ultimately, they succeed. And Jack shows himself to be clever in the way in which he creates them. He takes no visible role in them. He is the mysterious Jack Trick who nobody sees. This gives a certain amount of mystery to his movies while also making sure that he is not potentially revealing the existence of the Fables. He also realizes that these movies have to be about his concept more than him. This is why he casts a big name in the role. This is why he makes them more epic than his actual story (see the description of the third movie). It serves to bolster his idea and not draw fame to him. It, of course, also serves to make him a lot of money.
The future of Fabletown is seen when he is caught. This story takes a couple of years. When Jack is caught, Beast shows up. He is more confident and has learned how to intimidate. He is still the sheriff. We now know that he, at least, stays in his position for the next two or three years. This also means he doesn’t get permanently killed in this amount of time. Two other characters get the same treatment. Fly and Grimble are both seen at the end, as are the Fabletown apartments. These characters survive and keep their jobs. If the adversary attacks in this in-between time, it is not as devastating as the last one. Also, we see an answer to how Fabletown can continue with a limited, albeit large, bank account after these years. Beast secures interest in Jack’s company as he kicks Jack out.
The final frames of Jack, with him on the road, is the set up for his new series. Anything can happen as he sets out into the world.
One last thing to note is the introduction of another character, Jill. She is one of the smalltown Fables confined to the Farm and wanted to escape and see the world. She winds up trapped with Jack because she cannot risk revealing the existence of the Fables and, more importantly, because she would probably die upon setting out into the dangers of the mundane world. Ultimately she betrays Jack, the one part of his scheme that failed. I don’t know if she pops up again, but I could see her taking a roll in Beast’s espionage forces, in the same way that the Mouse Police worked for Prince Charming. As a side note, I did like the idea of her multiple mansions that Jack bought for her.
“Homelands”
This is the main story. We saw Boy Blue steal the Witching Cloak and the Vorpal Blade in the last arc, now we see why. He has left to save Pinnochio, Red Riding Hood (the real one), and Gepetto while killing the Adversary. This arc serves to catapult the story foreword by showing us who the adversary is and what his plans are. It also serves to explain the Fable worlds and how they work and to throw in some major character twists.
First off, here we see a new side of Boy Blue. We’ve seen him as a soldier before, but never in extended combat. Here, we see his training come out. We also see his determined nature and his resourcefulness. He will not give up his objectives, even after getting captured. Also, he takes every advantage he can find on his journey to the Adversary’s palace. The way he kills the dragon is an impressive bit of ingenuity. We also see his faith in his friends. He trusts Pinnochio enough to leave him behind when he could have scooped him up and teleported him back to Fabletown with he and Red. The other nice moment in here is his explanation to Red of why she has to come with him. The last two times he has met her, she has not actually been herself and he did not know that. Now, whether she likes it or not, she is involved in the mess that he has made and will be killed if left behind. So he takes her back to an incredibly awkward situation. And it is shown to pay off in the end.
What I find most interesting, though, is the revelation that the Adversary is Gepetto. For one, we were led to believe the Adversary was his own Fable. For another, Gepetto does not seem to be the conquering type. But it had to be a popular Fable, in retrospect, because of his longevity. It becomes even more interesting when we see the conspiracy he was caught up in and the fact that he continued the charade not just to save his skin, but to help people. His vision just got warped and out of hand. It is a nice, logical explanation for a character who was built up to be the ultimate evil. I also like his characterization, he is this sweet old man that has gotten used to being mostly in control.
The other major character in the Empire that we are introduced to is the Snow Queen. She is the second in command, the analogue to Snow White’s old position. We don’t get a lot at this point, she seems to be the intelligent evil, and that is about it. I do like the scene with her walking down the road, it is a nice reflection of her primal power.
The other revelation in the book is a smaller one. We see that Boy Blue didn’t betray Fabletown. He instead acted in conjunction with Prince Charming to find out more about the Adversary. He was agreeing to this as means to his own ends, but he wasn’t betraying the trust of Fabletown. This is eluded to in the interlude and confirmed later on. It is interesting that Prince Charming is the only one to know of the mission. This sets up a dynamic in the office in which he has his own secrets and espionage and Beast has his and they both share some. At some point, I see this all collapsing.
And we get an interesting display of Frau Totenkinder’s power. She has contacts within the Homelands. This has several interesting implications. After all, she needs to be able to communicate with them to find out about Blue’s capture. This would imply gateway access or incredibly powerful magics.
Pinnochio’s character arc is made more interesting by this arc. He is suddenly loyal to his father. Part of it is the newly modified Blue Fairy juices. Part of it is the loss he experienced. But he is conflicted. He is still loyal to his friends after all. It will be interesting to see how this continues.
The last major thing is the makeup of the worlds. We see that they are not all joined as one world, but rather several connected to each other and ours with portals. The method of passage is finally cleared up. It does raise a question, however: why do Mundies never find the gates? This will probably be explained at some point, but it makes our world an equal to each of there’s and yet we power them. It is an interesting start to defining the cosmology.
“Interlude: Meanwhile”
This one shot does several things. First off, it anchors “Homelands” in time, so that we don’t need another arc to show how time was spent while Blue was away. Beyond that it gives two vital plots and some interesting new characterization for Prince Charming.
The self contained plot deals with finding a traitor in Fabletown. It turns out Trusty John, the doorman, has been informing on Fabletown since his master recontacted him. He is compelled to do so by his very nature, literally unable to do otherwise because his first oath to his master takes precedence over later oaths. It creates a sad end for one of the series’ background characters. The story serves to introduce us to Kay now with eyes. Beast knew that he could find traitors with a simple walk this way. It will be interesting to see this used in the future. Especially when Bigby returns.
The plot that will be continuing after this deals with Mowgli, one of Bigby’s tourists. The most interesting characterization we see for him is his relationship with Baghera and Baloo. They are his family and he would do anything for them. It is this that Prince Charming exploits. He needs Mowgli, one of the best trackers in the world, to find Bigby. In return, Prince Charming will pardon Baghehra for the part he played in the Farm rebellion. This gives a way for Bigby to reenter the fold without violently storming the Farm.
We see more of Prince Charming. He is crippled by doubt. He is having nightmares. At the same time, he is playing at being a spymaster and plotting an invasion of the Homelands. He is being shown to be a good planner, but a very poor manager. I am wondering what he is up to. It seems like ever since arriving in the first arc he has had a plan that is more than just getting money.
Thats al until next time.
