Fables I: Legends in Exile
Back in the fall two new TV series debuted that I was really excited for. Once Upon a Time premiered on ABC and Grimm
started up later that week on NBC. Both of these series were focused on
fairy tale characters, albeit with different premises. And each of them
featured one of my favorite writers (Jane Espenson and David Greenwalt,
respectively).
Sadly, neither show managed to hold my attention for more than a handful of episodes. One week I forgot to set my DVR to record them, and then I just never bothered to catch up on Hulu. Despite focusing on fairy tales, both fell short of what I wanted.
Then I discovered that both shows were both inspired by the same source material: a series of comic books by Bill Willingham called Fables. Twice the series had been pitched as a TV show. And twice the show ended up going in a completely different direction than the comics had. Strangely, the two shows were pitched three years apart, but ended up premiering in the same week because Hollywood is weird.
Anyway, I started hearing really good things about Fables. Then the first book cost exactly enough to get me free shipping on the Mad Men DVDs, so I bought it to see if it was any better than the TV shows I'd had such high hopes for.
It was pretty easy to see elements of both shows in the source material. Like Once Upon a Time, the Big Bad Wolf has become the acting sheriff. And Snow White is the mayor, which is only a small step from her stepmother being the mayor in the ABC show. However, all of the fairy tale creatures, or fables as they call themselves, know that they aren't really a part of our world. They fled their own lands a few centuries previously (and appear to be immortal) to escape from something known only as The Adversary.
The first arc is a basic murder mystery, which reminded me a bit of Grimm. Snow White's sister, Rose Red, was killed and it's up to the sheriff to figure out who killed her and why. But Grimm departs from the comic as well. It takes the fairy tale element a little less seriously and is mostly concerned with interesting beasts. The actual fairy tales don't really come in to play in that show as much. It has more in common with Supernatural, in that it uses the bits of the stories that it likes and ignores the rest.
Fables strikes a good balance between remaining true to the stories and modernizing the characters a bit. There were some cute details, like Beauty and the Beast's fights resulting in him turning back into a beast, or Prince Charming constantly cheating on every girl he gets with and relying on his charm to get him out of trouble. And it looks like some interesting relationships will be explored in future issues. Cinderella and Blue Beard have a scene together. As do the Big Bad Wolf and the pig with the straw house.
The first arc implied that some stories won't ever be introduced. All characters from The Wizard of Oz and Narnia seem to have been destroyed entirely by The Adversary back in Fable-land. I'm assuming this is more an issue of copyright law than anything, and there are certainly plenty of public domain characters for the comic series to play with. I'm excited to see where this goes. And since there are sixteen books and counting, I'm guessing this will keep me entertained for quite a while.
Sadly, neither show managed to hold my attention for more than a handful of episodes. One week I forgot to set my DVR to record them, and then I just never bothered to catch up on Hulu. Despite focusing on fairy tales, both fell short of what I wanted.
Then I discovered that both shows were both inspired by the same source material: a series of comic books by Bill Willingham called Fables. Twice the series had been pitched as a TV show. And twice the show ended up going in a completely different direction than the comics had. Strangely, the two shows were pitched three years apart, but ended up premiering in the same week because Hollywood is weird.
Anyway, I started hearing really good things about Fables. Then the first book cost exactly enough to get me free shipping on the Mad Men DVDs, so I bought it to see if it was any better than the TV shows I'd had such high hopes for.
It was pretty easy to see elements of both shows in the source material. Like Once Upon a Time, the Big Bad Wolf has become the acting sheriff. And Snow White is the mayor, which is only a small step from her stepmother being the mayor in the ABC show. However, all of the fairy tale creatures, or fables as they call themselves, know that they aren't really a part of our world. They fled their own lands a few centuries previously (and appear to be immortal) to escape from something known only as The Adversary.
The first arc is a basic murder mystery, which reminded me a bit of Grimm. Snow White's sister, Rose Red, was killed and it's up to the sheriff to figure out who killed her and why. But Grimm departs from the comic as well. It takes the fairy tale element a little less seriously and is mostly concerned with interesting beasts. The actual fairy tales don't really come in to play in that show as much. It has more in common with Supernatural, in that it uses the bits of the stories that it likes and ignores the rest.
Fables strikes a good balance between remaining true to the stories and modernizing the characters a bit. There were some cute details, like Beauty and the Beast's fights resulting in him turning back into a beast, or Prince Charming constantly cheating on every girl he gets with and relying on his charm to get him out of trouble. And it looks like some interesting relationships will be explored in future issues. Cinderella and Blue Beard have a scene together. As do the Big Bad Wolf and the pig with the straw house.
The first arc implied that some stories won't ever be introduced. All characters from The Wizard of Oz and Narnia seem to have been destroyed entirely by The Adversary back in Fable-land. I'm assuming this is more an issue of copyright law than anything, and there are certainly plenty of public domain characters for the comic series to play with. I'm excited to see where this goes. And since there are sixteen books and counting, I'm guessing this will keep me entertained for quite a while.
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