Jack of Fables #40

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges
Art by Russ Braun, Andrew Pepoy, and Jose Marzan Jr.

I really don't know what to think about this title any more. The first thirty-five issues or so work quite well as a long story, detailing Jack's adventures with the Literals. The Great Fables Crossover ended any chance of future stories including them, and effectively neutered Gary (the former Pathetic Fallacy). Now Jack is a giant dragon, and wants to eat, sleep, and guard his horde.

To quote Babe the Ox, in this issue, "That's just too boring, even for me."

So, the book has more or less gone through a soft relaunch, and is focusing on Jack's son, Jack Frost, and his efforts in the hero business. That's all fine and good, except that these stories aren't really Vertigo material, and have very little (to this point) connection to the goings on in the main Fables book. Basically, this series has become a slightly knowing and clever retread of classic 'hero quest' stories, but with only a modicum of the sophisticated humour that made the earlier issues of Jack so good.

And so, I think I'm moving on. I'm going to pick up the next issue, but if it doesn't do it for me, I'm going to be saying good-bye to this title. I have a lot of respect for Willingham (and have been cultivating some respect for Sturges), but lately they seem to be making some mis-steps (without even talking about the Justice Society). Presumably, someone is happy with the newer direction for this title, as sales seem pretty stable. I guess I'll see how I feel in a month...