Fables #109

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha

Most months I praise this comic, and for the most part, this issue is also very good, but for one element that makes it a tough read.

Bill Willingham should not write child characters.  Now that the North Wind has left us, his servants are looking for his replacement among Snow White and Bigby Wolf's children.  They have separated the kids, and are going to be putting them through trials, to determine which of the six (I'm assuming that the zephyr child is disqualified, although will probably end up being the final choice) will assume this new mantle.

Each kid gets their own scene, and the writing is like a combination of Family Circus and Kids Say the Darndest Things.  I'm not sure what Willingham is trying to achieve here, but it threw me completely out of the book.  The later scene, where the kids return from their first trial is fine, but the earlier pages, especially considering that aside from Ambrose and Darien, the kids aren't very well developed before now, were painful.

The rest of the book is pretty good though, as Blufkin continues his time in Oz, Rose Red reports back from the Farm, and the newly-pretty Nurse Spratt discusses the joys of dressing for dinner.