Fables #117

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Andrew Pepoy, and Shawn McManus

Take a moment to look at the cover of this month's issue of Fables.  It looks like a sophisticated, 'mature readers' comic, doesn't it?  Unfortunately, that's not what Fables has been for many months now.  This issue is spread rather thin, as we check in with the children of Bigby Wolf and Snow White in a couple of different situations, in the main story.

Therese is still the queen of some Toyland, but she's hungry and unhappy.  Her brother Dare has arrived to rescue her, and he discovers that his favourite toy is there to help him (and is huge and powerful).  It's not explained why his favourite toy would be in a place of discarded toys, but I guess it's all good.  He goes to get his sister, but gets attacked by the residents of the kingdom.

Meanwhile, in the Mundy, Bigby figures out that his kids have left the world, and a few of the Fables move into Castle Dark, which is the new Fabletown.  These couple of pages are the only part of the comic that grabbed my attention, and they were way too short. 

There's also three pages of silliness featuring Bufkin in Oz.  I wish that plot would just end - it's become very tedious.

I think this is the last issue of Fables that I have pre-ordered.  I may still pick up some of the future issues, to get to the end of this storyline, but I feel like my time with this book has come to a close.  The art in it is wonderful, but I'm just getting increasingly bored with Willingham's storylines, and I don't feel like he has a direction or plan for this series anymore.  I know it's Vertigo's sales juggernaut, but maybe it's time for this series to wind down, and for Willingham and Buckingham to work on something a little fresher...