Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Jim Fern, Craig Hamilton, Ray Snyder, and Mark Farmer

As Fables came closer and closer to its conclusion, I began to get interested in the series again (although, interested does not always mean invested in or entertained by), and picked up Werewolves of the Heartland, the standalone OGN that spotlights Bigby Wolf that came out in 2012.

Bigby is out searching for a new possible location for Fabletown (this is in the era when Mister Dark had taken their home from them), and stumbles across Story City.  The name intrigues him, but he is even more interested to learn that the entire town is populated by werewolves that view him as their god (although that doesn't put them above wanting to kill him).  Even more surprising is the appearance of an old war companion of Bigby's, and an ex-Nazi villainess.

There is a lengthy flashback to Bigby's WWII days, and his mission in Castle Frankenstein, which actually takes me back to the earliest issues of Fables that I read, around about the mid-thirties.

As the story progresses, Bigby comes to realize that there is a lot going wrong in Story City.  A cabal has been plotting to overthrow their leaders (who happen to also be their parents, for most of them) and see Bigby's arrival as a good chance to do that.  This leads to a big battle, and lots of killing, as none of these werewolves have any clue just how powerful Bigby really is.

This book really eschewed the 'Fables' aspect of Fables, not taking any cues from folklore.  It also read as more mature than the parent Fables series has for years, although that is mostly due to copious amounts of non-sexual nudity (and a bit of sexual nudity, as a young woman tries to seduce Bigby).

The art in this book is nice, but the combination of Craig Hamilton and Jim Fern is an odd one.  They are both fine artists, but they have very different styles (even though Fern handled layouts for the whole book).  Hamilton's pencils, especially when he is the one inking them, are very detailed and realistic, while Fern tends towards the slightly more abstract.  I found the switch from one to the other to be jarring at times.

Lucifer Vol. 5: Inferno

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, Dean Ormston, and Craig Hamilton

It's been a while since I last read any of the Lucifer series, so it took me a little while to get back into the swing of the title with this volume.  A re-cap page or something that just listed off the characters would have been very helpful.

In this volume, Lucifer must complete his duel with Amenadiel, the angel who challenged him a while back, despite the fact that he is in a weakened state.  The combat takes place in Hell, and any number of the secondary characters from the first four volumes of the title make their appearance.  This is where I started to get confused, as I couldn't always remember the exact relationship between people.

As usual, there is double-cross upon double-cross, as Lucifer enacts complex schemes, while his faithful assistant Mazikeen hunts down the Japanese god who has stolen Lucifer's power.  Also included in the book are a two-part story concerning Solomon's quest to find the killer of Elaine Belloc, and a one-off about a grocer who helps a demon to deliver a baby.

I admire the way that Carey set up his story to last over a very long stretch of comics, but the sheer number of characters and sub-plots makes it difficult to follow the story unless its read in a short span of time.  He writes Lucifer much like Priest wrote the Black Panther during his classic run; always three steps ahead of everyone else and completely non-plussed by whatever is going on around him.

The art in this book is always great, in that very classic Vertigo way.

Fables #86

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Jim Fern and Craig Hamilton

The Great Fables Crossover has ended, and Willingham has wisely chosen to give us a one-off issue, revealing some of the history of Mr. Dark, the new big bad in Fabletown.

In this issue, we are given a story about the Boxers - the mages employed in the Empire to contain wild magic - and how they came to box up Dark. This is a good issue, providing some much-needed exposition to help set this newest threat up as a big deal.

The best thing about this issue is the guest art by Jim Fern and Craig Hamilton. I like Fern's work (seen most recently in the excellent Crossing Midnight) before, but when inked by Hamilton, it really comes alive. The figures in this book look great.