Snow Write and Rose Read: The Fables 117 Letters

[Cindy McShane]

Therese has been missing for days now, leaving Snow and Bigby frantic. If that weren't bad enough, now Dare can't be found either! What's there to do but turn all of Fabletown and all of The Farm upside down and organize a search party? And in the backup story, the revolution in Oz has been called off. Why? Well, it may have to do with the fact that someone went and hanged their leader. Don't you hate when that happens?

Within lies Spoilers :) I'll add my thoughts after I get to the comic shop and have read the issue....

[Cindy McShane]

Well now this is getting a lot more serious. Back home in Wolf Valley, Bigby figures out that Terese and Darien are no longer in the Mundy world. Therese is hungry and getting hungrier, and we learn that she is supposed to be restoring the toys and that she may not be able to leave Toyland. We also learn that Therese can't fly in Toyland.

So we get moving along in the story, Dare has arrived and we see the beginnings of the battle to get to Therese and we learn a bit more about why the toys wanted a queen in the first place. It should be an interesting confrontation next issue.

And in the most important of the three pages, our Great Hero makes it back to his loyal troops and I can't wait (but I have to) to find out what his new brilliant idea for the freeing of Oz will be.

[Juan Ramón Vallarino J.]

Got the issue on Comixology. On one level, it's wonderful to be truly up on what's going on. On another level, a Fables story online on an IPad just feels weird (yes, I realize that that's me, since I follow Girl Genius online and THAT hasn't bothered me).

In any case, can't say the issue really appealed to me too much storywise, in the sense that this main story doesn't much appeal to me at this point (with the proviso made last month that I suspect it may re-read very well in TBF format), and we barely got a glimpse of what is going on with the other story threads.

The backup story is nice, but the art didn't do it for me online (Bucky's art does shine through online, though I suspect the inking will be better in print format). But again, I reserve judgement until I re-read it all.

[Cindy McShane]

Got the issue on Comixology. On one level, it's wonderful to be truly up on what's going on. On another level, a Fables story online on an IPad just feels weird (yes, I realize that that's me, since I follow Girl Genius online and THAT hasn't bothered me).

In any case, can't say the issue really appealed to me too much storywise, in the sense that this main story doesn't much appeal to me at this point (with the proviso made last month that I suspect it may re-read very well in TBF format), and we barely got a glimpse of what is going on with the other story threads.

The backup story is nice, but the art didn't do it for me online (Bucky's art does shine through online, though I suspect the inking will be better in print format). But again, I reserve judgement until I re-read it all.

I enjoy the Comixology app and reading comics on it but it's a different feel for sure. I love my iPad though, and I'm using it for 95+% of my book reading now as well.

I have to agree with you that I think this is a story that will read better in the TBF, especially since I reread 116 right before I read 117 and I think rereading all the issues would have helped it work better.

So What do you think - will Dare Fly? I doubt he's going to end up dead, but I'm thinking he won't be saved by flying.

[Eddy Stone]

I'm actually really enjoying this arc so far in single issues, which surprises me. The cubs are not my favourite characters, but I'm really digging the tone and pacing of this story so far. It's creepy.

[Juan Ramón Vallarino J.]

Cindy, I don't want to be rude in my reply, but I'm not that concerned as to whether Dare flies or not. Way's I seee it, if he dies, that's one prophecy denoument down (would going to Toyland constitute the evil thing mentioned in the prophecy?).

And if he doesn't die, it's because BW will have drafted a wonderfully inventive solution (BW is a great plotter, that's for sure). It does bear mentioning that the Cubs are, you know, Cubs. They may not fly, but no real reason why they can't shape shift into animal form.

[Cindy McShane]

Cindy, I don't want to be rude in my reply, but I'm not that concerned as to whether Dare flies or not. Way's I seee it, if he dies, that's one prophecy denoument down (would going to Toyland constitute the evil thing mentioned in the prophecy?).

And if he doesn't die, it's because BW will have drafted a wonderfully inventive solution (BW is a great plotter, that's for sure). It does bear mentioning that the Cubs are, you know, Cubs. They may not fly, but no real reason why they can't shape shift into animal form.

Not rude at all, Juan.

I'm more curious about the rules of Toyland and if they take precedence over all. If the Cubs can't fly, then it would make sense they couldn't shapeshift either. But we will see when we see.

I lean towards this situation not being the fourth prophecy, because Therese is being rescued, not stopped and she really hasn't done anything yet.

[HELMY]

hi everybody! my name is helmy. this is my first post on the forum! i have been following it for a couple of years. so excited!

just wanted to say that Fables causes my sense of wonder to be turned up to 11.

regarding this arc: darien, a hero bold in the making, is living up to his fairy tale heritage. he has had some rad written and visual moments. the ranger mike danger moment made me laugh-out-loud giddy with excitement. the cliffhanger is how all comic books should end, an almost literal cliffhanger!

as always, the wait is well worth it. thank you Fables team for making one wednesday every month feel like christmas.

-helmy gerardo membreño

[C. Kistler]

I now get Fables as a TPB b/c I think it makes for a better read. I'm going to be interested in seeing how this plays out. I'm not sure I'm as invested in the kids as I am in their folks, but we'll see. I still wonder if this is an attempt by BW to attract a younger tween audience, as his other work has also been more YA than his previous XXX adult. ;) Just a thought I had.

[Kylie Wells]

Cindy, I don't want to be rude in my reply, but I'm not that concerned as to whether Dare flies or not. Way's I seee it, if he dies, that's one prophecy denoument down (would going to Toyland constitute the evil thing mentioned in the prophecy?).

And if he doesn't die, it's because BW will have drafted a wonderfully inventive solution (BW is a great plotter, that's for sure). It does bear mentioning that the Cubs are, you know, Cubs. They may not fly, but no real reason why they can't shape shift into animal form.

You know, when I read BW, my thought was Bigby Wolf until I read further down and realised it meant Bill. Wow ... having a dumb day today :P