"At long last! The long-awaited original FABLES: WEREWOLVES OF THE HEARTLAND graphic novel is here!
Bigby Wolf embarks on a quest through the American Heartland to find a new location for Fabletown, a secret society of exiled fairy tale characters living among the "mundys." In his wanderings, Bigby stumbles across Story City, a small town that seems to be occupied solely by werewolves. Oddly enough, they seem to already know and revere Bigby, but at the same time they've captured and caged him.
FABLES: WEREWOLVES OF THE HEARTLAND tells an epic tale that began well before Bigby Wolf set foot in the bucolic plains of the Midwest. It began long ago when he served in World War II and became mired in a Nazi experiment that would change nations. It's soon evident that murder in Story City is the least of their sins, and unraveling the town's many mysteries may cost Bigby, the seventh son of the North Wind, much more than his own life.
This new hardcover is a must-have for any longtime FABLES fan, as well as a great entry point for new readers."
As much as I love Fables and Bill Willingham, I just wasn't jiving with this story. In fact, I got to about page 15 and then had to doublecheck that Bill Willingham wrote this. I thought for a moment that maybe it was just his name above the title because hey, it's his story and concept, but nope. He wrote this.
I got a little sad. It's not up to the standard I'm used to. It wasn't horrible but it didn't feel like Willingham. Some parts were edited but needed to be explained, some parts just should have been removed (Oda, anyone) and other parts should've been added into it. There was also some strange word/dialogue choices that I just can't buy Bigby saying. I choose to believe that maybe he had a head cold when he wrote this.
Now, I love Bigby. He's one of my favorite characters but the art doesn't do him justice. I've always wanted a fully human face on Bigby but these artists just didn't do it...right. Ok, that's a lie. The first two chapters and the chapter seven were done pretty good (and whichever sections that were penciled by that guy) were done well but, meh, didn't like the rest.
All in all, if you are a Fables fan this is a good in-between story that explains Bigby's disappearance from the main title but on its own, doesn't do justice to Bigby as his own character. It also is not the best entry point for new Fables fans. The best entry point?
Fables #1.
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