Fables Volume 2

Fables Volume 2
(Animal Farm)
By: Bill Willingham
Illustrated by: Mark Buckingham
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Vertigo
Language: English
August 2003, $12.99
Genre: Comic/Graphic Novel

Fables of the world unite. Ever since they were driven from their homelands by the Adversary, the non-human Fables have been living on the Farm – a vast property in upstate New York that keeps them hidden from the prying eyes of the mundane world. But now, after hundreds of years of isolation, the Farm is seething with revolution, fanned by the inflammatory rhetoric of Goldilocks and the Three Little Pigs. And when Snow White and her sister Rose Red stumble upon their plan to liberate the Homelands, the commissars of the farm are ready to silence them – by any means necessary.

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I like fairytales. Give me a modern twist and I am pleased as punch. I had heard a lot of Fables, but it took me a while to getting around to reading it. I read the first volume last year, but then I apparently got distracted by other comic shininess which you have to admit is fairly easy to do considering all the great graphic novels that are out there. I must say that I just keep getting lucky with my choices. Nothing has been disappointing and this volume is no exception.

The story arc is very Orwellian. It isn’t called Animal Farm for nothing folks, but there is also a nod to other classics, most importantly Lord of the Flies. Snow White heads up to the Farm, to see the non-human Fableland exiles with Rose Red in tow. What they discover on arrival is nothing short of a coup. Fairytale faves make appearances from a revolutionary Golidlocks to Reynard the Fox who does have a fond appreciation for the ladies no matter what the species and the Three Little Pigs. What is great about this series is the characters aren’t just the traditional known fables. I actually had to look up Weyland Smith and I enjoy figuring out each of them.

This volume was a bit brutal and I found myself shocked at what happened to Colin, who I apparently got attached to in just a few short pages. But I enjoyed it. It was my own little Grimm fairytale Fable style. I enjoyed seeing which Fables chose which side and think I need to have a fire breathing crow just for kicks.

I really like the series. The artwork is great and the stories a joy to read. Its not everywhere you can get social commentary, drama, humor, action and more mixed in with the stories you were read and listened to as a child.

Now if I could only get a raise so I could afford to buy the rest of the volumes.

3.5 out of 4 happy bibliosnark bookmarks

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