Fables: Legends in Exile (Volume One)

Bill Willingham

New series!  I was a bit disappointed to have to start a new series, but all things end so that a new graphic novel series can begin.  Also, I needed something to read at the gym.  The good news is, I enjoyed the first book.  The bad news is, this series is still going on, so God knows when I’ll get to the end.  In any case, here’s what I thought of book one!

I always love stories of book characters/superheroes/God and Goddesses/mythical creatures living secretly among us, so when I heard this series was about fairytale characters having to hide-out in NYC, I was massively excited to start it.  I found this volume very predictable, but highly entertaining.  I can see I am going to very much like Bigby Wolf, the brooding, bad-to-good stud.  I’m into that kind of male character.  Like I’ve said thousands of times, it makes me happy to know things and understand inside jokes mentioned in books, so figuring out who each fairytale character is brings me quite a bit of joy.

I’m glad a woman is in charge of the government, and I hope the series doesn’t use her as a reason for it failing anytime in the future.  That would be disappointing.  Finally, the art is wonderful.  It’s what I call the “classic comic art,” meaning it’s the kind of art you would expect to see in a comic–but I love it.  I give this volume a rating of 4/5 for being a good start to a series, having a manly sex-bomb as one of the main characters, an assertive woman in a seat of power and for being entertainingly predictable.  On to book two!