Fables vol. 16: Super Team

Previously, I talked about how “The Red Wing” was initially going to be about one thing, then eventually came to be about something else.  It’s not that it isn’t possible to pull off a change like that, but the setup just wasn’t there.  With this latest volume of “Fables,” Bill Willingham does much the same thing with the title story.  Only here, he shows you how that kind of swerve can actually be made to work and deliver a satisfying tale.

The concept of superheroes is not an alien one to this title.  It has been noted in the past that some of the cast, Pinocchio in particular, are avid readers of such comics and one of the “Burning Questions” even showed us how they were made.  What leads to an entire arc about the “Fables” cast assuming their roles is more desperation on their part than anything else.  After the events of the previous volume, the former inhabitants of Fabletown have decamped to Flycatcher’s kingdom, but Mr. Dark has not given up pursuit.  As he lurks around the borders of the kingdom, weakening the wards that keep him out, the Fables inside ready their team for one last stand against him.

Though it might look like a tactic to grab some sales from superhero fans, the logic behind the assemblage of this Fables “super team” is actually remarkably sound.  Seeing as how they can’t match Mr. Dark in terms of raw power, they’re going to fight him with an idea backed by magic.  By tapping into the conventional narrative of superheroes dictates that they will ultimately triumph over evil, they believe that they can craft a story where Mr. Dark is defeated.  Somewhere, Grant Morrison is reading this and smiling.  The core concept of this arc is actually remarkably close to Morrison’s own thoughts on the genre and many of his own stories (see “Superman:  Beyond” from the “Final Crisis” collection for the closest analogue) and that’s what allowed me to buy into the idea behind this arc.

However, as I stated above, the story is not ultimately about superheroes.  Describing it in practical terms here might make that seem like a bait-and-switch on Willingham’s part, but the turn the arc takes is actually tied in very closely to a long-running subplot that sees its resolution here.  The very fact that I’ve said this will probably make the swerve in the narrative that much more apparent, but at the same time you’ll also be able to see how well it’s set up and how natural it comes across in the course of the narrative.

In addition to the main arc, with strong art by Mark Buckingham as always, this collection also features two stories with art by Eric Shanower and Terry Moore, respectively.  Both pick up on threads not related to the main story, with Shanower depicting Bufkin’s ascent into Oz and Moore showing us what’s been happening with Sleeping Beauty, and the various efforts to wake her up with “true love’s kiss.”  Bufkin’s story is good fun as always, with the former flying monkey now convinced he needs to perform thirteen heroic actions before he can be considered a true hero.  The Moore-illustrated tale is also satisfying, as it works as a story in its own right and as a lead-in to the upcoming “Fairest” spin-off which will feature a rotating cast of creators on stories relating to “Fables” (Willingham is set to write the first arc, with Phil Jimenez illustrating).  Though the artist is best known for stories set in the “real” world (“Strangers in Paradise,” “Echo”) Moore shows that he has a real knack for fantasy as well.  From the medieval look of the castle and the humans around it, to the stealth-team of goblins who steal Sleeping Beauty away, it’s miles away from what I’ve seen him draw in the past.  Much like Mike Allred, Moore’s is a style that I wouldn’t have imagined working well in “Fables,” but it does so beautifully.

That said, though the wrap-up of “Super Team” does seem to indicate that the worst is over for our heroes there are a number of threads left dangling that are begging to be resolved.  The thrust of the next volume is clear, however, and after the continuing excellence of the work on display here picking that volume up is a no-brainer.