Fables 15: Rose Red

Bill Willingham keeps raking in the Eisner awards and loving adulation for The Fables, perhaps the best running Vertigo title. This month volume 15 of the TPB Graphic Novels was issued, titled Rose Red. I was disheartened by the Jack of Fables Crossover and feared Fables was going over the proverbial shark when I read Volume 13, but a return to excellence followed with graphic novel #14, Witches! I only hoped Rose Red would keep up the same integrity of story and dedication to art as Witches did to be content. But Rose Red did not maintain the quality - it lifted up several notches! Collecting issues 94 through 100, Rose Red returned the series to a place of new discovery that it was when it all began.What a wonderful story to tell. Our fables here in the mundane world were given a great new foe in the otherwise tepid Crossover volume, Mister Dark. Witches really set the tone for this superpower of the darker realms, how he ate the teeth of his victims for his power, how he turned mundane and Fable alike to witherlings, sort of undead enslaved to serve him. And he kicked the fables collective butts, driving them out of their well hidden home in the middle of New York, forced to reside on The Farm, where fables that cannot pass as human must live. How are we gonna get out this mess? Can the old wicked witch, Totenkinder (now on the "good" side, no longer eating children she lured in with candy houses) actually come up with a plan to box up Mister Dark again? Will the political intrigue of her fellow witches, long desiring her station as leader of the fable witches, get in the way? Will Boy Blue return from his horrid death, or is that all just religious PR? Will Rose Red, Snow White's sister and leader of the farm, ever get out of bed again? What calamity lies in store.Rose Red is aptly named because it focuses on the back story for Rose and her sister, Snow, but from Rose's perspective. The build up to issue 100, the marvelous way Willingham keeps complex story-lines intermeshed, and the inevitable battle between the witch and the Dark, makes Rose Red one of the best tales told to date in the Fables setting (perhaps Peter and Max is better, but it was a novel, not a graphic novel). It is also one of the best drawn. Cover art, particularly that of Rose Red herself, is outstanding. Wow - who is the model for Rose? Are we sure Snow White was the fairest in all the land? The attention to detail found in Mister Dark, and the battle he engages Totenkinder in, makes this particular volume a beauty just to look at. This is truly a top tier effort, worthy of anyone's attention. Though it serves followers of the storyline best, it manages to be the kind of story you can read as a stand-alone book - perhaps an odd way to introduce yourself to the Fables setting, but not a bad way (I still encourage the uninitiated to read - or listen to - Peter and Max, it has the very best stand-alone quality).Vertigo has had great fortune in their story telling company, Gaiman's Sandman and Willingham's Fables keep up a long tradition of quality work. If you have not delved into Fables by now, you should grab Rose Red, and then start saving up for the 14 Graphic Novels that precede it. You'll be hooked.

Spoilers Ahead!Fables has reached a new peak with ROSE RED, as major happenings occur in the Fable-verse. In this huge volume, we get lots of treats in a great variety of styles. Political maneuverings within the Fable community, where Geppetto has established a concerning foothold, take center stage for the beginning of the book (transitioning smoothly from  Witches ). Then we get a nice little back-story from Rose Red and Snow White's childhood, where we learn a great deal about the events that set these two very different sisters down their respective paths. We also learn about the disgusting seven dwarfs from fairy-tale fame. Major events are related in short excerpts throughout this volume, including the birth of Beauty and the Beast's child, the learning of an invisible grandchild by the North Wind, and we get a disturbing glimpse at the true nature of Nurse Spratt. The real meat of the book, however, details an exciting battle between the Dark Man and Frau Totenkinder. Two powerful witches battling for the future of Fable-kind and possibly the future of the Mundy world. Events are moving quickly in the story now, and the book ends with plans in limbo, including a potential evacuation of all Fables to Flycatcher's Haven.Some great bonus material is also included in this volume, including some short, illustrated answers to some questions from famous Fables fans. There is also a Fables Puppet Theatre included, with cut-outs of many characters and backdrops, a Fables board game with play instructions, and some nice sketch work of Castle Dark.ROSE RED continues and surpasses the quality of writing and art that the series has become so well recognized for, and may even represent a new pinnacle of greatness for the series. That's an impressive feat for a 15th volume of a long-running story. Very highly recommended!

Fables, in my opinion, is the most unique continuing series on the market right now. Bill Willingham has taken familiar characters, like Snow White and the Big Bad Wolf, and given them new life and new purpose. This series constantly leave me speechless, in a good way, at the twists and turns that you never see coming. And the art work for each issues is always spectacular. The characters live and breathe on the page and there is such depth to the world around them that I always have to go back through and relook at the issue just to see what I might have missed.In this collection, which collects issues #94-100 plus its normal little extras like the covers for the series, we learn more about Rose Red, as the title would suggest. (Some spoiler may follow) After Mr. Dark invaded Fable Town all of the fables have been forced to live at the farm and different factions are arising battling to rule. Rose Red, having been in a depression since Boy Blue passed away, once again comes to the center of things. We learn more about her and Snow White's past, and the mysterious entity that appears to be Colin, formerly one the three pigs, comes back again.The highlight of this collection of course is issue #100 where the battle between Frau Totenkinder and Mr. Dark comes to a head. There are some surprising twists in the story and fans of the Fables series will not be disappointed.I highly, highly recommend this collection and look forward to the next one.

My husband loves these

Une des meilleures séries de comics de ces dernières années, des dessins superbes et une imagination débordante, cette série m'a tenue en haleine jusqu'au bout (malgré quelques volumes inégaux).

Wiedermal ein sehr toller Fables Band der die Geschichte nahtlos weiterführt. Diesmal liegt der Fokus auf Rose Red. Wer die Reihe sammelt wird hier bestimmt nicht aufhören.

Reason for Reading: next in the series.First, this is a satisfyingly huge volume coming in at over 250 pages; this is because it includes the celebratory 100th issue in which they included lots of extras. I loved this volume! The main story is carried along nicely, plenty of characters have resolutions in their lives, we see the departure of a character that's been in from the beginning and then the start of new story threads are briefly introduced.The book starts off with the title story "Rose Red" which consists of 5 chapters and takes a deep look at Red's character and the mess she is currently in. We are taken back into her past when she was a little girl with "Fables" retellings of "Snow White & Rose Red" and "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". This is the real focus of the volume and takes up over 100 pages. A very satisfying story; I've been unhappy with the direction of Red's character lately and this is a rewarding read. Of special note is that Red is exposed to a stunning reveal but, we the reader, are not made privy to what she sees. I have an idea as to what it is though, so we'll see if I'm right in future volumes.Next we're taken into the Dark City for a single chapter to spend some time with the Dark Man and see what he is up to and planning for the future of the world. Then onto a long single chapter in which all things come to a head when there is an ultimate battle (well, duel, really) between the Dark Man and one character who has long planned to take him on.At this point we are treated to the bonus material with two short stories, one featuring Thumbelina and the other the Three Blind Mice. Then a longer short story which is written in text about Pinocchio and Geppetto. Finally finishing off with some fun stuff, a few graphic shorts, a Fables Puppet Theatre (which can be photocopied and actually built and played with), a Board Game and finally a sketchbook of Mark Buckingham's work.All the little extras are a lot of fun, but the two main plot developments of Rose Red and the Dark Man carry the story along wonderfully and leave us poised for the next volume. All the other characters do appear also and everybody gets a little character development or move forward in their plot. Beauty finally has her baby and it isn't what she was expecting at all! A highlight in the series!

This series just keeps evolving and getting better. The multiple strands of the varies character threads weave really well. Great work and very entertaining.