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Fairest Vol 5: The Clamour for Glamour Graphic Novel Review

Fairest Vol 5: The Clamour for GlamourErica gives this comic one star.Fairest Vol 5: The Clamour for Glamour by Mark Buckingham and Bill Willingham
Art: Russ Braun, Meghan Hetrick, and Andrew Pepoy

Ugh. These book continue to be utter rubbish. If it wasn’t almost over, I’d have canceled it a while ago. The Fairest title was supposed to be about the women in the Fables verse, but instead, once again, this supports and shows off a male character Reynard. Because dudes >>>>>> women.

The story of Reynard and Meghan gets creepy fast. First, there’s a need to set up her relatives from Reynard’s point-of-view as rednecks who use her to cook and clean for them. Something like a modern day Cinderella. Of course, they turn out not be such bad guys, which feels like a force “wait, you thought they were rednecks? Psych! They kind of are, but rednecks aren’t really the bigots you thought they were. Surprise, we’re right about our worldviews, not you!”

On top of this, there’s the entire creepy pregnancy. Continue reading “Fairest Vol 5: The Clamour for Glamour Graphic Novel Review”

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Fairest Vol 3: The Return of the Maharaja Graphic Novel Review

Fairest Vol 3: The Return of the MaharajaErica gives this comic two starsFairest Vol 3: The Return of the Maharaja by Sean E. Williams
Art: Stephen Sadowski, Phil Jimenez, Andrew Pepoy, Dan Green, Russ Braun, Meghan Hetrick, Christian Alamy, and Jose Marzan

Ugh. Okay, here’s the premise of the Fairest books: they are supposed to be stories about the various princesses in the greater Fables universe. Here’s been the problem: with the exception of the second volume, they have all actually been stories about the men in the lives of the princesses. And this volume was worst offender.

The princess in this story is Nalayani, who is not yet a princess. She’s a fable living in the Homelands in the India-region of it. Nalayani is the protectorate of her village after all the able-bodied men have gone on to fight against the Emperor and they don’t come back. When she hears there’s a new Maharaja in the area, she goes to seek his help in protection from the Dhole, wolf-like creatures, that have been killing and burning her village.

Nalayani is a great character. She loves her people, and she’s clearly the leader. The story about her travels and her friendship with the jackal Tabaqui was touching. Continue reading “Fairest Vol 3: The Return of the Maharaja Graphic Novel Review”

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Fairest: In All the Land Graphic Novel Review

Fairest: In All the LandErica Gives This Comic Four StarsFairest: In All the Land by Bill Willingham
Art: Chrissie Zullo, Karl Kerschl, Renae de Liz, Fiona Meng, Mark Buckingham, Phil Noto, Meghan Hetrick, Russ Braun, Tony Akins, Gene Ha, Tula Lotay, Marley Zarcone, Ming Doyle, Chris Sprouse, Nimit Malavia, Dean Ormston, Kurt Huggins, Adam Hughes, Al Davison, Shawn McManus, Inaki Miranda, and Kevin Maguire

This was perhaps one of the best Fables stories that I’ve read in a long time. It wasn’t interrupted by one of Willingham’s favorite characters that didn’t make sense. Cinderella had the whole narrative from beginning to end, and while she certainly had the help of others, she was the one who figured out the mystery and came up with a solution to the problem.

As much as I was excited to see that many of my favorite artists were working on this book, having the tale jump from artist to artist was a bit distracting. I really loved de Liz’s Cinderella and Hetrick’s Snow White. I was also surprised just how much I enjoyed Doyle’s art, which particularly worked with the ’60s flashback to Briar Rose’s all-girl band.

All that said, I did have a hard time getting into this book. Continue reading “Fairest: In All the Land Graphic Novel Review”