Bill Willingham – Jack of Fables, Vol. 6: The Big Book of War

138. Jack of Fables, Vol. 6: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Akins, Russ Braun, José Marzán Jr., Dan Green (2009)
Jack of Fables, Volume 6

Read my reviews of:
– the main Fables volumes
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 2: Jack of Hearts
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 3: The Bad Prince
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 4: Americana
– Jack of Fables, Vol. 5: Turning Pages

Length: 128 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy

Started: 14 November 2009
Finished: 14 November 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? A new Fables fix in whatever form is always welcome.

You’ve got to be in
dire straits if you’d let Jack
lead your whole army.

Summary: Jack has had his differences with Mr. Revise, the Page sisters, and the staff of the Golden Boughs retirement home for Fables. But despite the animosity that exists between them, they must join forces to fight off an even bigger danger: The Bookburner, who has marched with his army to the Golden Boughs, intent on ridding the world of the Fables, whatever it takes.

Review: I enjoyed this volume more than I did several of the previous Jack of Fables collections, perhaps because we finally start to learn some of the secrets behind the story. We get to find out more about Revise’s plan, the relationships between the Literals, and some dark secrets about Jack’s past. The action and fight scenes are well-done, and the artwork is great as usual. I also thought that there was more comic relief than normal (or maybe more of the comedy worked for me than normal.) Babe was hilarious as always, but I also found the Knifejohns funny (if also nightmare-inducing), more of Jack’s narration worked, and even Kevin Thorne got in a one-liner or two. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: I’m never going to be as invested in this series as I am in Fables proper, but it’s a fun complement that’s starting to get a fair amount of depth of its own.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Other Reviews: Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: So, here it is — one for the ages. A true and fantastic tale of love, war, heroism and great deeds.

Cover Thoughts: Hee! Would have been better if Jack’s boxers had something more obnoxious than just stripes, though. Also, the shading/stubble kind of make it looks like he wiped his mouth with newsprint.

Vocab: (see the whole list)

• p. 16: ““While they cower in terror, awaiting their shameful and cowardly demise, I think I”ll make just one final inspection of my lovely eidolon army.”” – An image of an ideal. In this case it’s being used to mean something like “archetype.”
  .

Advertisement