Bill Willingham – Fables, Vol. 19: Snow White

13. Snow White by Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Shawn McManus (2014)
Fables, Volume 19

Length: 168 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Started/Finished: 25 February 2014

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? New Fables!

She’s married to the
Big Bad Wolf, so she’s not a
woman to mess with.

Summary: In the first half of this volume, we catch up with Bufkin, Lily, and company as they lead a revolution against the tyrant emperor who has seized control of Oz. In the second half, Bigby has taken off from the newly recolonized Fabletown in search of his two missing cubs, Therese and Dare. But back at home, Snow White, his wife, is confronted with someone she’d been doing her best to forget: her first husband. He’s got powerful magic at his command, and a scheme to claim Snow White as his own and kill Bigby, but Snow White is not the kind of woman to let herself be taken so easily.

Review: I wasn’t crazy about Volume 18 of Fables, but this one mostly managed to turn things around. I found Bufkin and Lily’s story less interesting, and have ever since it was first introduced as a separate story thread. It had admittedly had some good moments (Hangy the Rope made me laugh more than once), but I’m also glad it’s wrapped up and that the focus will be shifting back to more of the main characters. Snow White’s story was… really uncomfortable, actually. I don’t do well when characters I like are put in a position where they’re powerless to stop terrible things from happening to them, particularly when there’s elements of sexual violence involved (see also: the “Pegasus” episode of Battlestar Galactica), and while Snow isn’t exactly powerless, her situation still left me with that same kind of uncomfortable claustrophobia. It’s a good story, well told, and I think it represents another substantial turning point in the series. It just wasn’t the emotionally easiest thing for me to read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: The second half of this one, at least, felt like a return to some of the best parts of the early issues of Fables in terms of character development and storytelling, so Fables fans should be all over it.

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