THE SERIES What if fairy tale characters existed in our world? And what if they had ways of not revealing themselves to us per their magic? This popular series focuses on such a concept. It has the usual archetypes and characters taking some liberties but always trying to make things interesting. Note that the focus is typically upon European fairy tales with a smidgen from other regions.As of 2012 this series has won 14 Eisner Awards, most notably Best Writer, Best Short Story and Best Series.

Reading this ninth volume of Bill Willingham's Fables directly following the slightly disappointing first volume of his Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape was like being served a gourmet meal after an good but not fully satisfying dinner. It fully removed any doubts I might have had concerning Willingham's current writing abilities and strengthened my feeling of what was indeed the points which did not really work for me in Jack of Fables.The volume clearly centres around the four part st...

In which the Adversary brings together a committee to decide what to do with Fabletown; Bigby faces his father; and a there are special pages dedicated to answering reader questions. Bill Willingham and co. shows us more of the Adversary and his people, more of the Snow Queen, more of North's world and more Flycatcher. By now the constructed reality is so tight, you just sit back and enjoy the experience, as the story is unveiled issue by issue. 8 out of 12.

A story of sons and fathers.World: The art is always great, sure there are some great artists here but mainly Buckingham and his art is amazing. He's responsible for a lot of the love I have for this world, it's full of character and the creativity is wonderful. The world building is pretty great with the continuing story of the war between Fabletown and the Emperor, it's building towards something bigger and setting the stage for it. Then there is the world building where it's about characters

The Adversary comes up with a new plan to invade and revenge themselves for Bigby's attack on the magical forest. They send in the slimy witch hunter, Hansel, as an ambassador and take advantage of his diplomatic immunity to spy on Fabletown.This one also gives Hansel's backstory and how he and his sister are connected with Frau Totenkinder. She should have eaten that kid when she had the chance.There's a breather in the war plans when Aldred draws Father and Son, a story of Bigby, his children,...

Wherein we witness the aftermath of Bigby's assault on the Adversary; are privy to the Adversary's war council; discover the fate of Hansel & Gretel; realize that Santa Claus doesn't always like the presents he delivers; learn that Flycatcher may be the most important Fable in existence (whether he likes it or not); see what kind of father Geppetto really is; understand why Bigby and his father avoid one another; run afoul of some suspiciously familiar Wild Things; witness the cubs' first kill;

In which we learn more about the relationship between Bigby and his dad ; questions are answered. I love the stories involving the wolf cubs!

Sons of Empire was my last Fables installment before I stated a voluntary hiatus from the series. Fact is, I love this series, and I am not eager to get burned out on it, or to be devastated when it's over. So I am going to take a break and investigate other graphic novel series for a little bit. Truth is, I doubt I'll stay away for long. So let's get to the review.This was an excellent installment to the series. It was great because we get to see Bigby and Snow and their cubs as a settled, happ...

Graphic Novel. The Empire Strikes Back, Or At Least Holds A Meeting To Discuss Doing So. I just don't know about you, Fables. You've been been getting more and more fragmented as time goes on. I no longer feel like I'm reading a cohesive story with a bigger purpose. In fact, I think my favorite stories in this volume were all less than four pages and had little to do with the main plot. "Hair" is short and bittersweet, and "A Thorn in Their Side?" has some interesting art by Michael Allred and a...

"Hold the jar upright, Snow. Don't spill my brothers."As always, Bigby and Snow are adorable, especially with their kids, but there was just something lacking in this volume. I felt like any organization was pretty nonexistent. None of the plots really flowed well with the others, and I still don't get why this volume is called "Sons of Empire". Honestly, I don't even think the separate stories were very strong on their own. The script and the art weren't as good in comparison to previous volume...

After a long break, I have drifted back to Fables to finish it off. I really shouldn't have taken the break. This was very good.Without being too spoilery, let's just say this volume shows the preparations for the Emperor's invasion of Fabletown and the utter destruction of the Earth. I am, personally, glad that the Emperor also has plans for rescuing Baba Yaga. But the Empire also sends out a Diplomatic Envoy. It turns out Hansel (from "Hansel and Gretel") was scarred by the events of his witch...

Fables keeps up the momentum in this title about planning and murdering. So as we can see the Adversary is building his army. Creating plans to take fabletown and the whole world. Why not, right? he already took the homelands for the most part, what's another world to him and his people? So we see a lot of planning on their side but also some planning on the side of Fabletown, including even Bigsby growing as a father and also a great assest to his people. This is mostly a set up volume, but a d...

Just as I was considering giving up on the Fables series, Volume 9: Sons of Empire delivered a more entertaining, though still fractured, narrative. The Adversary and his empire hold a conference discussing their plans for Fabletown; Hansel is made the Adversary's special envoy in Fabletown; there are a few short Christmas stories; Snow & Bigby visit Bigby's father the North Wind; and throughout the volume are a number of short character pieces, including some that were inspired by reader questi...

Sons of Empire focused on Adversary's plan to rule the mundy world and Bigby family celebrating winter. With some unnecessary short stories in between.

Colin gets a cameo. A creepy cameo. I miss Colin. *Sigh!*

I always enjoy these stories. They are getting thicker though, and it takes longer to read them. They are no longer a quick read and Vol. 10 gets even thicker.WAR IS COMING.We see both sides making plans to defend against the other side. Ghepetto sent a diplomat to Fabletown who is Hansel and he hates witches. We learn something interesting, almost about Frau Totenkinder. We also go to Bigby's mansion and see Christmas with the cubs and there is a flying carpet. They fly to the land of fables to...

I'm going to come right out and say it: Fables is one of the most remarkably consistent graphic novel or comic book series that I have ever read. It has intriguing characters (characters to love, characters to hate, characters that sit idly in the background) - and it should since they were drawn from other stories, fairytales and mythology. There I would love a studio to get their hands on these and turn them into a television series or a movie franchise.This particular volume's story focuses o...

Glad to be back in Fables! As with many Volumes this one had a fragment of plot progression and a majority of random side stories. (view spoiler)[1/4 - Many gather on behalf of the Emperor to plan an invasion of Fabletown, lead by the Snow Queen. Red gets a new haircut and Ambrose turns into a frog. Short – Joel Crow and Rapunzel2/4 - The detailed four-stage war plan: Plague, Fire, Winter, and Famine to end the mundy world. Bigby hires Peter Cottontail to train the cubs in hunting. Hansel will g...

The things I've been missing in the past few volumes have returned (in 2007, but I'm here now)!I really loved the Christmas special and the focus on my favourite characters.The art in issues 57 and 59 made me cringe a little bit. I'm sure Michael Allred is a skilled artist, but I don't know if his style really suits the style of the series. It would have been nice to recognize the characters, but it looks like he made them up all on his own rather than basing them off of what they've been establ...

This originally appeared at http://www.comicpow.com/2016/02/17/4040/ -> accompanying images available there---This volume is all over the place. There is a Christmas interlude, we learn of Rapunzel’s plight, and a series of reader questions answered as 1-2 page comics. But the bulk of the volume is about the eye of the storm in the Fabletown and Adversary relations. Each has wreaked devastations upon the other and now Fabletown must see if their Israel Gambit will succeed.The volume is also abou...