Loved this one, great new characters. Review to come.

I have things to say about this volume, but no time to say them at the moment. But THINGS. TO. SAY.

They say that too many cooks spoil the broth. I would say that, sometimes, it's too many ingredients that spoil it. Arabian Nights fell a little flat for me. I was excited when Willingham started including characters from the Arabian Nights world. But the storyline involving them wasn't all that captivating. Also, one of the characters kept calling Sinbad, supposedly the head of this royal retinue, "sirrah." I gathered that he meant it as a term of honor, but I couldn't get over the fact that, i...

One of the weaker Fables trades so far. The Arabian Nights arc is good. As some reviewers have mentioned it did feel like it was praying on fears of the "scary" Arabs. I feel like it started that way, but didn't end that way. I thought it was a good example of showing that one person could ruin others impressions of an entire group. If you look back on the story it actually showed how a group of people can be different and still be good. Plus, you have to remember this is a book of FABLES. There...

In which Sinbad and his entourage arrive in Fabletown; Prince Charming struggles, and charms. in his Mayoral role; and we get more insight into the Wooden Soldiers. It just gets bigger! Not satisfied with re-imagining most of the Western Fables, Bill Willingham hurtles into the Eastern Fables in a wondrously totally respectful of Islam(!) and highly interesting way. The second story is a Wooden Soldier beaut, that has deep repercussions for the series! Another solid 8 out of 12.

I really like how this series explores every perspective, both good and bad. It was interesting to see the Adversary start to conquer the Arabian Fable lands once all the European lands were conquered. It was cool to see all the Arabian characters and beasts that were introduced. What I really liked was near the end where the two wooden people fell in love and journeyed home to become real so they could start a family together. However a twist of fate makes them do the unthinkable.

I was so excited for this one. I've been adding a lot of Arabian inspired things to my read and watch lists, so seeing that this was the title of the next Fables volume, I raised my expectations WAY up.And... meh. It was quite boring. I never watched Sinbad as a kid so I didn't really have much of a connection to that. I really thought they'd include Aladdin, but they just passingly mentioned his name once. Then there was a genie which I thought would be such a cool storyline for the volume, but...

More great stuff from the (Vertigo) Fables team.Maybe some time I can read the end of these... What a well-crafted run of comics.Recommended.

Another excellent volume in the Fables series. The Arabian Fables have sent Sindbad as a visiting emissary to speak with the Western Fables about setting up a Fabletown East. Unfortunately there are some differences between the Arabian and Western Fables. The Arabians still keep slaves, which goes against the anti-slavery laws of Fabletown.Sindbad tries to emulate the Western Fables (Prince Charming and the former Mayor) and this causes his Vizier, Usuf, to think that Sinbad is becoming an infid...

Why I read this: I read this because, duh, it’s a fairy tale retelling. I love that stuff. I read fairly crappy stuff just to get at it. Fables, so far, has not been crappy at all. Of course, I’ll continue it.Why I thought: The art was amazing as always and it was cool seeing an introduction of a slew of new characters, but it just didn’t feel like Fables. The problem? I miss Bigby and Snow. Snow and her pups had a couple of cameos but no Bigby. I know there has to be a reason for not even a gli...

I love that Sinbad comes to visit Fable town and brings his Vizier and a Genni with him. I love the Arabian Nights and it's nice to see a little bit of that. It becomes a political thriller and Prince Charming actually makes some good decisions. The witch from Hansel and Gretel is pretty awesome in each story too. You don't want to cross her. She is powerful and read. The first 3 chapters about about the Arabian story line. The final chapters are about some wooden soldiers under the adversary. T...

3.5 stars

Fables is finally clicking with me. This volume was filled with a lot of great moments. The stuff in fabletown is all about political affairs and the main thing is about a nation of people, Arabian, and how they will conflict with ideas that are placed in Fabletown. On the flipside we get a little bit more information on the farm, what's happening with snow white, red, and boy blue and of course the little kids. Last but not least we have a two issue story of one of Geppetto creations, or two of...

This arabian arc Wasn’t as Good as I had hoped.

Willingham's exploration of fables wouldn't have been complete without a look at the Arabian Nights. The folklore of the Middle East fits into this series very well, especially as the Adversary is expanding his takeover of the Fable lands into the Middle Eastern worlds now. I think that it would be impossible to integrate all of the encompassing Arabian Nights lore into one volume, and I don't think Willingham ever intended to try. Instead, he uses this story as an introductory volume, and it ha...

God, for something with such a good premise, the execution was just...shitty. You end up with, of course, the Arabian Fables being narrow-minded, ultra-conservative, slavery-toting scumbags. You end up with literal terrorism plots. You end up with OH GOD THEY ARE SO SILLY THEY CANNOT SPEAK ENGLISH. GOD IT WAS SO TERRIBLY DONE.FOR ONCE I WANT A PLOT WHERE THE WHITE PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO FUCK SHIT UP BY JUMPING THE GUN. JUST FOR ONCE. JUST FOR ONCE CAN WE HAVE A MIDDLE EASTERN-CENTRIC STORY LINE...

Sinbad shows up in Fabletown with his entourage, which includes slaves, an evil advisor, and a deadly genie time-bomb. Without Mowgli there to translate and negotiate, it falls to King Cole and his language skills to keep the new Mayor (Prince-Not-So-Charming) from completely blowing the alliance. And it falls to that nice little old lady who used to have a Gingerbread House in the woods to keep the advisor and genie in line. Prince Charming also tries to put the moves on Beauty but ultimately g...

Solid volume. Expanding the fable world and introduced many new faces. (view spoiler)[1 (1/4) – Sinbad and co come to Fabletown since The Adversary has come to their lands in Baghdad. King Cole is the translator. Prince Charming and Bell kiss. 2 (2/4) – Sinbad has brought a Genie with him, and we learn that they are all powerful since they are mostly make of magic. Sinbad’s evil henchman uses all three wishes selfishly, not wishing to return the genie to his lamp. Frau talks with the North Wind

So basically: Frau Totenkinder is a boss. Assistant deputy mayor Beauty is the epitome of girl power. And the wooden are all very messed up.Overall, this volume of Fables fell a little flat with me. Hope they step it up in the next one!

Another 3.5* volume becuase this one has two storylines which I enjoyed. The first focuses on the Arabs who are coming to Fabletown for refuge from the Adversary and who bring a Djinni with them (seen as an act of war by Fabletown) and the second is the story of two Wooden Soldiers who wish to become human so they can marry and love one another truly.I really enjoyed some elements of this volume and I particularly liked the wooden soldier stories as they were easy to empathise with. Another soli...