Fables: Witches (2010)

Cry havoc and let slip the woody heads of war!

This is volume 14 of the Fables paperbacks and it collects issues 86-93. The volume contains three stories that were again all written by Bill Willingham. The art on the first story was by Jim Fern and Craig Hamilton and on the final story was by David Lapham. But for the main Witches story the pencils were by the ever wonderful Mark Buckingham with inks by various combinations of Steve Leialoha. Andrew Pepoy and Daniel Green.

After the diversion of The Great Fables Crossover it was great to be plunged back into the plotline of the main book. The first single issue story gives some background on Mister Dark (the destroyer of the Fables' home in New York) and how he was imprisoned. The main (5 issue) story in the book gives some background into the main sources of magical defence for the Fables - the witches - and their response to  the new enemy in their old home. Also in the magically protected business office of the Fables, the flying monkey Bufkin assembles a motley crew of allies to battle against the threat of forces let loose by the events of the fall of Bullfinch Street such as the release of the evil witch Baba Yaga. While the witches are left in disarray by the secret departure of the leader Frau Totenkinder, Gepetto makes a bid for power over Fablekind. The last two issue story in the book concerns how the aftermath of a baseball game turns into a crisis that could tear the fledgling kingdom of Haven apart.

Two of the great strengths of this series is the overarching storylines that require a commitment from the reader and the vast cast in scattered locations that keep the series interesting. However, this can sometimes also be a weakness for readers, like me, who are not picking up the comic on a monthly basis but are reading the collections every six months or so, since not all the collections necessarily tell complete tales. This is the problem for me with this book. The plotlines in the witches story are left unresolved and it feels very much like a middle book of a trilogy - with the story starting in The Dark Ages and presumably due to end in the next volume, Rose Red - that will take us up to issue 100 of the series.

Don't get me wrong. I love this series and I love this book but I think that this is maybe the first one that could not be read a complete story on its own - although all the others, of course, do benefit from also knowing what has gone before. However the old showbiz maxim leave them wanting more applies here - I am definitely looking forward to picking up the next book which is due out this week.

First published on RevolutionSF on Sunday Apr 03, 2011