| Title | : | Fables, Vol. 6: Homelands (Fables, #6) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1401205003 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781401205003 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 190 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2006 |
| Awards | : | Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Best Serialized Story (2006) |
Having beaten back the Adversary's first advance into their world, the residents of Fabletown must now prepare themselves for the full-scale war that is sure to follow. For one particular Fable, this means skipping town to launch a new career as a venal Hollywood mogul - a path he hopes will be paved with gold and immortality. For another Fable, though, it means a journey down a much more dangerous road - one that winds through the Fables' old Homelands into the very heart of enemy territory, where the mystery of the Adversary's identity will finally be revealed!
Collecting: Fables 34-41
Fables, Vol. 6: Homelands (Fables, #6) Reviews
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Jack of Fables (lots of fables!) sets out to make himself a ton of money while increasing his immortality. How?
Welcome to Hollywood.
Who is The Adversary? <--find out here!
Little Boy Blue is an ass-kicker who goes back to his homeland on his own with the help of some very powerful magical artifacts that he's taken from Fabletown.
He's on a quest to find the real Red Riding Hood and take out The Adversary, and he does a damn fine job with both of those goals.
Sort of.
Mowgli shows up and is apparently an agent like Cinderella. Very cool.
It's also interesting seeing Prince Charming being both better and worse than I expected. I honestly thought he was just going to be a blip on the radar, but it looks like he will play a much larger (longer?) role in the story than I originally thought.
Great series! Can't wait for the next one.
Recommended. -
This story was exceptional and the last volume was really good. They are on a streak. I need the next one. This one we discover who the adversary is and I think it’s pretty brilliant. This is about Boy Blue going back to the Homelands to rescue Red Riding Hood. The stakes get higher in this one and the story telling felt tight to me. Mowgli is introduced into the story as well which is a nice twist. Snow and Bigby were missed, but this was Boy Blue’s story and it was very awesome.
I enjoyed the art and where the story is going. Now, what are they going to do with it? They are expanding the world and old characters will have to come back into the picture eventually. They have a lot of storylines to juggle and I hope they are up to the task. This was great fun. I’m hungry for more. -
In which we get to see a lot more of Jack of Tales, a lot more of Boy Blue, and finally we get to visit the Homelands!
Bill Willingham and
Mark Buckingham's world building goes into overdrive as begin to see the Fables' native universe itself. Stories of deft planning, trickery, violence, cunning, lies, deceit and good intentions abound, as the taste and flavour of the Fable worlds, the Homelands, are given colour, depth and context by these storytellers. 8 out of 12.
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"Big walter horton."
Jack's story kinda fell flat for me. It just wasn't interesting enough, and there wasn't enough action to balance all the talking and planning and drama. So I give his story about a 3.
Boy Blue's story, though, was fantastic! I loved seeing this other side to Boy Blue that we haven't really seen before. In one of the previous volumes, he kinda hinted that he was a big shot hero who single-handedly took down a lot of the Adversary's forces. I couldn't see it then... BUT NOW he completely shows off all his skills and tricks and intelligence, and it's glorious! Of course, we finally figure out who the Adversary is and why he's been conquering places, so that's another huge plus. Overall, Boy Blue deserves 5 full stars and even more! His story was also much longer than the other stories in this volume.
Mowgli's story was weird and all over the place, but still enjoyable. His story also made me realize that I really do not like Prince Charming. Around 4 stars.
My main complaints about this volume are Jack's subpar story and the little Bigby teaser. I really want Bigby to take a big part in the next volume--I love his character!
As usual, I recommend Fables to all! 4.5 -
One of the facets of a good story is the ability to still deliver shocking moments to the reader. All the more so because I truly did not expect the long awaited explanation of the Adversary to be so shocking. Well done Mr. Willingham not only did you craft a great story, but the grand scale of this story is beginning to take shape and it is impressive.
First things first- Vol 6 is a strange issue. The first part is entirely centered on Jack, from the Beanstalk, and a tiny girl named Jill. Jack goes to Hollywood and markets his life story as a LOTR style mega-epic blockbuster. Strangely enough it's a huge hit and it makes him rich and famous in Hollywood. Just as his fame and power are reaching their apex, little Jill tired of not being allowed to see the world and being stuck in doll houses calls the Fables Authority. Fabletown is now in the movie business and Jack is sent on the run (it is a violation of Fabletown Law to make movies about Fables). This storyline was not bad but nothing great. It had it's moments from the great quote about the comma union to the overall pretentiousness and simple sliminess of the "Hollywood scene". By itself this is a 3/5 story. But then why does this vol get a 5 star rating? Because of the other story:
Little Boy Blue has become a badass. Armed with a powerful magical cloak and a vorpal blade, he is it out seeking blood. Way back in the first volumes during the Fall of the Fable Lands to the Adversary, at the last battle Little Boy Blue failed to protect Little Red Riding Hood. This haunted Little Boy Blue and in a previous volume when the Emperor's forces invaded Fabletown, the girl who was supposed to be Little Red Riding Hood was in fact Baba Yaga.
So Blue manages to make his way all the way to the Imperial city. Here the Emperor is having an audience for the citizens. When the Emperor was first shown striding down the guard-lined path my first thought was "Is that Ares?". Much like the DC depiction of the Greek War God, the Adversary is enormous standing nearly 20 feet tall, clad in all black chain-link armor adorned with skulls and is wearing a helmet that frames two glowing read eyes. Someone call Wonder Woman-Ares is loose!
But as impressive as the Adversary is-Blue is quite lethal himself. He is fast and agile and with a vorpal blade can cut through anything. Before I continue- Massive spoilers ahead.
When Blue decapitates the Emperor and tries to fly away in bird form (another cloak power) he is trapped by the Snow Queen. When he comes too he finds he has been tended too by Gepetto. As they converse Blue realizes something staggering- the Adversary/Emperor was nothing but a wooden construct made by Gepetto. All this time, much like the proverbial Wizard of Oz, all along it had been Gepetto who had quietly replaced the rulers with his constructs and then one day it turned out he ruled vast armies, by proxy, and then he launched his war of unification. According to this vol, Gepetto says the Western Fables are nearly completely undone. He is planning the assault on the Middle Eastern and Eastern Fables in a century.
This was a great tale. Even with that massive reveal there is still more to the story. Well worth your read. The artwork is wonderful throughout. But considering this is the 6th Volume and the story is still going well I will have to complement Mr. Willingham on a well written tale. I enjoyed this one and so will any Fable fan. -
This is the strongest addition to the Fables series to date. Perhaps it helps that this was more of an adventure story set in the Fablelands than previous novels and that we also find out the identity of the dreaded Adversary, which is an interesting little twist.
This all reminds me that part of the strength of this graphic novel series to date appears to be in the versatility of genres used by the writers. While the series is in effect procedural with various episodes happing from volume to volume, there is a mix of detective stories, fantasy stories, romance stories and, as with this volume, action adventure stories.
This particular volume definitely focuses more on what happens with Boy Blue as he ventures into the Fablelands to find Red Riding Hood, his love. I find it interesting that the authors chose to match two Fables with colours in their names in this romantic way and wonder if it was intentional. Boy Blue, as the main hero of this novel, becomes a far more interesting character, as armed with the Vorpal Blade and Witching Cloak, he becomes one of the most powerful magical characters in existence in the Fablelands.
There is definitely a sense that Bill Willingham did some work on dungeons and dragons when it comes to how the adventure progresses in this volume, yet for all of that this is still a finely told narrative. Which goes to show that you cannot judge a work based on the fact that it has connections to geeky or nerdy fantasy roleplaying games.
If you like the sound of this series: a fractured fairytale graphic novel series with gritty adult themes and set in two worlds then check out the earlier novels and see how you fare. I for one am getting more and more intrigued by the overall story as it progresses, much as with television shows that draw me in. -
An exciting, heroic fairy-tale adventure. Fables at some of its best, at long last.
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For secrecy reasons, I shall refrain from posting any pictures.
Oh my, what a reveal. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting this particular Fable to actually be the Adversary. I mean, even after getting the background story, it's hrd to believe that would turn Darkside like that, going so far as to !
What I thoroughly enjoyed was a certain entrepid hero shining here. All the adventures, all the quests, all the success and magic - it was pretty darn fantastic. What made it even better was ! I had definitely NOT expected this much brain activity from .
It's a sign of how well this series is written that depite the lulls I found myself thoroughly enraptured in this volume and at the edge of my seat several times about whether or not certain endeavors would succeed.
The only potential point of negative criticism I have is that the Fables chosen as the baddies are often a bit too obvious - especially the female ones. First Baba Yaga and now . :/
Really cool nevertheless and I do apologize for not being able to say much more but spoilers, especially in this case, would definitely kill the enjoyment. -
This was by far the most engrossing volume of the series yet.
It's broken into two sections. The first part deals with Jack and his life of getting famous in Hollywood. It's funny side of things though the ending not so much. The other half of this book is about Boy Blue. Who, till now, I didn't care much about. All of a sudden he becomes a badass motherfucker and goes into the homeland to retrieve the love of his life and hunt down the evil that took over his lands.
Good: The second half is great. Funny when it needs to be but mostly serious and really screwed up moments. Boy blue really shines and he becomes easily one of the best characters in the series. I also thought Jack's stuff was really fun inside look to hollywood and a nice breather from the serious stuff in the series.
Bad: Some stuff can be a little long winded at times as always.
This hit all the right notes for me. While there were strong volumes this was the one to make me a fan of the series. I'll be going with a 4.5 on this one, but I'll smack it with a 5 just because! -
Жила-була і переклала. Амбівалентні почуття від тому. З одного боку, том об'єктивно сюжетно важливий:
* ми нарешті дізнаємося, хто такий Ворог і як постала імперія зла (як завжди, шлях до пекла був вимощений добрими намірами про ефективну адміністрацію)!
* багато прикольних шпигунських інтриг - люблю шпигунські інтриги!
* є багато різного забавного антуражу, зокрема богатирі зі слов'янських казок! (і візуальна стилізація під Білібіна)
З іншого боку, багато і відверто мудацьких речей.
Карочє, сюжет важливий і прикольний, але перші два розділи можна прогортати - або готуватися регулярно закочувати очі д'горі. -
This volume had the most scattered group of storylines so far, with some really good issues and some of my least favourites as well.
Most of this volume follows Boy Blue on his quest through The Homelands to defeat The Adversary. For the most part I found myself wondering what was happening back in Fabletown, but by the end I was invested.
I liked the introduction of Mowgli from the Jungle Book in one of the issues, too. I'm excited to see what his role will be. I also didn't mind Jack's takeover of Hollywood. I've never been interested in reading the Jack of Fables series, but now I am! -
Wasn't that impressed with Jack's Hollywood adventure, it didn't fit in with the rest of the chapters/story, it was also the same old sort of Jack rubbish, it added very little to his character or the world or the overarching story.
Enjoyed the other chapters with Boy Blue travelling back to the homelands, fighting the bad guys, and finding out the truth about the adversary/emperor. -
Звісно, в цій серії буде скажена кількість томів, якщо і в цьому знову без найхаризматичнішого персонажа - Сірка(((
п.с. Поява російських казок - фе, але не дивно, що вони служать зрадникам -
This collection of Fables stood out in that most of it takes place in the Fables homelands, other than the edition about Jack's adventures in Hollywood. I gave it five stars because the writing is excellent as always, and the story took my emotions all over the place.
Jack is not a favorite character of mine. He lacks most of what I love in a character. I love edgy heroes, but Jack is 99% rogue with maybe 1% decency in there somewhere. Everything he does is with a selfish motive, even if it ends up with good results for others. He's just a big fat jerk to me. An opportunist to the extreme. This story was still good, because of its jaundiced and truthful look at Hollywood. I love movies, have since I was a kid. I have mixed feelings about the film industry, however. There is a lot of falseness and meanness and lack of true integrity in the industry (of course there are always exceptions to the rule), and I don't mean in front of the camera. I mainly like the end product (and a part of me struggles with the sense of joy at watching a movie, knowing that some dirty dealing probably went on behind the scenes to make it). Jack fits right in with Hollywood, and his success is not a surprise. While this is Jack's story, it's tied in very well with the ongoing Fables story arc, and I liked how the tables were turned on Jack. However, he's the kind of guy who always lands on his feet. I'm sure Jack will be up to more mischief soon.
The bulk of this graphic novel is dedicated to Boy Blue's return to his homelands with the use of the magic cloak he stole from the Fabletown magical artifacts archive. He also took an enchanted sword which is absolutely lethal. His goal to kill the Adverary, save his father, Geppetto, and rescue his lost love, Little Red Ridinghood. His journeys through the homelands are fraught with danger, and he proves both his facility at taking care of himself, and his resourcefulness. I really enjoyed them. I was very troubled by the results of his arrival in the court of the Emperor (Adversary), with the loss of innocent life that results. I don't blame Boy Blue, but rather the evil whims of people who crave power and have no regard for human life. That is what I mean when I speak of these stories stirring my emotions. This graphic novel is not one that I am divorced from as I read.
I wasn't completely happy with some huge revelations that result in this book, but it's fitting for this series, and it portends some interesting future developments. Of course, I had to grab the next three in the series when I returned this to the library, although I have to work on some other books in the interim. I will happily pick them up when I get a chance (and try to write reviews right away next time).
I continue to love this series, and crave more. This was an excellent volume, so I have to give it five stars. -
So this volume collects 3 different threads, woven somewhat together for us.
1) Jack left Fabletown in an earlier volume, here we see him go to Hollywood and make it big in the movies, with stolen wealth from his fellow fables. He's tracked down by Beast, the new Sheriff, and allowed to escape, but never to return to Fabletown. I believe this sets up the whole spin-off series Jack of Fables, which Willingham also writes. This Jack isn't a minor screw up like the previous volumes show, this shows him being pretty savvy, and just a bit of an egomaniac. I will be interested to see his solo adventures.
2)Boy Blue took off with the magic cloak and sword, and makes his way through the original Homelands, on a personal quest for numerous reasons. Along the way we have many revelations, as well as finally, the Adversary himself! I won't give it away, but it's a great idea in many ways, taken sort of from another famous story...at least interpreted similarly. It's explained very well too, and helps set up the Adversary as how he started innocently enough, yet slipped into full out evil monster by the end.
3)Mowgli arrives back in Fabletown, he was away, as a traveller of the world (a spy for Fabletown and Bigby) when he returns, we see that his best friend Bagheera the Panther is still locked up from his role in the attempted coup at the Farm. Mayor Prince Charming offers Mowgli a deal: go find Bigby and bring him back to Fabletown, because Bigby is the only one who can lead the Fables into war against the Adversary.
So I liked this volume a lot; no Snow White, not tons of fables, no Bigby was a downside, but his mere mention holds power over the book, so I don't worry that he's not going to be back. Beast and Charming have done pretty well taking over from Bigby and Cole, who we also don't see.
I liked it a lot, and at this point I've just come to enjoy it altogether the whole series. In some ways it takes from Hellboy by updating myth/fable/etc. into reality, but not nearly as Gothic or Dark.
That being said, Boy Blue really makes a name for himself, and I'm looking forward to more Mowgli adventures.
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-----Mild spoilers below------
This one would have been a five star for me but the whole Jack being rich in Hollywood seemed boring and pointless. I get that they were setting it up so that he had to leave Fabletown because he was heading off into his own graphic novel spin-off - Jack of Fables. I just felt it was a little lazy - I plan on reading the spin-off series soon but I'm following a reading guide on the series and says I don't have to go back and read all of his graphic novels until volume 13 of Fables.
Boy Blue was certainly the main character in this one and I loved seeing him in action, he's a really fun character. I'll be curious as to where or if anything happens between him and Red Riding Hood in the future.
The Adversary was a great addition to this tale and certainly the strongest part of the story. I had no clue who it was going to be and I'm really anxious to find out how it's going to play out. We also had the introduction of the Snow Queen who looked amazing and seems like she will be a force to be reckoned with.
We also had a little appearance from Pinocchio and that guy cracks me up. -
This volume gets a high 3.5* rating from me as it went back into the Homelands and I really enjoyed getting to see how the Homelands were after the Fables had left them and seeing a LOT more about the Adversary and how he came to be. This volume tells the reader a lot, and also seeing Boy Blue on his adventure was really good becuase he's quite the brave hero when he wants to be.
The story within this one once again seemed to be better than the artwork and I found that I could ignore it when a character suddenly changed and just enjoy their stories. 3.5*s -
Wow! Another great addition to the series! This volume showed who the Adversary is and gave more insight to his plans! I really like Boy Blue. He is getting to be a cool character. This volume had everything I love about the Fables series.
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So many interesting characters! I had a feeling I already knew Who the advesary was. Still a Nice reveal and story behind it. Boy blue is a F’n badass
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4.5 stars
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La prima storia dell'albo, il saluto a Jack, è divertente.
Scopriamo cosa ha fatto Jack dopo la fuga da Favolandia, chi l'ha aiutato, e quale fosse il suo scopo.
Non male come idea, eh, anche se poi Bestia si è rivelato abbastanza capace alla fine (e probabilmente, come già si sapeva, più umano di Luca).
La storia però ci fa capire che il regno del Principe Azzurro non è traballante come sembrava a un primo momento: la fine della storia di Jack avviene dopo cinque anni dalla sua partenza, quindi il nuovo triumvirato pare più capace del previsto.
E la cosa viene confermata dalla seconda storia, che dà il nome al volume.
Seguiamo Boy nelle Terre Natie, armato del suo Manto e di altri oggetti magici.
Attraversa le terre come un uragano, a caccia di informazioni e risalendo poco a poco la corrente per raggiungere il suo obbiettivo, l'Avversario.
Scopriamo così la vera storia di Geppetto e dell'Avversario, assistiamo al ritorno in scena di Pinocchio e di Cappuccetto Rosso, e non possiamo che ammettere con riluttanza a noi stessi che il Principe Azzurro sia molto più capace di quanto non si potesse immaginare.
E anche la Bestia dimostra un interessante spirito di iniziativa.
Il piano ora quale sarà? Un esercito di contrattacco, guidato da un Luca Wolf pompato al massimo dal manto di Blue Boy? Perché alla fine, se da solo il ragazzo ha fatto tutto quello che ha fatto, dando il manto a qualcuno di più forte e accompagnandolo con un gruppo di incantatori in grado di tenere a bada gli uomini della Regina delle Nevi, potrebbe esserci una possibilità di rivalsa... -
Weakest Fables comic so far but it's still good comic nonetheless.
I really don't care about Jack of fables, I find him and his story totally uninteresting and completely unrelated with rest of volume 6.Alone I would give it 1.5-2 stars.Luckily it was short enough.
Main story follows Boy blue and his trip to the homelands and we finally se who is the Adversary and I kind of expected more, it was all bit underwhelming.Still good but not up to Fables standard. -
Didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as usual. There didn’t seem to be a united storyline and none (or almost none) of the familiar characters.
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A good read! So here I am again, reviewing of these amazing volumes! A lot of my friends here on GR think this is one of the best volumes, but do I agree? So the story for this one is split into two.
The first being a two part story following Jack, as he takes stolen money from the Fabletown government and tries to break into Hollywood and the movie buisness by making movies of himself. I'm not really a fan of Jack, but reading about his get rich quick schemes in these volumes are always entertaining and this one was no exception! The writing overall was great, the art was just okay.
Then we get to the main story, 'Homelands' which has Boy Blue go back to the original Fable Homelands to assassinate the Emperor. I'll admit I'm one of the fans who wanted to see more of the Fables original Homelands, and now that I have it, I'll admit I'm a bit underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, the story was good, as we see how bad ass Boy Blue can be while also learning more about The Adversary. For me though I would preferred if it was a one shot or a annual, to have it as the bulk of this volume kind made it long winded to read. About halfway through The Homelands arc, we cut away back to Fabletown to see what the main characters are up to. I found that and the Jack story at the beginning to be more interesting then The Homelands story to be honest.
Overall though this is still a decent volume, It just didn't quite do it for me. It does setup the next volume quite well which I'm excited to get and read! -
My local comic shop had a sale: 40% off on all tpbs. I was reading Volume 4 at the time, so I splurged and bought Vols 5-9. I've never done that before, not even with Sandman.
Anyway, Little Boy Blue goes badass here.
And the identity of the chief villain is revealed (previously, he was known only as the Adversary that forced the fables into exile in modern-day NY). While the Adversary's identity took me by complete surprise, it makes total sense. Very clever. -
This volume finally reveals the identity of the Adversary, although most of us had guessed it by this time. It also details Jack's exile, and includes a great quest as Blue Boy invades the homelands and takes the fight to the adversary all on his own. Who'd have though Little Boy Blue would be such a badass? This is a still a great series.
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This volume has a couple things going on. The first is Jack's story. I liked it, but not as much as the second part, in which we get a glimpse of the homelands as Boy Blue ventures back to face the adversary. Very exciting in the grand scheme of the comic.
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This series continues to get better with each volume. The adventures of Boy Blue in the homelands and Jack in Hollywood were fantastic. I am excited to get to the next one.
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The beginning issues is the start of the Jack of Fables spin-off, which is whatever. But then we continue on and find out just who the Adversary is!
