1682 ( )

4.5 stars.
Finally, a Fables book worthy of the earlier ones I loved. It's been a while since I've enjoyed something in the Fables universe so much; but after reading this, I'm glad I kept up with the Fairest spin-off series. Since it doesn't look like Bill Willingham was heavily involved in this one, I don't know how that bodes for the wrap-up of the main series, if it will be as good. What I do know is that I'll be looking for other work by the artists and writers of this book. ( )

Not really a fan of this arch as I thought I would be. I loved the fact they added a new character, but she wasn't even the main character. It was more focused on Prince Charming and all these other shirtless buff guys that didn't add anything to the story. Prince Charming is Bisexual now? Really? Honestly that ending was pointless...AGAIN! I'm going to keep reading Fairest for the Fables story, but this series is getting really pointless. Another thing I didn't like in to one was the font. I know they used the font because they weren't speaking English, but it lasted too long, strained my eyes, and was hard to read at times.

There was some good thing about this volume, but not as much. I liked the art and cover art. Adam Hughes does a good job with cover art. Phil Jimenez did a good job with the inks too. One thing this series does well with is the art work. Again I liked the fact they added a new character and brought back Charming, but way too much charming and not enough Nalayni.

I know Fables and Fairest are ending soon so I'm really hoping this series at least has a good ending. I haven't been satisfied over all with this book except with the Beauty and the Beast story. ( )

So. Charming survived. And now he's a Maharaja in a world of Indian Fables. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised.

Storywise, it's pretty crazy. It's awesome to see the character growth. He's an ass, but he's got a lot of potential. A near death, saving the world... might just do the thing?

I think what annoys me most about the whole thing is ... the stylization of the text. Fables has done it before a few times, representing text in another language with English stylized as if it were local characters, but this one is particularly hard to read.



Spoilers:



Heh. Charming is Charming.



Yup. Everyone (not just the readers!) thinks he's dead. It makes it work. ( )

This spinoff series is supposed to be about the women of the Fables series, but this collection is all about Prince-freakin'-Charming! Like sure, it's great that he's back from the dead, but giving him a dose of "true love" in the form of a rather feisty (and admittedly intriguing) Indian woman is a pretty thinly veiled attempt to shift the story back to a male focus. I guess I'll let them get away with it because he is basically the biggest pain-in-the-ass for the women of Fabletown, but I'm still not happy about it! ( )