"Super Team" part five. Well, we tried to warn you. Bigby and the North Wind finally threw down and poor Bigby didn't stand a chance. We would have loved to come up with some clever, magical way our favorite Lord of Wolves beat his dad in a knockdown, dragout, mano-a-mano fight to the finish, but there was simply no way. Sorry. We tried, and we couldn't do it. Oh, also the barrier keeping Mister Dark out of Haven falls, leaving the kingdom entirely unprotected from his wrath.
But unlike the conclusion to the war against the Adversary, which was unexpectedly brief but still culminated in a gripping sense of excitement and uncertainty for the series, this foreshadowing does little to capture the imagination. This series has often been in want of a clear and purposeful sense of direction. The conclusion to the Mister Dark conflict does nothing to foster that direction. Fables needs a new injection of fun, and this time it had better come from a new direction and not another Adversary or Mister Dark. Read Full Review
The vile Mr. Dark is clearly anticipating a big battle at the beginning of the issue, but the inexorable persona of the North Wind soon has him begging and bargaining for mercy. Buckingham/Leialoha do a great job of the monster's morphing through various wraith-like forms during the battle, which unfolds over several splash pages. The North Wind, by contrast, remains stalwart and unchanged, busy invoking an ancient clause that seals the fate of both beings. It's interesting if a bit anticlimactic that their promised confrontation results both in eternal sacrifice and a simple scene of closing a lid that shouldn't have ever been opened. Read Full Review
A disappointingly passive conclusion to what should have been the most fraught battle of the Fables' lives. Read Full Review
It's really too bad because the last few issues have been a lot of fun, with the retreat from the Farm to Haven, the trouble brewing in the ruins of Fabletown, and Ozma and Pinocchio's ludicrous "super team." This issue, though, brings everything crashing down into a heap, and not of the good variety. If this had been a movie, you'd have an audience booing. The one bright side is Mark Buckingham's beautiful art, which is as great as ever (and ultimately is the one boost in this issue's rating). But overall? What a huge disappointment. I didn't get why so many people were feeling soured on "Fables" after reading #100, but with this latest issue, I'm starting to get an idea as to how that could happen. Strictly in terms of storytelling technique, "Fables" #106 is a failure. Read Full Review
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