A Few Thoughts on Fables Vol10:The Good Prince

Fables is one of my favorite comics.I love the concept and the reinventions of the characters.I started reading it last year, starting with the first TPB.I only read it in trade paperback form, just because I think it works well in that format.This past Wednesday, the tenth trade was released.It's the story of Flycatcher, also known as Ambrose, and his adventure getting back to the Homelands to reclaim his kingdom and take on the Adversary.

In waiting for this volume to come out, I would glance at reviews.I saw a lot of mediocre ones.No one hated the story, but no one seemed to love it either.Too long, not up to past standards.After reading the whole thing last night I would have to say that those people are nuts.Though it is possible it is the "I just read it" factor at work, but this was one of my favorite arcs so far.It might even be my favorite of all.

I haven't done a list in a while.I think I'm going to rattle off what I liked about this story.

1)I know it's more in vogue to like the anti-hero or darker characters, but I am truly a sucker for the heroic, purely good characters.Ambrose defeats wave after wave of the Adversary's armies without spilling one drop of blood.He shows kindness, compassion, and respect to friends, as well as enemies, and his armies swell in number as a result.I found that inspiring.Even when Boy Blue shows up and offers a stockpile of modern weapons, Ambrose holds to his non-violent revolution and refuses them.

2)It was good to see Bluebeard again.He, along with Jack, provided a certain amount of inner tension to the Fable community that provided for some good stories.I was always totally shocked when he was killed off...and didn't come back.Maybe he was a distraction to where the creators wanted to take the story.I missed him.He shows his true, scheming colors again here.For a short time I though he was going to abandon his treacherous ways and stand beside Ambrose.Instead, he aligned himself with Shere Khan and got himself killed again.Cool death though.

3)I still think that Snow and Bigby's cubs are cute.I think the difference here is the number of them.One precocious kid could get annoying, but give him/her five(or six) more to play off of and the dynamic changes.It was good to see Ghost introduced to them.That character has been something of a sad one so far.Hopefully, with his brothers and sisters with him, that can change.

4)The ghost army is fucking awesome.That was the best sequence in the whole series.Mark Buckingham deserves a raise after that.

5) So was the scene with Grinder emerging from the waterfall.Absolutely a "holy shit" moment.

6)Fabletown is on the ball.The Adversary and his minions don't seem nearly so intimidating now.I'm not sure if this will hurt the story though as Fabletown doesn't seem quite the underdog anymore.The Adversary needs to strike a harsh blow to the Fables to build the threat back up.They haven't had a threatening moment since the wooden soldier invasion.

7)This book FINALLY places Jack Of Fables and some of the stories from 1001 Nights Of Snowfall in the timeline.I always wondered where they fit and how they would be worked in.I'm normally not a continuity fan.I don't find it works very well, at least not for the big two, simply because there are too many titles with too many stories to try to fit together.There are always gaps and inconsistencies for overzealous fanboys and fangirls to irritatingly pick at.For a singular title though, it works just fine.

Fables never disappoints me.This was their epic story and it totally changes the status quo.I can't wait for the next trade to see where they take this.