After surviving a curse, plague, and the hostile woods, Charming returns to the camp in large part thanks to Nayalani. Trying to make good on his word, Charming sets a trap for the dhole who have been terrorizing her village, but that’s when the story takes an odd turn.
…
The news that Rose Red plans to finally accept her destiny as the Paladin of Hope and reconstitute the Round Table spreads like wildfire around Fabletown, the farm, and the furthest reaches of every world where the message is spread. Taking a little time off from her new duty, Rose Red also confronts the still very much alive Prince Brandish with a machine gun leading to a discussion of just how the insane Fable would like to spend his immortality.
Although I’m still waiting to see Arthur and the old Knights of the Round Table (which we may have gotten a tease of here), the issue continues Red Rose’s story and makes something unexpected out of the continued existence of Brandish (something I’m not really in favor of).
It will be interesting to see who signs up for the new Round Table as the story continues to unfold and who Red Rose may have to pressure in to joining their ranks (even Brandish?). The B-story of this issue continues the so-far-failed attempts to reconstruct and resurrect the shattered Bigby. Worth a look.
[Vertigo, $2.99]
The odd plague which was introduced in the last issue is further developed here as Prince Charming loses a pair of fingers to the the malady only to regrow his hand. Whether his healing came from the notoriety of his legend or the discovery of the depths of his feelings for Nalayani is a left a bit up in the air.
I thought last month’s issue got far too sidetracked with Charming’s story while shoving Nalayani to the background. This issue focuses much more on the pair together. Although it’s hard to accept Charming’s feelings as true love (wasn’t he just gleefully boffing members of his harem an issue ago?) I will be curious to see where exactly these new-found feelings lead the story and Prince Charming.
Fairest #18 is certainly an improvement over last month’s issue, but it does have weird jumps in action such as the rivalry back at the maharaja’s camp and Charming’s attack of the crocodile that aren’t properly set-up and seem a bit out of place with the focus of the issue, and whose inclusion disrupts the flow of the story. For fans.
[Vertigo, $2.99]
The beginning of the Camelot arc is a little deceiving as we don’t get King Arthur or the Knights of the Round Table in the first issue of the new storyline. Instead Fables #131 is mainly concerned with the fallout of the recent Snow White arc involving plans to try and piece Bigby back together again and the autopsy of Prince Brandish (who it turns out is even harder to kill than originally believed).
Other than these nagging storylines, the issue also focuses on both Rose Red‘s humorous reunions with Hope and her niece Therese which lead the directionless Fable to finally accept her role as the Paladin of Hope and begin her plans to reconstitute a new Camelot in Fabletown, beginning with the creation of a new round table.
All geared up for King Arthur, I have to say I was a little dismayed at the bait-and-switch here. That said, I like Rose Red and I’m curious to see how her story unfolds with an attempt to recreate something as grand as Camelot. As for Brandish, the best thing his character did was to die in an agonizing fashion and I’m less happy to see him sticking around. Worth a look.
[Vertigo, $2.99]
“The Return of the Maharaja” continues as Nalayani and Prince Charming spend a little time together separated from the rest of the royal entourage and Nalayani learns the series of events that led to Charming becoming India’s latest Maharaja. Although the pair are able to get out of their predicament involving a crocodile and quicksand at the issue beginning, Fairest #17 also introduces a new threat to Charming’s reign as Maharaja.
The quick thinking that gets the pair out of danger in the issue’s first few pages work well. Charming’s flashbacks give us some insight into the series of events on how the prince took power without ever addressing why Charming was in India in the first place. This also forces Nalayani’s story, the arc’s best character, to be put on hold for an entire issue.
The plague which first hits one of Charming’s concubines and later the Maharaja takes the arc even further from the story of Nalayani’s village. The source of the disease and eventual cure might turn out to offer interest insights into both characters, but for now I’m a bit concerned with the shift in direction of this latest arc. Hit-and-Miss.
[Vertigo, $2.99]
