Broken Frontier

Glad you could make it back to Broken Frontier and this Tuesday’s edition of the new Guiding Lines.  This is the place for the thousands of comic readers out there with just too much cash in their velcro Spider-Man wallets.  You need guidance and it turns out – you need guidance from me. 

Tomorrow, you’ll show up to your LCS (local comic shop for all you n00bs), grab your weekly pull-list and head over to the ‘New Comics’ section.  There, you compare what’s in your grubby mitts to what else your store has in stock and decide in the next few minutes what else you’ll be buying this week.  These are the most important moments to the comic book industry.  It’s when the comic book covers battle each other for your attention, you discover your favorite characters being in a new book, uncomfortably crossed-over, or find hidden gems of that creator you’ve had your eye on.   And then there are the Indies.  These heart-filled but hype-less sequentials thrive on two things: pre-orders and buyers willing to take a chance. Even if you commit every bathroom break to reading next month’s Previews catalog, you could still be overwhelmed at the new releases.  As a whole, wonderful books are either made or broken in these quick glances across a ‘New Comics’ section.

With the above in mind, it would serve the comics community (both readers and creators) best if I had the ability to read every single book that will come out in a given Wednesday and recommend accordingly.  Of course, I can’t do that nor would I want to – there are a lot of crappy books out there.  But if I was comic-omniscient, there is still the question of how to gear these columns.  Do I direct you to books that will appeal to the general public or hardened fanboys?  List my personal favorites or one that needs the column to aid its survival?  It’s too much stress to obsess over, so I just look over the next week’s releases every Monday and pick a book I think you should be reading.

One of them you should be reading is Fables.  This could be a rather pointless recommendation because many people believe that its audience has already found the book and isn’t going anywhere, but also isn’t likely to grow.  I have more faith in today’s comic readers.  Fables offers everything a true fan could wish for: recognizable characters, vast mysteries, a sharp modern tone, brilliant monthly development, and excellent artistic storytelling. 

Just in case you’ve never read an issue of this ultra-intelligent but completely accessible comic series, here’s a quick catch-up:

Trade Paper Back #1: Legends in Exile – The classic fantasy characters are real.  All of them.  Some have escaped their invaded homeland and now live in New York City, living among ordinary, mortal humans.  This read entails the mystery of Red Rose’s (Snow White’s sister) murder.

TPB #2: Animal Farm – While the humanoid and shape-shifting Fables can reside in the city, the many animal and beast characters are forced to stay on a farm.  Goldilocks incites a revolt as all of the golden geese, racing hares and blind mice bare arms against their oppressors.

TPB #3: Storybook Love – The relentless American media catches wind of the Fable’s existence in this violent and sexy story arch.  Inside, two major players are brutally killed while two others hook-up.

TPB #4: March of the Wooden Soldiers – A new Fable escapes the homeland and reaches New York. As trouble follows, a campaign for a new mayor is underway.  This massive ‘Battle of Fabletown’ arch is one that will be a constant landmark event for months to come.

TPB #5: The Mean Seasons – This arch moves quickly as it catches us up on the altered lives of our favorite characters.  New parents, political positions and immigrants of Fabletown change the landscape dramatically. 

The next trade won’t be out until January and many readers who are only buying the collected volumes are temporarily missing out on some of my favorite comic reads of all time.  It’ll be tough to go into any sort of detail without the dreaded ‘spoiler’ popping a cap in yo’ ass, so I’ll just give general praise over the recent direction of the title and a few teasers.  Jack moves to Lala Land, Boy Blue disappears, the administration is in over its head and our short-term questions of our favorite characters are put on hold for the broader mystery.  In tomorrow’s read, Fables #42, the creators will give us a glimpse of Arabian Fables and possibly the return of one of my favorite detectives in comics.  We’ll see.

Bill Willingham is writing the best inter-connected, one-series world in comic books.  Every action these characters are making is meaningful. Their beautiful layers are revealed with care and patience.  Each character is so unique you could identify them by their dialogue, but they will still surprise you, make you laugh and break your heart.  Every issue ends with both satisfaction and desperate craving.  And the reveals… the wonderful reveals are simply astounding.

The crew that has handled the artwork over the years is second to none.  While they won’t make the Wizard Top Ten anytime soon (kind-of a compliment in my eyes), Mark Buckingham, Lan Medina, and Steve Leialoha are truly gifted storytellers that breathe life into their drawings.  Their characters act with subtlety and their scenes are perfectly constructed; yet the artists still have time to experiment with layouts.  I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention cover artist James Jean whose odd perspective captures the imagination and playfully hints at the events to come.

What is the best sort of comic recommendation?  How about one that can appeal to non-regular comic readers on a Sandman-like level?  That’s where we’re at today.  Does excited monthly discussion with a book’s diverse readership appeal to you?  That’s what will allow our hobby/art form to grow. These types of books are important, powerful and rare.  My wife doesn’t read many comics at all but will always grab the latest issue of Fables out of my hands faster than you can say Rumplestiltskin. 

Guiding Line: Originality is not the most treasured attribute in comicdom today, but this read proves how much it should be.  Story, art, characters, pacing, design, dialog – all are at the highest echelon of the craft in Fables.