// Vertigo Fables // Comic Vine

When Little Red Riding Hood suddenly walks through the gate between this world and the lost Fable Homelands, she’s welcomed as a miraculous survivor by nearly everyone – everyone except her old nemesis, Bigby Wolf, who smells espionage and subversion – not survival. But will he be able to prove his case before disaster strikes? And how will it all affect Prince Charming’s upstart campaign to become the new mayor of Fabletown?



This third deluxe hardcover edition covers issues 19-27 or the multi-issue arc "March of the Wooden Soldiers" (so much love for this arc) and the stand alone tale "Cinderella Libertine" (which sets up the future mini-series in which Cinderella is an ultra cool spy).  I will say on the record that "March of the Wooden Soldiers", which is when we get a true taste of the type of villain the Adversary is, is my absolute favorite story arc.  Next to "Storybook Love", though I love them both for very different reasons.

First "Cinderella Libertine".  I kind of remember this from when I read the individual issues--mainly because Cinderella is portrayed as your typical femme fatale bombshell and her :ahem: love interest is Ichabod Crane.  Yes that Ichabod.  No he didn't get a beautification spell done, he looks...disreputable.  There's a couple of traps here, that someone with no fore knowledge of the series might fall for, but overall the story is a cool little venture into what happens outside of Snow White's eyesight.  What's necessary to happen outside her little bubble of reality.

And now the meat of the book, "March of the Wooden Soldiers".  There's a major few plots running around in here that are important to keep track of for future reference in the series:
- Red Riding Hood's return
- Prince Charming's schemeplan to be mayor of Fabletown
- the Adversary's 'wooden' army

I would also caution a reader to pay attention anytime Jack (who I still hate) mentions the 'Cloud Kingdoms' (that becomes important very soon), Frau Totenkinder's lesson to a villain about the importance of power drawn from the stories and power patiently shaped over time and various mutterings from Pinocchio (who I remember liking a whole lot more the first time around).  All of these things point to a much larger picture that Willingham was careful to leave clues about.

We get to see Snow's strategic side as she organizes the residents to fight off an invasion force, Charming's agile political chops when it comes to schmoozing the disenchanted (ha!) masses, a small piece of Flycatcher's (rather tragic) story, and the dry humor of the Wooden Soldiers.  I realize they're bad guys, who do an awful lot of bad things in a relatively short amount of time, but they are very funny.

Also, as always, Bigby pwns everyone with his paranoia and (correct) suspicions.

I'd recommend handing this over to someone who you want to interest in the series.  From here there's often action aplenty and the deeper mystery of the Adversary unfolds in unexpected (sometimes tragic) ways.