Fables (comics) question/discussion .
I apologize if someone brought this up first but since I found no relative post on the forums , I created this thread .
Don't get me wrong , I found the comics amazing and I was hooked from issue #1 , but I couldn't help not being annoyed by the many POVs and fillers . Let's be honest , when a comic contains 22 pages per issue and is published monthly , you should focus on writting a story around a main character (Bigby) rather than writting every Fable's story . I am not saying that Blue's/Flycatcher's/Rose's/Jack's stories were not fun or well-written , but been forced to wait 3 months to continue the main storyline while reading Jack's adventures at Hollywood or (even worse) waiting 19 issues (~=1.5 year) to see Bigby reappearing in the comics is frustating as hell . I don't know if you guys agree but I came a hell lot closer with TWAU Snow-Bigby relationship rather than the comic relationship , even if Snow is bossy and bitchy sometimes .
Generally speaking , I think its obvious that Mr.Willingham created a world that unfortunately is too big to fit on a monthly released , 22-paged , comicbook . In my opinion , he should try to focus his story around a character (Bigby would be the best case) and not through a number of characters like Martin on a song of ice and fire . Martin has 700 pages per book on average , while Willingham has little bubbles filling the void of pictures .
Do you guys agree ? Would you prefer the story to be narrated through Bigby's POV with small breaks inside every issue where some other character is given his momment of fame or are you fine the way things are ?
Comments
I do find some issues annoying because they just feel like 'filler issues' if you know what I mean, overallI i enjoy the comics and hope to read more.
Y exactly , that fillers are killing the comics . Personally , I would prefer to see more of Bigby
I'm going through a speed run of the comics now.
The first 75 issues are basically really solid. There's a fair amount of filler near the tail end, but by the time you get there it just leaves you wanting to power through even more to finish the giant Adversary arc.
Following issue 75 it's a huge shake up with a new threat (essentially the Bogyman) following the death of a few characters and the loss of a few iconic places. It's really great until, of course, more filler with TGFC. Luckily that arc is short. "The Great Fables Crossover" is by far, bar none, the lowest point in the comic run. Its humor runs dry, the context to the rest of the series is foggy at best, and it's not even suspenseful. After that filler though you get to jump right back into the Bogyman arc, and the series starts getting great again. You really can't fault a long running comic for having one shitty arc, especially when it's so short. Otherwise every superhero comic ever would be done already.
So overall I highly recommend the comic series, as long as you're prepared for filler here and there. The main arcs and stories are always super interesting, and the characters all have their own voices.
Personally, I like the fillers. I know it takes a long time for each issue and that can be tedious, but I like getting to know other characters and not constantly focusing on the same 3 (Bigby, Snow, Rose). I know that issues 141-150 will be focusing on ending the comics (I wish they weren't ending, but you can't keep things going forever.) And Bigby, Snow, and Rose will be key parts of that. I'm just hoping that no one major dies, otherwise I will be depressed for a month after finishing them all, lol.
I love Bigby and Snow and their family but the comic isnt called Bigy the Wolf. Its called Fables and its about all of them. You might have your preference of character but that doesnt mean they dont all deserve a moment to shine. I mean Jack, he is just as big a character. Thats what makes the comic so appealing, their is a little something for everyone.
Well I am not "diggin" that little part . Anyway I love the comics , I just feel some things are rushed due to lack of quantity
I'm only on #27 and for the most part the issues have been interesting. No long running series can survive solely focusing on one character or the vale of one POV. I enjoyed Jack's story with the bag and death.
That was too funny. Jack is quite the rogue.
Bigby Wolf is not the protagonist, but rather a protagonist. Boy Blue, Snow White, Rose Red, Prince Charming, Flycatcher. All of them are equally important.
Besides, a huge part of the comic is about Bigby anyway. You can't really complain about that, to be honest. His story is essentially the main plot of "Fables".
Well, I don't see how the comic can end without Bigby and Snow living "happily ever after". At this point it is almost an obligation. (:
That may work ok in the comics sometimes but i think the main problem is that some of the characters you mentioned are not interesting enough to hold a story on their own to most people. For example i don't really like Rose Red as a "Protagonist" but i like her as a supporting character. I don't know if you read the Camelot story arc but that bored the hell out of me.
To me only Bigby and Prince Charming are good enough to hold their own story. I was annoyed when Charming died and now Bigby is gone i have zero interest in the comics now. But i may start buying them again when Bigby comes back.
But if they do make a movie or TV show or just another video game of Fables i think Bigby should be the MAIN protagonist.
Taking a closer look on the comics , since i went on a speedrun reading them because I got spoilled like an idiot hearing that Bigby dies on #128 , I can see that there are literally almost no fillers . You may think that Willingham writes about non important things but somehow he manages to connect everything later on . I have to change my original thesis about the comics being full of fillers to something more close to what ERROR260392 said . Yeah , for me the best protagonists are Bigby and Snow and while there are a lot of great secondary characters , I'd rather the story evolving around the first two and maybe a few spin-offs with Cinderella which I really liked . For example , Bigby disappeared from issue #31 to issue #48 which really sucked . In addition , I also feel that Willingham did not write enough about Snow and Bigby as a couple .I'd rather see Bigby trying to forget Snow for a couple of issues than seing Jack going to Hollywood or that wooden soldier confessing his love . Don't get me wrong , the last one had a huge impact on the storyline but I'd rather it being written the way Bufkin's story was , as a part of the issue .
How many issues did you finish? All of them?
I'm not sure how seeing Bugby moping around, getting drunk and having sexy times with his mundy girlfriend would have been anymore interesting but I would have liked to see his first meeting with Ghost.
Ehm that was not the part I am talking about . I was thinking the meeting with ghost and perhaps some wild adventure where something fucked up happen or sth
Just something that won't keep him out of the comics for about 20 issues
Yep all . Perhaps its a more personal choice , I dunno . Everyone is entitled to his own opinion
I only read the comic to someplace in the 70's but Blue, Snow, and Flycatchers stories are far from filler. They're central to the fables world. Im actually really surprised Blue hasn't made an appearance in the game. You would figure he would be in the office instead of Bufkin.
I agree. I stopped reading it around that point so i never got to boogeyman. If i remember right around 75 is where Bigby and Snow marry. I thought the jack spin-off was sort of lame, too.
Believe me sir_mouse (mundane or fable?) . I doubt mr.Willingham has any obligation to give us a good ending and this scares the crap out of me
Oh, he has. As an author. The story wouldn't make that much sense if he was just doing whatever the hell he wanted.
As of now, there are lots of flags that will only make sense if there is a good ending for Bigby and Snow.
I trust in Willingham. He won't ruin his beloved storyline.
I hope so
To tell you the truth, though fillers occasionally annoy the hell out of me, when they interrupt some big storyline with some standalone, half-interesting story, but even then they usually add something more or less important to the overall story. I got to #123 and none of the fillers so far didn't feel like completely unnecessary.
That being said, I feel that after the big war storyline after the end of vol. 11, the quality of comics began to drop down.
Yeah, I would really like to see Blue Boy in the game, I liked him very much in comics. Rose Red too, though the latter is probably very unlikely, since she's not in good relations with Snow at the point when game occurs.
Well, based on the prophecy, I'm not so sure about a happy ever after.
Boy Blue doesn't start working there until Snow takes over and he becomes her assistant. I am curious to know what he is doing.
Bigby will not only return but survive the final arc due to his prophecy . If someone is to die , its Snow
. Although I believe its not coincidence that Lake was chosen by Blue fairy . I believe something will happen with Lake so Snow survives , or at least I hope so 
What do you mean?
That's what I mean, Bigby would be alone. Outlives his children, maybe his wife. A fate worse than death for him.
Lake can handle fates . Snow's fate is to die by a thrust of a sword through the heart . Yeah I dunno , but this does not imply a happy ending . Perhaps Lake can do something about it . Perhaps he can give Snow's faith to Bigby and then Bigby only dying for a short time due to his prophecy that says that he will die 7 times . I doubt the above will happen . Its not a fairy tale afterall
. The point is Bigby's future is pretty clear for us to guess , but we can only make assumptions about Snow . 
Oh, I wasn't talking about the prophecies, but rather about the narrative overall.
Bill Willingham has mentioned that there are two main topics in "Fables".
First one — the working marriage of Snow White and Bigby Wolf.
Second one — relationship between Snow and Rose.
Let's forget about the second one for now, since it's pretty obvious that this will be thoroughly revealed in the last arc.
But what about the first topic? Let's assume that the prophecies are true. Snow will die and Bigby will outlive all their children. What's next? Is there even a point to that? To their whole storyline?
And I hope we'll see Snow hiring Boy Blue next episode, it would make the most sense. I'm also wondering if Snow didn't ask him to help her out in the business office, since if you go to Crane's apartment she shows up.
The way I see it is this: Willingham will most likely give us a happy ending for Snow and Bigby and a bunch of other charcters as well, whether it be living together alive or dead in the afterlife. Even if they both die they will be together forever in the afterlife right!? The road to the ending of Fables will be tough and full of suspense and sadness but in the end things will either turn out great or ok. Willingham has been working on this series for nearly 14 years now and if he gives us the most undesirable outcome of either Snow dead and Bigby alive or something worse, then the backlash will be the death of him!!
I agree with the not enough BigbyxSnow comment; it surprised me that their relationship after they get married isn't explored as much as you would think in the comics, most of it is left up to your own imagination with some panels!