Reviewer: Andy Campbell
Story Title: Until the Spring
Written by: Bill Willingham
Penciled by: Mark Buckingham
Inked by: Steve Leialoha
Colored by: Daniel Vozzo
Lettered by: Todd Klein
Cover by: James Jean
Assistant Editor: Mariah Huehner
Editor: Shelly Bond
Publisher: Vertigo
Fables was the book that single-handedly got me back into comics. The world that Willingham has created is such fun to visit, that once a month is hardly enough for me. The humor, the whimsy, the dialogue, the stories, the subtleties…I love it all.
This month’s installment sees Bigby Wolf’s father, the North Wind, giving some parenting tips to Snow White on how to properly raise her five floating children  after all, they are his grandchildren. Meanwhile, another suffocation murder victim is discovered, and this time it’s Mary’s little lamb. Prince Charming leaves it to Sheriff Beast to find the murderer, while Charming himself convenes a war council to try to take back the Homelands. The North Wind agrees to help Beast track down the killer. Some more plot/character exposition occurs, but I can’t spoil it all, now can I?
The week that Fables comes out, it is always the first book I read, and this issue is yet another example of why. Willingham’s writing is all at once clever, humorous, thoughtful, and heart-wrenching; I can’t help but smile as I read through each issue. I cry along with Snow White, laugh along with Flycatcher, smile a smug grin along with Prince Charming…until next month’s issue, when I do it all over again. I love Fables.
The Buckingham/Leialoha combination on art duties is one of my favourites in all of comicdom. The style totally fits the subject matter, and Buckingham always includes insane amounts of detail…oftentimes including many humourous elements in the background. And James Jean’s covers, even when are simplistic, like this issue’s, are always gorgeous.
