Fables #81 is the end of ‘The Dark Ages’, which isn’t so much an arc as it is a large prologue of things to come. As such, the main plot has to do with that. The most memorable part of the issue, however, is the last appearance of one of the heroes of the previous arc, Boy Blue. His departure is touching and sad, and his interactions with Rose Red are poignant in their honesty. Bill Willingham’s writing is subdued, even reverent, and the art team of Buckingham, Pepoy, and Loughridge do their level best.

After reading through this issue, take some time with the final page and listen to the crack of the bat. Fables only use wooden bats.

I’ve always been at least a casual fan of Neil Gaiman’s original Sandman series, but then, who hasn’t? Dream’s intrigues with his family, the crazy art, the way it leaves you often thinking at the end of an arc, the little stories nestled away, just stellar stuff.

Sadly, the original coloring doesn’t live up to the discerning eye of today’s comic reader (at least, not mine); plus, it can be difficult to pickup an old issue for the sake of one-shot enjoyment without having to be intimately familiar with every ounce of backstory that has happened before.

This is part of what makes this comic adaptation of Gaiman’s novel “Sandman: the Dream Hunters” so wonderful. Starting as a simple Japanese fairy tale about a monk, a bold badger, and a wily fox, the tale time-releases mood and energy with fantastic lines, color, and page design by P. Craig Russell.

(more…)