Take a photo of a barcode or cover
38 reviews for:
Jack of Fables, Vol. 5: Turning Pages
José Marzán Jr., Andrew Pepoy, Lilah Sturges, Tony Akins, Russ Braun, Bill Willingham
3.33 AVERAGE
38 reviews for:
Jack of Fables, Vol. 5: Turning Pages
José Marzán Jr., Andrew Pepoy, Lilah Sturges, Tony Akins, Russ Braun, Bill Willingham
3.33 AVERAGE
In this Jack of Fables collection, we get a glimpse into Jack's past from a few hundred years ago, one of his early encounters with Bigby Wolf. And apparently, we are gearing up with a lot of the present-day stories in the book for a big giant crossover story with Fables, focusing on the Literals from the book (like Mr. Revise and Gary, the Pathetic Fallacy), which I think is fascinating. I'm not sure yet what the story at the beginning of this book with Bigby Wolf has to do with the rest of the story, but I trust all will be revealed in time :) I have nothing but love for Fables and Jack, so I enjoyed this thoroughly and recommend both series for anyone to read.
I wasn't expecting much, after the previous shockingly poor volume, but the first half of this is three quite good, Fables-standard, issues with Bigby and Jack. So that was a pleasant surprise. The latter half of this volume has three more not-so-bad issues and this volume almost could've been three stars if it wasn't for the fact that the Page sisters are some of the worst written female characters ever. Prior to this I could very slightly overlook the way they've been written as we've only ever seen them through Bumface #1's eyes (Jack, that is) and he's a sexist turd of the highest order so I viewing it as a case of unreliable narrator and revisionist history. However, the latter half of this volume is narrated by The Fourth Wall (I know) and it seems that it's not Jack's fault at all and these are, in fact, three shockingly written female characters.
This does not reflect well on the writers. I'd never much like Bill Willingham's work prior to reading Fables, which is why I'd never chosen to read it prior to needing to read it for The Unwritten crossover. However, after getting past the poor start that is the first couple of volumes of Fables, I have quite enjoyed some of it. It's never going to be high art, and I'm frankly a little baffled why so many people seem to declare it amazing and it's been quite so critically lauded, but it has its moments.
This Jack of Fables series, however, is reminding me exactly why I never liked Bill Willingham in the first place and why I was always so reluctant to pick up Fables - even though it's exactly the kind of premise I should enjoy. I get that the whole series is really just a platform for the Literals story, but that doesn't mean there's a need for Jack to be such an odious character. This series and the Literals story had potential and could've been so much better executed. If you enjoy the metafiction references and the concept of the Literals story, then you really should be reading The Unwritten (if you haven't already), it blows Fables out of the water and JoF simply isn't even in the same league.
This does not reflect well on the writers. I'd never much like Bill Willingham's work prior to reading Fables, which is why I'd never chosen to read it prior to needing to read it for The Unwritten crossover. However, after getting past the poor start that is the first couple of volumes of Fables, I have quite enjoyed some of it. It's never going to be high art, and I'm frankly a little baffled why so many people seem to declare it amazing and it's been quite so critically lauded, but it has its moments.
This Jack of Fables series, however, is reminding me exactly why I never liked Bill Willingham in the first place and why I was always so reluctant to pick up Fables - even though it's exactly the kind of premise I should enjoy. I get that the whole series is really just a platform for the Literals story, but that doesn't mean there's a need for Jack to be such an odious character. This series and the Literals story had potential and could've been so much better executed. If you enjoy the metafiction references and the concept of the Literals story, then you really should be reading The Unwritten (if you haven't already), it blows Fables out of the water and JoF simply isn't even in the same league.
That Deus ex Machina gag was pretty awesome. Otherwise? *shrugs*
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
I've been trying to place why I've enjoyed this installment more than the previous, and I think it's more because Jack isn't the focal point. Yes, it's his origin story of sorts, but he's more of a player in the broader tale rather than being the center of the attention. The second half also focuses more on the sisters than on Jack, which was fine by me, especially given that I've enjoyed the librarian character a lot since she came onto the scene.
So I can see why this gets lower reviews, but the conceits worked a lot for me. A solid installment, my favorite of the series so far.
So I can see why this gets lower reviews, but the conceits worked a lot for me. A solid installment, my favorite of the series so far.
The first half of this book is a boring western chase. The addition of Bigby can't save this boring look at Jack as a Jesse James wild west robber leading a gang of nobodies. YAWN
The second half takes a look at each of the 3 Page sisters. It is narrated by the Fourth Wall which is clever, but not clever enough to carry 3 boring stories where we get backstory on characters we don't care about.
Jack is annoying. Jack is a jerk. Jack has NO redeeming qualities. Do we have to keep seeing him treating women like shite in order to get that he is an asshole? The answer is no, no we don't.
I get that Jack speaking directly to the reader is supposed to be funny and cute but I didn't enjoy the classifying of these Page sister stories as girlie with a promise from Jack to male readers that there will at least be boobs. I suppose it could have been funny, but it wan't.
I know Deadpool makes the whole anti-hero meta jerk thing look easy. But it isn't. Willingham, is not doing what he thinks he is doing. Jack is terrible and he is wearing out his welcome!
The second half takes a look at each of the 3 Page sisters. It is narrated by the Fourth Wall which is clever, but not clever enough to carry 3 boring stories where we get backstory on characters we don't care about.
Jack is annoying. Jack is a jerk. Jack has NO redeeming qualities. Do we have to keep seeing him treating women like shite in order to get that he is an asshole? The answer is no, no we don't.
I get that Jack speaking directly to the reader is supposed to be funny and cute but I didn't enjoy the classifying of these Page sister stories as girlie with a promise from Jack to male readers that there will at least be boobs. I suppose it could have been funny, but it wan't.
I know Deadpool makes the whole anti-hero meta jerk thing look easy. But it isn't. Willingham, is not doing what he thinks he is doing. Jack is terrible and he is wearing out his welcome!
This was my least favorite so far of the Jack of Fables series (and looking at other reviews, I'm not alone in that). Regardless, it was still pretty good.
This was my least favorite so far of the Jack of Fables series (and looking at other reviews, I'm not alone in that). Regardless, it was still pretty good.
Not my favorite of the fables books, but Jack was always one if the more interesting characters