Fables speculation

Something is building. The Jack of Fables 50-issue miniseries ended at some point in the future and it looks like the whole point of that was to (a) set up Jack as the trickster hero (b) establish multiple levels of storytelling with the Literals, the Page sisters, Trickster John, his movies, and his replacement by his son, the generic fantasy hero. Now that the series is ended, I'm convinced that at some point we'll see Gary walking cows uphill to feed the dragon.

Everything is connected, Santa Claus made a point of telling us that. Jack the dragon died surrounded by a cavern of gold. Frau Totenkinder made a little speech about the problems of making gold out of nothing when helping the Fabletown refugees get a magic sackful of gold which they then used in the failed attempt to defeat Mr. Dark. Jack's series even began with him stealing a roomful of Bluebeard's gold to finance the moviemaking. That was carefully worked into the timeline, as seen by Flycatcher acting as janitor and going to see the three movies again, and the beard Beast grew while he was travelling around, setting up the war, but it gets more complex.

When Jack and Trickster John were impaling each other with swords, Ghost felt compelled to do the same thing with action figures belonging to his siblings. This was immediately after Snow and Bigby revealed to the cubs that Ghost existed. When she was giving birth, Snow cried out for release from the pain, "I'll even give you one of Bluebeard's treasure rooms!"

That was when Jack escaped with the gold, remember? I'm convinced it's connected.

Moreover, I suspect it's a part of Frau's larger designs. She foreshadowed that she's grow young and have a romance. Both Ozma and Mr. North have commented on how much power she had, and the books that followed the war have some dissonant narratives, from the Great Fables Crossover to the timeshifts of "Witches" - at the end of the crossover, when Dex reached into the Business Office and grabbed the egg, we saw Bufkin heading somewhere - to the more recent appearances of a turtle with the universe on its back in a teacup.

It's all so metatextual that it's somewhat aggravating, and I'm getting quite bored by the storylines about the cubs and Bufkin. But it still remains a fascinating series.

This series is on the long list of those I hope to read someday.

I love this series. One of my favorite parts would have to be Rose Red becoming a paladin of hope. I really loved how Willingham used the stories of The Little Match Girl, the Goose Girl (The False Bride), and Santa Claus.

I really enjoyed the parts with Mrs. Spratt shedding her old image (and a lot of weight) and wanting revenge on the Fables she grew to resent is an inspired idea. I always just thought of Mrs. Spratt as being a background character who was only as hateful as she was because she was just a miserable person (or the fact that she was a widow after Ghost accidentally killed her husband) but seeing what she had to go through being one of the few unattractive fable women among plenty of gorgeous ones who are more well known and regarded highly for their beauty in the stories they hail from, yeah, I see why she treated people the way she did back then. It had to have been rough on her.

That Little Match Girl story was depressing. I mean, that's the point, but it didn't help last Christmas.

Notice Mrs. Spratt is completely recognizable through her weight loss, just like the cubs have been distinctively drawn their whole lives. I do love Mark Buckingham's art.