[Comic Book Review] Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham

2 STARS 

Fables is a comic book series of different Grimm fairy tales with new twists to them. It's like a more depressing Once Upon a Time in comic form. In this volume alone you see some popular fables like Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, Beauty and the Beast, etc. Some are big parts of the comic and others are small little nods to the stories we know and love.

Unfortunately, I do not think this comic series is for me. I am not the biggest fan of most of the art of the illustrators who work on Fables, and I may be in the minority here, but I think the stories are a little too bleak for my tastes. I know they're based on Grimm fairy tales, which are also super bleak, but I just didn't like the feeling they gave me. Especially since it seemed like some of them didn't have a moral, so not only are they really bleak but there isn't a lesson to be learned. However, I did enjoy a few of the stories, and I think Willingham's writing is really great, but it just doesn't seem like it's my kind of comic book series to read. I am happy I gave it a try, but I am overall disappointed that I didn't like it. Especially since I have heard nothing but great things about these comics.

The main thing, other than some of the illustrations, I did like was that some of the stories evolved into stories we know from our childhood. You'd be reading about Snow White, and all of a sudden she's ran into the old lady who tried eating Hansel and Gretel. It was cool to see different fairy tales cross into each other.  I thought the way that was done was really clever and seamlessly.

Overall, I won't be continuing with this comic book series. However, I do recommend it to people who like fairy tales (especially the Grimm ones) and don't mind sad endings. I do see why it's so popular, and I know there are a lot of people who love this comic series. So I do recommend giving it a try. But unfortunately, it's not for me.

Thanks for reading!

Have you read this comic series? Are you planning to?