Fables, Vol. 8: Wolves (2024)

To free Bagheera, Mowgli tracks Bigby from one end of the globe to the other, all to offer him the deal of a lifetime.

To be with Snow, Bigby goes behind enemy lines and deals a massive blow to The Adversary. Loved the inclusion of the 7th son.

This also has a wedding and a Happily Ever After (?) in it.

The last issue is one I'd read somewhere before, with Cinderella trying to broker a deal with the giants that live in the Cloud City by curing an earache. It's a lot of fun to read, and Cinderella is definitely one of my favorite characters in this world.

Recommended!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

I'm very disappointed in Willingham's choices this volume! He takes what should have been (and was) a beautiful love story and turns it into something ugly.

Firstly, Willingham falls into the classicly horrid stereotype of faithful-woman-waits-for-unfaithful-man(think The Odyssey). Why did Bigby need to have a love affair over the five years he and Snow were separated? Especially since, as far as we readers know, Snow was faithful to him for the duration of their separation and even went through what appears to be a lot of work to make their children believe their father was communicating with them and loved them though he couldn't be with them. Couldn't Bigby have stayed in touch with his family himself? He might not have been allowed at the Farm, but instead of throwing a fit, he easily could have found a comfy place to settle down and made sure he corresponded with his kids. I also feel like if he would have put a little more thought into it, he could have figured out a solution to their dilemma a good deal earlier, instead of drinking his time away with Sarah (and what was the purpose of making her Native American anyway? I found that vaguely offensive.)

Secondly, Snow White's response to Bigby's proposal, "Okay. You've defeated me. You win"... what the hell is that? It's not like Bigby was always right and Snow was always wrong in their relationship. And why would she need to be "defeated" if she already loves him? It makes no sense and is decidedly chauvinist.

Lastly, Willingham's choice to use the old patriarchal wedding vows for Snow and Bigby was disturbing. Snow has proved herself to be an intelligent and capable woman. Having lived for centuries independent of a man (since her divorice from Prince Charming) and successfully run the Fabletown government, I think Snow is the last woman who would need to vow to "obey" her husband.

I hope this is not a sign that the series is going to go downhill from here as I've really enjoyed it so far.

In which Mowgli (yes, that Mowgli!) seeks a lost Fable; Fabletown hatches a plan against the Adversary; and Cinderella has to do something deeply against her nature... use diplomacy! The whole fate of the Wolf family set-up resolved in just three issues - feels a bit rushed. In addition we're still yet to rediscover the really feisty Cinderella from Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile? Despite these debatable (literally), talking points, this series is humming away nicely. 7.5 out of 12.

Well i don't have much time to read these days but this was an amazing volume.
We got to see 2 fable town spies at work.
First we seen mowgli looking for bigby.
Then we found fable town's special agent bigby at work what about that ? lets make him a special agent for impossible missions only.
Then we saw bigby and snowhite get married which was incredibly great
Finally we got a taste of what Cinderella can do.
Now we can't help it but read Cinderella And jack of fables someday i think they will have some amazing adventures.

This isn't a review so much as a frothing rant interspersed with frequent headdesking and book-throwing. You may want to steer clear.

I don't even care how good the last story was (and it *was* quite good because Cinderella kicks arse). This gets a big fat FAIL for the horrible, overblown, gag-inspiring Snow White/Bigby reunion plot, in which children who are named like bodice ripper heroes and Woodstock flowerbrats are whimsically cute and charmingly misbehaved (but never too much because they are the PERFECT children, of course); the pretty princess observes her motherly duties in a perfect, motherly fashion and cries overwhelmed tears (because that's what women do, they CRY) when she is finally reunited with her man and her life's purpose thus restored; the rebound girl also cries at the horrible loss of a man who used to lounge on her couch stinking up her place with unwashed feet and whiskey as he mourned his one true love, but she accepts her fate because she knows she could never hold a candle to said leading lady (seriously, does anyone have a puke bucket?); and the big manly hero holds the cringewortiest, OTP-mongering, destiny-garbling, Twilight-reminiscent godawful speech about how he was meant to be with the heroine since before the planets started turning and he's old-fashioned, so "dammit little lady we're going to be married properly", at which point she continues crying, whispers something about how he's overcome all her defences with his big strong manliness, and wilts into his arms. I can't even begin to process all the clichéd misogynist crap in this tale - I thought this was supposed to be a gritty reboot of the fairy tale genre, not a thinly pastiched re-enaction of same? At least when I read an actual fairy tale, I know the lack of characterisation, novelty or layers is because it's a FOLK TALE, not someone's actual modern-day idea of what's romantic.

Not to mention the part where the entire community (of generally smart, level-headed people) completely loses their sh*t over the wedding of the century, including giving Fabletown's version of the white picket fence family a whole valley and new house all for themselves for free because they "deserve" it. How have they deserved it? Doing what? Doing their jobs for centuries? And, you know, getting paid for it? Like... every single other denizen of Fabletown has been doing? I can't even.

I've never thought Snow White was the strong female lead character they were obviously trying to create. She had power, yes - that doesn't make her strong. She was humourless, stuck up, brittle, self-centered and controlling to the point of tyranny. That doesn't make her strong either. Despite my dislike for the character, I felt disgusted when she was reduced to a barefoot and pregnant moping idiot whose only purpose seemed to be pining for Bigby and giving outraged anti-abortion speeches when someone with a sensible head on their shoulders dared suggest that if she didn't want to be pregnant, she didn't have to be. I was, however, glad that turn of events moved her out of the public eye, so you know, silver lining :p I do so very much hope she and Bigby and their brood will now get to enjoy their happily ever after firmly away from the rest of the action because the next time I see her acting irrationally because that's what women in love do har har, or him being grumpy yet loving because he's a strong silent manly man with a heart of gold, or their kids being cute because that's what they're for, I'm going to pull the book apart to make paper dolls. Because I'm perfectly capable of making up my own insipid fairy tales, tyvm.

I love how this story is coming together. They have done the work to set up the world and the characters and now it's all paying off in big ways, in my mind.

Bigby is back and his story line is awesome. Mowgli finds and recruits him for a mission. We also see Cinderella in this version and let me say that Cinderella is an excellent spy. I would love to see more of her in future stories. She was totally kick ass.

Bigby and Snow finally tie the knot and they have a whole new valley they can live together finally. I love how they are able to go back to the fablelands. That is a very cool development. The war with the adversary is now ramping up and I fully expect to see it get terrible in the future story. This is not over and there will be escalation. I can't wait to read more in this story. It is getting so good.

King Cole was so cute in this story. He officiated the wedding. oh and we also get to see Smalltown which was so the best. I loved that. I hope they keep this series stellar. I'm a fan.

Why hasn't this been turned into a series on Amazon anyone? It is totally made for that and would be much darker than 'Once upon a time'. I like that show, but it got to drama fueled and this uses way more fairytale elements.

Il ritorno in scena di Luca, la caccia che gli ha dato Mowgli, la missione progettata per lui dal Principe Azzurro (ma non si capisce perché gli serviva lui e solo lui, alla fine).
La riunione con Bianca e i figli.

E nel frattempo si prepara qualcosa di nuovo: cosa ha spinto il vento del nord ad andarsene in quel modo? Che vuol dire che i venti stanno cambiando (a Favolandia così come nell'impero)?
E cosa ha chiesto la strega a Cenerentola per la pozione? Tra questi favori da riscuotere e il racconto di come sia arrivata a Favolandia, viene da chiedersi se dopo tutto questo tempo cominci a ritenere saldato il debito con Bianca e Rosa, e stia pensando di fare qualcosa di diverso...

Alright, that's much more like it!

It's time for daddy to finally come home!

After deciding to send Geppetto / the Emperor / the Adversary a message, all the Fables need is someone who's good at that kind of warfare. And who better than my beloved Bigby Wolf?! :D
However, he's been gone for a long time after Snow moved to the Farm with their children (where he isn't allowed) and who knows if he's still interested in helping Fabletown?!
Speaking of helping, Bigby's mission, amongst other things, is securing more allies for the Fables in their on-going war against Gepetto and his hench-creatures. So this time, we go to the cloud kingdoms!

If Bigby can pull off his mission, which isn't JUST securing allies, Mayor Charming promised a way for him to legally be with Snow and the kids - let's how THIS promise is better than the ones Charming made during is election campaign because one doesn't cross Bigby.
What happens to people Bigby doesn't like is something Geppetto found out the hard way despite all his protective magic. *chuckles sardonically*

And then there was Bigby finally returning to his family! *happy sigh*

Seriously, I LOVED the wedding as much as the inclusion of Ghost / the 7th child and was all mushy with joy!

One hell of a volume that I thoroughly enjoyed. For sure, Cinderella's "diplomatic" mission turned medical emergency was weird but also highly entertianing so I really have no complaints whatsoever.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

"If you do fall through, you'll have a long time to regret listening to me on the way down."

FINALLY it's Bigby's time to shine, and I absolutely loved every bit of it!

Mowgli's story was great. I liked how he really had to push his limits to find Bigby and that it took a lot more than just a bit of expert tracking to catch up to him. Overall, a pretty interesting transition into Bigby's story.

Now, Bigby's story was simply amazing. Immediately he gets to show off how pro he is at basically everything which already gets 5 stars in my book... Also his and Snow's kids are great. I like how diverse their appearances, characters and powers are -- after all, Bigby and Snow are two very different fables.

In my opinion, this volume of Fables ranks among one of the best volumes so far. 4.75

The more Fables I read, the more annoyed I get with the misogyny. I'm sorry, if someone accepted my proposal with "You defeated me. You win," I'd have to say, "No thanks, babe, obviously you are not as enthusiastic as I am." Bonus for using the patriarchal traditional wedding vows with Snow, a woman who's already supposedly learned what a s****y deal traditional marriage can be from one a**hole husband--can you really see her vowing to "obey" another? And the "Israel Analogy" or whatever the hell it was--UGH, Bill Willingham, UGH. This book pissed me off. I am officially done with Fables.

Graphic Novel. Book 8 in the Fables series follows Bigby on a secret mission, gives us his schmaltzy reunion with Snow, and then we go on another secret mission, this time with Cinderella. It also includes the script to Fables #50.

I just wasn't that impressed with this volume. The first stories were kind of all over the place, a lot of "ONE DAY LATER" and "MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE FARM" so that I was getting whiplash from one page to the next. The Snow/Bigby reunion lacked the emotional impact it deserved and then, despite that, Snow cries like a girl! That is not the Snow White I know and love. My Snow would have given Bigby a nice slap across the face before she kissed him. He knows why.

Two stars because all in all, not much happened in this book. Bigby came home, but even that felt anticlimactic. The whole volume suffered from a real lack of tension. It needed more risk and better payoffs.

One of my favorite installments to date. The plot was great, seeing the growth of the wolf cubs was adorable, and the resolution of Snow and Bigby's storyline great.

A great part about this collection was that the original script for issue #50 (The Wedding Chapter) was included complete with snarky remarks and hilarious comparisons. This was my favorite! (Note: I am not marking this review as a spoiler since it says in the table of contents what happens in the end.)

"Same Scene: They kiss. This is the truest of true love's kisses since the beginning of time. It's every poem ever written and every song ever sing. This is the one panel at which the dream of every female reader of FABLES has come true. Each and every one of them must be made to cry or squeal or swoon like a character in a Jane Austen novel. Don't blow it, Buckingham. We sort of, kind of know where your live."

So yeah, Fables continues to be pretty boss. I guess the first few volumes didn't click with me but the last 3 sure have.

So this is mostly about getting Bigsby to come back to the farm. However, he can't do that because he's banned. If you don't remember he might have huffed and puffed and blown down some pig's houses and killed red riding hood. So when he comes back to fabletown he goes on a secret mission to help push the winning war for fabletown against the evils! Also there's a wedding. Oh and we top it off with Cinderella of all people going on a super spy mission. It's pretty badass!

Good: Pretty much everything of the first 4 issues is fantastic. The mission, the wedding, everything works and clicks. I love the relationships built, the families growing, and all of that mixed together. The ending, with Cinderella being a badass spy was pretty great too.

Bad: The Cinderella storyline, while cool, went on a few pages too long. Started to feel stretched out.

Overall another great volume. A easy 4 out of 5. I hope I keep enjoying this series as much as I am.

Other than that out-of-the-blue, out-of-the-place distastefully blatant Israeli analogy - which was a huge turn off and almost took me right out of the story - this one was another great volume in further progressing the Fables world and mythology just like the previous ones. A BIG decisive blow to the dreaded adversary from the Fables community as a payback for that Battle of the Fabletown, which will likely be the stepping point in declaration for an all-out open war between Fabletown and the Adversary's empire very soon. And our favorite leading man and leading lady Bigby Wolf (the former Big Bad Wolf) and Snow White FINALLY got married in a beautiful series of developments. HooAah! Happily ever after indeed, hopefully.

8.5 out of 10.

Ілюструю собою sunk cost fallacy: коли знаєш, що переклад майже напевно не вийде, але все одно його закінчуєш, бо рука не повертається ставити хрест на попередньому робочому житті і переносити недороблений файл у папку завершеної роботи. Том, як на те, досить прохідний - закривають кілька старих хвостів, готуючись до нової сюжетної арки. А є ще речі, об які просто ламаєш очі - і жоден переклад цього не передасть.
От, скажімо, назва бару на русскому воєнному кораблі:

А от спроби передати латинку засобами кирилиці, об мфиеч зламала очі - мені аж було цікаво, що з цим втнув би наш героїчний верстальник.

Spoiler alert ⚠️ 👇

Yay! Wolf and Snow get married 👰 👏 💒

Now that Fables is in the 'Public Domain', I thought it was time I read the entire series (including all spinoffs and specials) from start to finish in sequential tpb reading order. Here we go!

Fables First-to-Finale reading #10
Fables vol 08: Wolves

So the kid from The Jungle Book goes after the guy who blew down the pigs' houses. I'm not sure what all the huffs are about.

Turns out to be a big deal. Secret agents and spy missions. Somebody is going to get burned. Yikes! We get Willinghams take on Israel and some serious ultimatums. Finally, Cinderella is NOT having a ball on her diplomatic mission.

When it's all said and done, it's happily ever after...for now.

This volume of Fables is definitely for readers who have been following Bigby Wolf and Snow White's romance. I think that it was very satisfying overall. I do have to agree with one of my fellow GRs friends/reviewers that Willingham committed the cardinal sin of an estranged couple, and that did bother me. I couldn't not give this five stars though because it was overall very well done.

I have always been enamored with werewolf stories. I tend to shy away from the gratuitously violent gorefests, but I am fascinated with the idea of werewolves and the lore behind them. How distinctive each story can feel. I pretty much love the whole idea of Bigby Wolf being who he is, and his evolution as a character. I feel that in this volume, his story comes full circle, although Sons of Empire (the next volume in the series) certainly adds to the story of Bigby significantly.

I liked the plot element of Mowgli trekking around the world to find Bigby, and how he encounters more than one wolf pack. You see, Mogwli is in his own way a wolf. He's a human raised by wolves, and he understands the psychology of the pack. It's another opportunity to delve in that subject, which holds endless fascination for me. I think there is a part of me that is attracted to the allure of the wild kingdom, not in a small way. I don't spend a lot of time out in the wilderness, obviously. So I get my fill of it by reading stories that tap into that arena. I feel that Willingham definitely satisfied me in that sense.

When Mowgli finally catches up with Bigby, it's to find he has tried to start a new life (or more likely hiding from the pain of having to leave Snow and the cubs behind). I was annoyed at what he does to keep his mind off that loss. This is where Willingham messes up, if I can be frank. Snow White is awesome! I hate that aspect, but I do like the way it was handled when he and Snow reunite.

Speaking of, I loved their reunion and where Bigby gets to be acquainted with his brood. It doesn't take long for them to grow close to their dad. It has a lovely element of big happy family, and I won't lie I am definitely a sucker for that. The wedding was fun and it was a great chance to bring many of the beloved Fables characters together.

Yeah, you can tell I loved the heck out of this volume of Fables. I am incapable of hiding my enthusiasm about it. Other than Willingham 'going there', this was a top notch addition to the series, and it ranks as one of my all time favorites.

Recommended!!!

I really do like Bigby. That character is one of the main reasons that I keep reading Fables. I even like the Bigby/Snow romance. But I'm really really sick of watching a formerly interesting female character become a glorified babysitter once she gives birth, only to emerge to broker deals between the men in her family. Also, I really, really could have done without the sappy wedding business. Ick.

A bit on the spoilerish side… Wolves starts off with Mowgli, still tracking Bigby Wolf. This alternates with the kids at the farm, learnig to control their shapeshifting and flying. And then, in part 2, Mowgli does his Tarzan thing and finally finds the big, bad wolf…

Nice intro into Happily Ever After. Bigby is straight off into a mission, going up a beanstalk to meet a wizard in the cloud kingdom about something… and then he is off behind enemy lines. Fun sequence, Mission Impossible style! And he has an extraction bean with him, lol… That mission is very well told.

And then there is the longed for reunion with Snow. Awww…. Happily ever after!

Aaand we get another short story, Big and Small. Cinderella being Small and the guys at the top of the beanstalk being Big. Comic relief. The art is a simpler and flatter style, but I liked it. Everything in this caper takes three days… 😂

Next is a Special Travel Supplement. Maps! Well, ok, two maps… one for Fabletown and one for the Farm. And then we get the complete script of Happily Ever After. Nope, I did not read the whole thing, but it was interesting to see what a comic script looks like. Skim-skimmity-skim.

Collecting: Fables 48-51

Full review with some artwork at my Wordpress blog

The conclusion to a plotline that I really wanted. The way of going about that was rushed, badly put together and ultimately non-sensical. It truly is unfortunate as the previous volumes with this plot handled it so well.

The Israel equivalent was goddamn awful. If anything the situation is reversed, a militant large nation (with a proxy small nation) fighting and conquering those who are native to the country.

The level of dumb writing hopefully is fully epitomized in this work and disappears following it, though I think that unlikely.

I think a common critique placed against this book is that it appears very misogynistic. I noticed things which might appear this way on either side. The typical woman accepting whatever a scumbag man gives her. There was also the woman who ignores the rules and does whatever, has no idea how to actually do politicking and somehow does it all correct anyway since she's a strong empowered woman. Many have voiced their opinions for the latter and in opposition to the prior. I find both devices awful, though the latter was so on the nose that it ruined it a lot more for me. I do not care so much about politics in fiction, all that matters is if the book is good. And this book certainly is not.

A tale of espionage and commando action behind enemy lines, with Mowgli finally locating Bigby in Alaska, after following his nearly cold trail all over the place. Bigby is immediately convinced to carry on the mission proposed by Prince Charming via Mowgli as his messenger, for Bigby will do anything to be reunited with Snow, and his children.
The mission is not quite simple, but never the less not impossible for Bigby who has a military experience during his time in the Mundy world. So, off he goes on a commando mission to bring the war to Gepetto's literal doorstep, in a retaliatory act for the wooden soldiers attack on Fabletown, the message is quite clear, leave Fabletown alone or else, they will return any atrocity with a hundred fold response...

Wolf returns victorious from his mission, to reap his reward of a living arrangement that unites him again with his beloved snow, and there is even a wedding to be had!

But was his mission successful in driving the point home? Will Gepetto heed the message or will this be the kindling to start a new war?

We'll see...

MiM

3.5 stars

I think I might take a little break from Fable here.

I'm really not happy with how the Snow White/Bigby relationship was handled throughout the series - and to me that was the only thing holding up the story at this point. The first volume of this series was amazing, but I felt that the quality dropped with each release. I lost interest in the story as there were too many characters, too many jumps in time/place, too many mini plotlines that didn't go anywhere significant.

Based on other people's reviews, I noticed that many of them also came for the story but stayed for the Snow/Bigby parts.

I could probably name at least 10 TV shows off the top of my head where the only thing people tuned in for was the will-they-won't-they thing between of the two main characters. I can probably name even more where the chemistry quickly fizzled out after they got together and the show ended up being cancelled.

Fable had that natural chemistry between the leads, but the author kept messing with it:

~I felt robbed when Snow was shot in the head and we didn't get to see Bigby's reaction.

~I was more than a little miffed when they had a calm little discussion about his feelings and politely agreed to go on a date.

~I was positively pissed when it turned out Snow was actually pregnant after someone cast a spell on both of them.

~I tried to brace myself for further letdowns on that front, but really didn't expect Bigby to leave when the babies were born and stay away for 5 years while he messed around with some other woman. Only to come back for a rushed wedding...? Their first kiss was literally just before the wedding. I mean....

On top of that, Snow became a pathetic, weak, whiny character who cried all the time and let people push her around. What happened to Snow from Vol 1 where she was a no-nonsense, badass heroine? My jaw is still on the floor from the part where she swindled Prince Charming out of his "lottery" winnings and found that loophole in Bluebeard's contract by tricking him! What a waste.

So yes, I definitely need a little break from Fable, but I have a feeling I'll get back to it one day.

Fables: Wolves is the book where Bigby returns and this lifts everything to another level. I've mentioned before that this series has the strength of being incredibly versatile in what genres it moves between. This book captures on that versatility and expands the series. A solution to Bigby's issues is found, a war is potentially stopped in the Fablelands and Cinderella goes on an important mission up a beanstalk.

I have very little to add to the general idea conveyed of the series in my other previous reviews. So, because of that, I shall leave this a short two paragraph review. I definitely recommend checking out these graphic novels for their combination of humour, adult themes (well maybe not so much), fairytales, fantasy, adventure, romance and dealing with deep issues. In this volume the idea of fatherhood and dealing with duty are observed in regards to Bigby Wolf and it all turns out very interesting in the end. Perhaps not the best addition to the series but a typically strong addition and recommendable.

Compared to previous volumes, this one was kind of a let down. There's less than usual in the way of actual content (30 pages of filler in the back). And I know I'm touchy, but I was really unhappy that Snow vowed to "obey" Bigby. Totally out of character, in my opinion, and annoying besides. Hopefully the series will pick back up with the next book.

A pretty solid combination of fairy tales and modern-day spy/espionage stuff. They work well together here, although the author's own political leanings shine through a little too much from time to time - and I'm still not buying the whole Bigby/Snow White romance and found it the most tedious and poorly-written part of an otherwise decent set of stories.

Urgh that wedding was perfect!! Finallyyyyyy! Also Cinderella is badass

Finally, the emotional ending I dreamed off.

Yes, I am aware that this isn't a series finale, and happily ever after doesn't usually last forever. But Snow and Bigby had a hell of a ride and deserved this ending, even if temporary.

Filler book that closed off a bunch of storylines. I patiently read three books to get to this point and it was not worth it.