Fables, Vol. 11: War and Pieces (First Edition)

The final battle between the free Fables of the mundane world and the Empire occupying their former Homelands is about to begin, and the scrappy storybook heroes have already managed to even the odds considerably. With his previously unstoppable wooden soldiers neutralized, the Adversary is about to get his first taste of high technology in the form of steel-jacketed bullets and laser-guided bombs. But the ruler who conquered a hundred different worlds didn’t do it by fighting clean—and he’s still got a surprise or two left to spring on the residents of Fabletown.

Collects issues #70-75 in Bill Willingham’s Eisner Award-winning series.

Finally, the war to retake the Fables’ Homeland commences. But not before a couple of set-up yarns. “Kingdom Come,” drawn by Niko Henrichon more loosely and cartoony than main-story artist Mark Buckingham would have, tells how the torch Boy Blue has long carried for Rose Red is snuffed out, and “Skulduggery” is a hostage-rescue thriller with Cinderella as the ruthless rescuer. The rest of the book is the war, which is satisfyingly heroic and gritty but, as it happens, not the grand finale of the Fables saga. A further volume of denouement is promised. Goody! --Ray Olson