Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince

This volume pretty much blew my mind away. Flycatcher had usually been such a insignificant character, and now... wow. The whole story was incredible, and I am eager to see what Volume 11 will bring.

In this TPB, the story is centered on Fly, the friendly but simple janitor of Fabletown who was once the Frog Prince. His memories of his slaughtered wife and children have returned to him, and he sets off on a quest down the Witching Well, assisted by the Forsworn Knight. The story relies heavily upon classic themes from the Bible and Arthurian legend, but these are deftly interwoven into the extant Fables mythos.

Overall, a good addition to the Fables series. Old characters are fleshed out, and new ones are well presented.

I have to agree with the previous 3-star review by Ethan Jennings: this latest addition to the--up to now--consistently excellent Fables series is indeed a disappointment. After Santa's ominous warning in Volume 9 I expected a heart-wrenching story of Flycatcher coming to terms with his long suppressed grief over his family's murder, after which he'd move on to great and valiant deeds... Instead I find a story plotted with a very heavy hand, with most if not all of the seams showing. I'm sorry to say that the really wooden characters in this story arch aren't Pinocchio's siblings but all the others, starting with our ex janitor. He--and the Forsworn Knight, and Frau Totenkinder, and even Bufkin--is not allowed to develop but instead seems a plot puppet that advances a flat and predictable story with leaden steps, from plot point A to B to C all the way to Z.

Sorry for the--kind of--spoiler, but the fact that Willingham has resurrected a number of characters long dispensed with makes me wonder if one of the reasons for the below standard delivery is that he didn't want to mess with the real story and the characters driving it. The appearance of a certain grove of trees, however, makes me wonder if he hasn't taken the edge off the upcoming war (I read the damn things in TPBs, since I gave up on individual comics a long time ago, so even though the story is out by now I'll have to wait until November for the next volume). I wonder if another clue can't be found in Willingham's dedication to Buckingham: he confesses that the artist has championed Flycatcher as more than a background character from the start and that "this story is all his fault". Perhaps the writer wasn't altogether behind this one? And yes, on top of all this the dialogue is explicative and repetitive.

One of my continued responses to the previous Fables stories has been, simply put, delight: in the inventiveness, the humor, the roundness of the characters, the pacing of the story. I was really looking forward to this one, but sadly these qualities are lacking in The Good Prince.

Wonderful story starring our humble janitor as a different kind of hero, finding his own way to persevere and win. I hope the peace can last in Haven.

The Good Prince is an interesting story arc, sort of a side trip (though with much damage done to the Adversary) made by a background character. I found it difficult to care as much about Flycatcher as I did Snow, Bigby and the rest. It was a touching trip for us to make, but I hope we are now back to the real tale.