Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
DC Comics (2010), Paperback, 192 pages
Description
In the wreckage that was once Fabletown, the sinister Mister Dark is building a web of fear and anger that threatens to ensnare any Fable who strays too close. Cut off from the Woodland building's business office and its trove of magical weapons, the exiled free Fables must now turn to their oldest and most powerful members-the witches and warlocks who once occupied the Woodland's 13th floor-to defeat this latest adversary. But even as those still trapped within the business office struggle against a legion of uncaged foes, rivalries within the Fables' sorcerous community threaten to fracture their united front-and open them up to destruction.
User reviews
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
3.75 stars
There is a new villain in this volume of Fables. Some of the witches gather to try to defeat him.
This issue seemed more set-up for something I expect will come later. I do “like” the new creepy villain. I thought I'd like this one a little better than I did, with witches as main
There is a new villain in this volume of Fables. Some of the witches gather to try to defeat him.
This issue seemed more set-up for something I expect will come later. I do “like” the new creepy villain. I thought I'd like this one a little better than I did, with witches as main
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characters, but there was also plenty of other stuff going on, as well, that wasn't quite as interesting for me. I really liked the last story, though, with Flycatcher in it; that was another one that went a slightly different direction compared to the rest of the volume. Oh, I love the black cat in this one! As always, the illustrations are incredible, and I love the borders. You can flip through the book and tell from the border what scene is happening (or at least who the character(s) are in the scene) Show Less
LibraryThing member EJAYS17
Witches is the 14th collection of Fables, it comprises issues #86 - #93.
I’m happy to report that it appears as if The Great Fables Crossover was a blip on the radar. It should have been confined to the spin off book starring Jack, but for some reason bled into the parent book. You could do
The first chapter is from the villains point of view. Mr Dark tells readers the story of how he came to be captured and why he was discovered in a treasure filled crypt. This is important background and also a well told war story.
The main part of Witches is split into 2 stories. One concerns the battle going on in the now disconnected Woodlands building and the other how the Fables, specifically the former inhabitants of level 13 of the Woodlands building; the magic users, are handling their enforced exile to the farm now living in their pumpkin house, another great touch by Bill Willingham and regular series artist Mark Buckingham. I’ll talk about each story separately.
Bufkin, the flying monkey was trapped in the Woodland building when it got shut off from this plane of existence. His only real company was Frankie (the head of Frankenstein that Bigby liberated from the Nazis during WW II) and the magic mirror. He also had a number of the wooden soldiers heads. The earthquake that cut the Woodland building off also freed the dangerous witch Baba Yaga and the djinn that the Fables had in the building. Bufkin attempts to warn the deadly duo off, but as he just looks like a monkey in armour, carrying a sword that’s too big for him they laugh at him. The mirror advises him to use the knowledge he’s gleaned from centuries of reading the books in the building’s extensive library to fight back. Never get on the bad side of a flying monkey, especially not one that reads EVERYTHING. Bufkin tricks the djinn back into a bottle and with the help of the wooden soldiers and a brave band of recently grown Barleycorn Brides (they’re used as mates for the largely male dominated Liliputian society on the farm) Bufkin also manages to defeat Baba Yaga, although his victory is won at great personal cost.
Back on the farm King Cole is concerned about the Fables lack of money and tells Frau Totenkinder about this. The old witch makes a decision and believes that she can relieve the financial squeeze, but she’ll have to go back to the Homelands to do it. She gives the garment she seems to have been endlessly knitting to Sheriff Beast. Her uncanny prescience was right again, Beauty is pregnant. Interestingly the jumper (?) has more than the accepted number of limbs and it’s also too large for a newborn. Someone did once ask Bill Willingham what it was Frau Totenkinder was always knitting and one of his answers was: babyclothes for Beauty and the Beast’s child. Maybe he wasn’t joking. She knew Beauty was pregnant before anyone else, maybe she got it right about what the child will be, too.
Once in the Homelands she finds Mr Dark’s crypt and magically transfers the money back to the farm, then she goes in search of the warrior wizard who designed the box that trapped the evil creature in the first place. The Fables aren’t taking Dark’s slight to them laying down. They’re going to fight back.
Frau Totenkinder’s absence sets the young looking witch Ozma thinking. It’s about time the Fables witches and wizards had a change of leadership, and she’s just the girl to do it. She takes charge and bullies the others into voting for her as their leader. It would appear just in time. The former Adversary; Gepetto, has climbed out of the grave some of the Fables buried him in and done a deal with the great oak in the forest on the farm to make a play for the leadership of the Fables. His dryad guardians warn anyone who wishes him harm off, and the wily old man may just win over the support of enough Fables to regain his position of power. That’s when Ozma steps into the game. She displays her power by turning the fox Reynard into a man and allowing him to transition between the 2 forms (man & fox) whenever he wants…forever. When this fails to impress Gepetto, she plays her trump card…and in flies the Blue Fairy and she is p’ed off! That’s where Willingham hung the cliff and left me waiting for collection #15.
The other story was a two parter set in Flycatcher’s realm. The first part was a Fables style rewriting of Ernest Thayer’s baseball poem Casey at the Bat. Unfortunately the winning team’s pitcher; a goblin, got drunk and ate a squirrel on the way home. It took some pretty fast thinking by Fly to serve justice and at the same time prevent a rebellion from tearing his fledgling kingdom apart. The story ended with a significant advancement in the relationship between Fly and Red Riding Hood. Haven may soon be getting a queen.
Ignore The Great Fables Crossover. Witches is indicative of Fables and the magic is back!
I’m happy to report that it appears as if The Great Fables Crossover was a blip on the radar. It should have been confined to the spin off book starring Jack, but for some reason bled into the parent book. You could do
Show More
yourself a favour by skipping The Great Fables Crossover altogether and going straight into Witches. The Great Fables Crossover gets only the briefest of mentions and you can easily understand the events in Witches without having any further knowledge of the preceding volume.The first chapter is from the villains point of view. Mr Dark tells readers the story of how he came to be captured and why he was discovered in a treasure filled crypt. This is important background and also a well told war story.
The main part of Witches is split into 2 stories. One concerns the battle going on in the now disconnected Woodlands building and the other how the Fables, specifically the former inhabitants of level 13 of the Woodlands building; the magic users, are handling their enforced exile to the farm now living in their pumpkin house, another great touch by Bill Willingham and regular series artist Mark Buckingham. I’ll talk about each story separately.
Bufkin, the flying monkey was trapped in the Woodland building when it got shut off from this plane of existence. His only real company was Frankie (the head of Frankenstein that Bigby liberated from the Nazis during WW II) and the magic mirror. He also had a number of the wooden soldiers heads. The earthquake that cut the Woodland building off also freed the dangerous witch Baba Yaga and the djinn that the Fables had in the building. Bufkin attempts to warn the deadly duo off, but as he just looks like a monkey in armour, carrying a sword that’s too big for him they laugh at him. The mirror advises him to use the knowledge he’s gleaned from centuries of reading the books in the building’s extensive library to fight back. Never get on the bad side of a flying monkey, especially not one that reads EVERYTHING. Bufkin tricks the djinn back into a bottle and with the help of the wooden soldiers and a brave band of recently grown Barleycorn Brides (they’re used as mates for the largely male dominated Liliputian society on the farm) Bufkin also manages to defeat Baba Yaga, although his victory is won at great personal cost.
Back on the farm King Cole is concerned about the Fables lack of money and tells Frau Totenkinder about this. The old witch makes a decision and believes that she can relieve the financial squeeze, but she’ll have to go back to the Homelands to do it. She gives the garment she seems to have been endlessly knitting to Sheriff Beast. Her uncanny prescience was right again, Beauty is pregnant. Interestingly the jumper (?) has more than the accepted number of limbs and it’s also too large for a newborn. Someone did once ask Bill Willingham what it was Frau Totenkinder was always knitting and one of his answers was: babyclothes for Beauty and the Beast’s child. Maybe he wasn’t joking. She knew Beauty was pregnant before anyone else, maybe she got it right about what the child will be, too.
Once in the Homelands she finds Mr Dark’s crypt and magically transfers the money back to the farm, then she goes in search of the warrior wizard who designed the box that trapped the evil creature in the first place. The Fables aren’t taking Dark’s slight to them laying down. They’re going to fight back.
Frau Totenkinder’s absence sets the young looking witch Ozma thinking. It’s about time the Fables witches and wizards had a change of leadership, and she’s just the girl to do it. She takes charge and bullies the others into voting for her as their leader. It would appear just in time. The former Adversary; Gepetto, has climbed out of the grave some of the Fables buried him in and done a deal with the great oak in the forest on the farm to make a play for the leadership of the Fables. His dryad guardians warn anyone who wishes him harm off, and the wily old man may just win over the support of enough Fables to regain his position of power. That’s when Ozma steps into the game. She displays her power by turning the fox Reynard into a man and allowing him to transition between the 2 forms (man & fox) whenever he wants…forever. When this fails to impress Gepetto, she plays her trump card…and in flies the Blue Fairy and she is p’ed off! That’s where Willingham hung the cliff and left me waiting for collection #15.
The other story was a two parter set in Flycatcher’s realm. The first part was a Fables style rewriting of Ernest Thayer’s baseball poem Casey at the Bat. Unfortunately the winning team’s pitcher; a goblin, got drunk and ate a squirrel on the way home. It took some pretty fast thinking by Fly to serve justice and at the same time prevent a rebellion from tearing his fledgling kingdom apart. The story ended with a significant advancement in the relationship between Fly and Red Riding Hood. Haven may soon be getting a queen.
Ignore The Great Fables Crossover. Witches is indicative of Fables and the magic is back!
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LibraryThing member lithicbee
This volume is, appropriately, about the Fabletown witches, especially Ozma and Frau Totenkinder, but the star of the volume is Bufkin the winged monkey, who battles a genie and Baba Yaga with an army of irregulars. The two issues at the end about Fly and his kingdom's problems was also especially
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good, mixing humor and serious decisions well. The series has become darker and darker in general, which I am not overly fond of, but it contains enough light moments to keep me going. Show Less
LibraryThing member josh314
This was a pretty good volume. The Witches arc itself is great, although, except for the Bufkin storyline, it is largely setup and backstory. Bufkin is the star of this show, with Frau Totenkinder and her transformation a close second.
The Haven storyline is good but could maybe have been done in
The Haven storyline is good but could maybe have been done in
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one issue; it's pretty slow compared to other issues. That said, Fly and Ride are always cute. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the fourteenth book in the Fables series and finally takes us back to the storyline started in book twelve. Finally we learn more about what Mister Dark is up to and what happened to Baba Yaga. It was very good installment in this series; I enjoyed it a lot.
The first part of the book goes
While all of the above is going on Bufkin is still trapped in the Fable’s office and ends up facing off against Baba Yaga and a Genie; his only allies are the Magic Mirror and a bunch of seed fairies.
It was a very fun issue. We learn lots of back history and there was lots of excellent action. The illustration is spectacular, in keeping with previous issues. I wasn’t as keen on the illustration for the last couple issues; this was a short diversion featuring Ambrose and Red Riding Hood.
The main storyline progresses some, not a ton and I hope we really get to see the Witches and Mister Dark face off in the next issue.
There was action, a great storyline, and some wonderful humor. All in all much, much better than The Great Fables Crossover.
Overall another excellent installment in this series. I loved learning the history of Mister Dark, watching the Witches prepare for war, and seeing Bufkin face off with Baba Yaga. Fans of the series should be happy with this installment. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy and urban fantasy graphic novels.
The first part of the book goes
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through the history of Mister Dark and how he was trapped in the first place. Then we go to Fabletown where the witches are preparing to smackdown with Mister Dark. Ozma is trying to throw out Frau Totenkinder and Frau Totenkinder takes a walk between worlds for mysterious purposes.While all of the above is going on Bufkin is still trapped in the Fable’s office and ends up facing off against Baba Yaga and a Genie; his only allies are the Magic Mirror and a bunch of seed fairies.
It was a very fun issue. We learn lots of back history and there was lots of excellent action. The illustration is spectacular, in keeping with previous issues. I wasn’t as keen on the illustration for the last couple issues; this was a short diversion featuring Ambrose and Red Riding Hood.
The main storyline progresses some, not a ton and I hope we really get to see the Witches and Mister Dark face off in the next issue.
There was action, a great storyline, and some wonderful humor. All in all much, much better than The Great Fables Crossover.
Overall another excellent installment in this series. I loved learning the history of Mister Dark, watching the Witches prepare for war, and seeing Bufkin face off with Baba Yaga. Fans of the series should be happy with this installment. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy and urban fantasy graphic novels.
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LibraryThing member .Monkey.
Finally, a volume that I really enjoyed reading, post-war! It wasn't as great as the earlier ones, but there were a handful of things that made me laugh out loud, which there hadn't really been any of recently, and I was completely interested. The other post-war volumes have left me wanting. I hope
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it continues in this vein. Seems like Willingham can only handle things when there's a large objective they're striving for - when there's not, the story simply flounders. He seems to have found his various goals now, and found his mojo once more. Here's hoping that continues! Show Less
LibraryThing member -Eva-
The new enemy of the Fables, who calls himself Mr. Dark, is expanding his empire while the Fables try to devise a battle plan, Frau Totenkinder discovers the history of Mr. Dark, Gepetto attempts to gain power over The Farm, and Flycatcher has to make a difficult decision in his role of King of
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Haven. Another great installment in the series where we learn more about this new enemy and get hints at where he comes from and which fairytale character he might be (since he isn't properly named). Frau Totenkinder's new guise is also interesting and she becomes quite a sympathetic character when she leaves her cranky-old-crone past behind. Show Less
LibraryThing member nesum
This is one of those rare cases when the whole doesn't live up to the sum of its parts. I enjoyed all of its parts -- the Bofkin situation, the backstory of the boxers, and the epilogue with Flycatcher -- but the whole of it didn't mesh all that well. Well, Fables on an off day is still better than
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almost anything else out there, so there's still three stars in this, but I have, in general, felt the series has been a little ungrounded since the war ended and the battle against the Dark Man began (not that he's not a really cool villain -- he is). Show Less
LibraryThing member MerryMeerkat
I have very mixed feelings about this collected volume. The art was good, not fantastic but good enough. But the story line with the witches annoyed me. The last two issues, were very good.
I found the introduction to be confusing and I felt like I was dropped into an ongoing story with no
In story 2, I love Bufkin the monkey, Beauty announces she’s preggers, Frau Totenkinder leaves town and is up to something. Not bad but average. Story 3 really annoyed me, I missed the regular characters but continued to love Bufkin. Story 4 didn’t like and Ozma was declared leader. Story 5 Ozma and Gepetto fight for control. This issue a little better but still not great.
Stoy 6 and 7 I loved because the regular characters are back. 6 was my favorite, the baseball game was amusing and in 7 the story line continues with a goblin on trial for murder of another fable. Missed Snow and Bigby.
I’m really torn between giving this 3 and 4 stars, but I think I’ll lean toward 3 because the witches story bored the crap out of me.
I found the introduction to be confusing and I felt like I was dropped into an ongoing story with no
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background information. It wasn’t immediately clear who the boxers are and what there purpose was. The first issue was better than the intro, the big witch is set free and Snow White and Bigby are around briefly.In story 2, I love Bufkin the monkey, Beauty announces she’s preggers, Frau Totenkinder leaves town and is up to something. Not bad but average. Story 3 really annoyed me, I missed the regular characters but continued to love Bufkin. Story 4 didn’t like and Ozma was declared leader. Story 5 Ozma and Gepetto fight for control. This issue a little better but still not great.
Stoy 6 and 7 I loved because the regular characters are back. 6 was my favorite, the baseball game was amusing and in 7 the story line continues with a goblin on trial for murder of another fable. Missed Snow and Bigby.
I’m really torn between giving this 3 and 4 stars, but I think I’ll lean toward 3 because the witches story bored the crap out of me.
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LibraryThing member andreablythe
Much more to my taste! The Dark Man continues to wreak havoc and the witches of Fabletown begin to plot a way to defeat him with Frau Totenkinder disappearing on a mysterious mission. Meanwhile, political turmoil on the Farm, where the Fables of Fabletown have escaped as refugees, continues to grow
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more chaotic. Show Less
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: In this installment of Fables, we start with a little bit of the backstory regarding this arc's Big Bad, Mr. Dark. The main story, however, concerns the various witches of the Fables world. On the Farm, the former residents of the 13th floor are engaged in a bit of a power struggle over
Review: Each of the elements of this volume was very enjoyable on its own, but they didn't all connect to each other as well as they could have, and as a whole, it wound up feeling a little lighter and not as consequential as most of what's come before. Maybe because there were so many elements, the storyline involving what's happening to the main group of Fables felt like it was given somewhat short shrift. But overall, I thought Willingham did his usual nice job of providing information and backstory without giving too much away, and I was thrilled to get more Frau Totenkinder - she's a fascinating character, and I'm a happy girl whenever she shows up. 4 out of 5 stars.
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who will lead the Fable community through the coming battle. Meanwhile, in the newly cut-off business office, Baba Yaga is free from her confinement, and the only one who can stop her is Buffkin the flying monkey. Finally, there's a two-part story about Ambrose's attempts to maintain both peace and justice in his kingdom of Haven.Review: Each of the elements of this volume was very enjoyable on its own, but they didn't all connect to each other as well as they could have, and as a whole, it wound up feeling a little lighter and not as consequential as most of what's come before. Maybe because there were so many elements, the storyline involving what's happening to the main group of Fables felt like it was given somewhat short shrift. But overall, I thought Willingham did his usual nice job of providing information and backstory without giving too much away, and I was thrilled to get more Frau Totenkinder - she's a fascinating character, and I'm a happy girl whenever she shows up. 4 out of 5 stars.
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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
In this volume we find out how Mr. Dark was captured the first time and Frau Totekinder changes back to a young woman. We also go to the business office to see how Buffkin, the Mirror and others deal with Baba Yaga. Ozma also makes a power grab for the 13th floor.
Still love this series and I
Still love this series and I
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enjoyed meeting a new character. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
In this volume we find out how Mr. Dark was captured the first time and Frau Totekinder changes back to a young woman. We also go to the business office to see how Buffkin, the Mirror and others deal with Baba Yaga. Ozma also makes a power grab for the 13th floor.
Still love this series and I
Still love this series and I
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enjoyed meeting a new character. Show Less
LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
In this volume we find out how Mr. Dark was captured the first time and Frau Totekinder changes back to a young woman. We also go to the business office to see how Buffkin, the Mirror and others deal with Baba Yaga. Ozma also makes a power grab for the 13th floor.
Still love this series and I
Still love this series and I
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enjoyed meeting a new character. Show Less
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
The Adversary has been defeated, but at great cost--not least, financial. With their usual magical sources of money tapped, the Fables are fast running out of money to fund all the things that keep them hidden from the mundanes. Frau Totenkinder vows to solve this problem, but meanwhile Ozma makes
In a short story that follows these travails, King Flycatcher tries to keep his kingdom together after an orc eats a talking bird.
Overall it's fine storytelling and the art is good, but this trade feels aimless and unfocused.
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a play for her seat and Baba Yaga is freed from her magical prison. Despite the epic witches involved in this story, its all resolved in pretty anticlimactic ways.In a short story that follows these travails, King Flycatcher tries to keep his kingdom together after an orc eats a talking bird.
Overall it's fine storytelling and the art is good, but this trade feels aimless and unfocused.
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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
This Fables volume brings us back to Mr. Dark and the destruction of Fabletown and it appears this will be the main storyline over the next little while. The witches of the 13th floor are highlighted and we can see there is a tug-of-war going on for the leadership. We see a far different Frau
The secondary storylines involved Ambrose, Red Riding Hood and the people of Haven and the aftermath of a baseball game. But my favorite story starred Bufkin the flying monkey as he battles the evil witch Baba Yaga as they are trapped in the Battle office with all its nooks and crannies.
Over all this issue is a good mix of old friends and new faces facing their difficulties with dark humor and resolution. Lots of political intrigue and action to look forward to.
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Totenkinder as she solves the mayor’s money problems and is now engaged in learning how to create a box that we hope will eventually hold Mr. Dark.The secondary storylines involved Ambrose, Red Riding Hood and the people of Haven and the aftermath of a baseball game. But my favorite story starred Bufkin the flying monkey as he battles the evil witch Baba Yaga as they are trapped in the Battle office with all its nooks and crannies.
Over all this issue is a good mix of old friends and new faces facing their difficulties with dark humor and resolution. Lots of political intrigue and action to look forward to.
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LibraryThing member macha
... and right back on form with all the magic at stake. inwhich Bufkin and Frau Totenkinder step up, the Barleycorn Brides make their mark, the Adversary makes his move, Mister Dark gets lonesome waiting for the Fables to retrace their steps, and King Fly makes an agonizing decision in his Haven
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Heaven. on one level a meditation on what makes a hero medal you get to keep. and on another a demonstration of why the reconciliation model's blanket amnesty has to trump vengeance if all sides need to live together afterwards. Show Less
LibraryThing member ecataldi
Let's get real, at this point would I give any of these installments less than 5 stars? They just keep getting consistently better and more complex. This volume didn't feature the regular staples but focuses on Bufkin, The Dark Man, and the witches. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Each layer to this
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series, strengthens it and makes it even more enjoyable to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member bdgamer
Loved the characterization here. Made a lot of sense for these characters to do what they do.
LibraryThing member wanderlustlover
Oh, I had more love for this story. We return to Fables, and this time to Mister Dark. To more backgrounds, more research and more indepth knowledge on some of my most favorite second teir, mysterious characters -- The Witches of Floor 13.
I have to admit I didn't amazing love Bufkin's story, but
Not going to lie: I gleed at the image of Baby Yaga in her cauldron. (And all the flashbacks of Frau Totenkinder's past, and stories blurring together.)
I have to admit I didn't amazing love Bufkin's story, but
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it did amuse me. Mirror, Flowers girls, and all. The way they tell these stories, sometimes when I'm not in love with the characters, I still end up loving the story itself. Not going to lie: I gleed at the image of Baby Yaga in her cauldron. (And all the flashbacks of Frau Totenkinder's past, and stories blurring together.)
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LibraryThing member Rosa.Mill
In this volume we find out how Mr. Dark was captured the first time and Frau Totekinder changes back to a young woman. We also go to the business office to see how Buffkin, the Mirror and others deal with Baba Yaga. Ozma also makes a power grab for the 13th floor.
Still love this series and I
Still love this series and I
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enjoyed meeting a new character. Show Less
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
Begins with promise--I just can't get enough of stuff with wizards and their secret worlds and secret societies and parallel lives--and there are some cool moments, but in the end it feels a bit unsatisfying. Let Bufkin beat Baba Yaga and that evil genie, fine, and the least of us save all, but
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make it a little more convincing/singular, or all you accomplish is to diminish them as adversaries. And we get some cool backstory on the Dark Man, who I guess is meant to be this boogieman/dullahan-type character. But a lot of subplots idle, and overall this feels like it starts with momentum and squanders it, reminding us that Fables is really not a trade-oriented series. Show Less
LibraryThing member caedocyon
Frau Totenkinder for the win.
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Graphic Story — 2011)
Language
Original publication date
2010-12-07
Physical description
192 p.; 10 inches
ISBN
1401228801 / 9781401228804
Local notes
While the meek and mild flying monkey Bufkin is trapped in Fabletown's collapsed business office with the evil witch Baba Yaga, Frau Totenkinder and the witches at the Farm upstate prepare to deal with Mister Dark down in what's left of Fabletown.