Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Vertigo (2013), Paperback, 192 pages
Description
For years, Snow White and Bigby Wolf's cubs have grown up knowing that one of them was destined for a much greater, more grave role amongst the Fables community. But no one knew how soon it would come. When Snow and Bigby's cub Therese receives a Christmas gift from an unknown admirer, this red plastic boat magically takes her on a journey to a desolate place known as Toyland. Will Therese be their savior? Or their destroyer? The cubs learn that adventures in the land of misfit toys is much less fun than it sounds. Also collected here are all the backup stories that feature Bufkin's exploits in the land of Oz, beautifully painted by ShawN McManus (Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love).
User reviews
LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
I see it's been a few years since I gave Fables a chance--nothing's changed much except we've taken a few steps away from the accessibility the early ones had since they were based on characters we all knew and toward arcane backstory (the "cubs" Snow White had with the Big Bad Wolf feature
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prominently in this one). And then, they've always got good premises, which isn't always only because the ideas are stolen from fairy-tales--here, the idea that the Land of Broken Toys is where toys who kill the children who love them go (mostly by choking or suffocating, new mums and dads take note!) and then they still have to trick children into loving them because otherwise they die too, since the independent life of say a stuffed bear is predicated on a child believing he's real. Creepy and solid. But then Willingham ruins it with his tin ear for dialogue and dwelling a little too moistly on the parts he thinks are gonna shock. I still might read the Camelot one because that is a mythos with rich exploitability and I am working at a place where you can read comics for free a lot lately, but this just feels a bit grimy in places where it should feel wondrous. Show Less
LibraryThing member -Eva-
While Bigby Wolf is away helping his daughter in her North Wind training, another daughter disappears from home, but manages to reappear in her new, quite grave, Fabletown role, thanks to her brother's ultimate sacrifice. This is one of the darkest installments in the series, unexpectedly so as it
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deals mainly with the cubs, but in this universe, simply being young doesn't protect you from the grim realities of life. Style-wise, the art is quite benign, which makes the actions depicted much more gruesome than a gorier style would have done. Good installment in the series and I can't wait to see what Fate has in store for the rest of Bigby and Snow's cubs. Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
The last couple installments of the Fables trade back books have been good but not as excellent as previous books in the series. This book however was truly excellent. I really enjoyed it a lot.
Bigby’s and Snow’s children are growing up and being forced to assume responsibilities. Winter
This was an excellent installment in this series. I loved the adventures in Toyland and how involved we are getting with Bigby’s and Snow’s kids. The prophecy about Bigby’s and Snow’s kids is slowly coming to light. We’ve meet the child that will become a king, in this story we read about the child that does an evil thing and the child that dies to stop her.
The evil toy kingdom is one that’s been written about before. Mike Raicht’s The Stuff of Legend graphic novels do an excellent job exploring a similar theme. This is a dark story and it is very well done. I love how the story wraps up and what Therese decides to do to atone.
There is also a side story about the Fables going to explore Mister Dark’s old castle and finding Nurse Sprat.
The illustration was excellent and in keeping with previous installments. Fans of the series should be pleased with this addition, it’s one of the best Fables installments released in a while.
Overall a very solid addition to the Fables series. I really enjoyed reading more about Snow and Bigby’s children and how they are slowly fulfilling the prophecy. This whole series is recommended to fans of fairy tales and urban fantasy who love graphic novels.
Bigby’s and Snow’s children are growing up and being forced to assume responsibilities. Winter
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inherited her kingdom in the last book and this book focuses on Therese and Dare. Therese follows her creepy toy boat’s advice and ends up in Toyland. Toyland is a land inhabited by evil toys that needs a new Queen. As Therese struggles to survive and struggles with her sanity, her brother Dare sets off to try and find her.This was an excellent installment in this series. I loved the adventures in Toyland and how involved we are getting with Bigby’s and Snow’s kids. The prophecy about Bigby’s and Snow’s kids is slowly coming to light. We’ve meet the child that will become a king, in this story we read about the child that does an evil thing and the child that dies to stop her.
The evil toy kingdom is one that’s been written about before. Mike Raicht’s The Stuff of Legend graphic novels do an excellent job exploring a similar theme. This is a dark story and it is very well done. I love how the story wraps up and what Therese decides to do to atone.
There is also a side story about the Fables going to explore Mister Dark’s old castle and finding Nurse Sprat.
The illustration was excellent and in keeping with previous installments. Fans of the series should be pleased with this addition, it’s one of the best Fables installments released in a while.
Overall a very solid addition to the Fables series. I really enjoyed reading more about Snow and Bigby’s children and how they are slowly fulfilling the prophecy. This whole series is recommended to fans of fairy tales and urban fantasy who love graphic novels.
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LibraryThing member District13
Willingham continues to bring us unexpected (and fun) plot twists. Hard to wait for the next issues to be published!
LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: Ever since the next North Wind was selected, the rest of Bigby and Snow White's cubs have been restless. Therese, especially, has never stood out amongst her siblings, so when a toy boat she got for Christmas starts whispering to her and encouraging her to run away from home, she musters
Review: There was nothing wrong with this volume - it tells a fine, self-contained story, the art is as lovely as ever, there are some funny bits and some sad bits and some clever bits, basically everything I would expect out of a Fables installment. But I didn't really ever get into it the way I have in the past. I think part of the problem is that we haven't really spent a ton of time around the cubs in the previous 17 volumes (not as individuals, for sure), and we don't already know them from other stories the way we do most other newly-introduced characters. So although Therese's (and Dare's) problems were interesting, they weren't that involving, even though they really should have been. I also missed the focus on the main story continuity; I'm okay with self-contained stories, but there were fewer than 10 pages in this volume that dealt with what the other Fables were up to, something in which I was way more interested than I was in the cubs. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: It's a fine installment, probably better than fine, and I suspect my lack of enthusiasm is a very idiosyncratic reaction. Fables fans should enjoy it.
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what little courage she has and sets out. She arrives in the world of Discardia, where broken toys go, and informed that she will be their queen. But the family she's left behind is frantically searching for her, and she soon finds out that being a queen - especially in a place like Toyland - is not all it's cracked up to be.Review: There was nothing wrong with this volume - it tells a fine, self-contained story, the art is as lovely as ever, there are some funny bits and some sad bits and some clever bits, basically everything I would expect out of a Fables installment. But I didn't really ever get into it the way I have in the past. I think part of the problem is that we haven't really spent a ton of time around the cubs in the previous 17 volumes (not as individuals, for sure), and we don't already know them from other stories the way we do most other newly-introduced characters. So although Therese's (and Dare's) problems were interesting, they weren't that involving, even though they really should have been. I also missed the focus on the main story continuity; I'm okay with self-contained stories, but there were fewer than 10 pages in this volume that dealt with what the other Fables were up to, something in which I was way more interested than I was in the cubs. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: It's a fine installment, probably better than fine, and I suspect my lack of enthusiasm is a very idiosyncratic reaction. Fables fans should enjoy it.
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LibraryThing member willowsmom
A great addition to an amazingly excellent series--the illustrations in this volume were just amazing, and the story line--Dare's complete retribution--totally enthralling.
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
This story arc covers what happens to two of Snow and Bigby's children. In the previous book, you find out there is a prophesy about the kids and this collection covers what happens with two of them. By the close of this volume we now know what happens with three of the kids. I'm wondering if he
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will continue with the rest or set it aside to continue rebuilding Fabletown. There were two issues in the collection that cover a prophesy about Bigby that he seems to have forgotten all about. Show Less
LibraryThing member LibraryCin
One of Snow and Bigby's cubs, Therese, has been lured away and taken to another world, Toyland. She is told she is their new queen, but there's something sinister happening here. Snow and Bigby set out to find Therese, as does one of their boys, Darien.
I really liked this one, though there was a
I really liked this one, though there was a
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short extra section at the end that I didn't find as interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kurt.Rocourt
Tough to read parts of this one but good when it's finished.
LibraryThing member Bodagirl
THE FEELS!
Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge | Task 38: A book that made you cry
Popsugar 2015 Reading Challenge | Task 38: A book that made you cry
LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50
As much as I enjoyed the previous issue, I disliked this one.
I enjoy the lighter, fractured fairytale aspect of this series so I wasn’t prepared for the extremely dark turn that the series took in this volume. Perhaps this is an effort to modernize the series, but I personally prefer the charm of
I enjoy the lighter, fractured fairytale aspect of this series so I wasn’t prepared for the extremely dark turn that the series took in this volume. Perhaps this is an effort to modernize the series, but I personally prefer the charm of
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the earlier volumes to the bleakness in this one. Show Less
LibraryThing member macha
inwhich Willingham pauses to meditate on magic, myth, kingship, and the notion of destiny, casually re-inventing a number of fantastical worlds, including but not limited to his own, along the way, while airily rewriting some fairy tales and the heroes' journey with a stroke of the pen, as he sheds
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a little more light on the Big Bad Wolf's own journey, past, present, and future. Show Less
LibraryThing member wanderlustlover
Because this will always keep playing in my head while we read the pup stories --
The first child will be a king.
The second child a pauper.
The third will do an evil thing.
The fourth will die to stop her.
The fifth will be a hero bold.
The sixth will judge the rest.
The seventh lives to ages old, and
So children and fairytales will always be a big go to for me. Because there is something creepier about playing with innocence and horror, than is about adults/maturity and horror. There is always more to foreshadow and more to lose when it comes to children. This book, another follow up on the prophesy of Bigsby and Snow's children did not disappoint.
This is the story of Therese who is stolen by her magical Christmas toy that-is-not-for-girls, and her brother Dare, who comes to rescue her and makes a great sacrifice to do so. Given that we all know the whole story now, we can assume that Theres is child three and Dare is child four. The amazing mythology of the lost toys, of the swords, cup, sacrifice, the fisher king (as well as playing it off "Fisher Price" the toy brand for a reference in there, too) was brilliant.
The story is painful. The conclusion is even more painful. But it is so beautiful. It's harrowing beauty. About the loss of a spoiled child through hard work, sacrifice and mourning. I loved this one so much and I can't wait to see more and more of what happens to the children. Who all the other ones will be, since we know three of the seven now (Winter, Therese, and Dare).
The backdrop story of The Big Bad Wolf (and how we're intersecting the turtle with the tea cup, and how both of those intersected King Arthur) was brilliant as well. I loved the play with fates, and the way all three of these characters are learning and growing in completely different places on completely different timelines in completely different stories, but here they are intersecting and changing things for each other.
Which has to be one of my favorite things where it comes to the adult storylines.
The first child will be a king.
The second child a pauper.
The third will do an evil thing.
The fourth will die to stop her.
The fifth will be a hero bold.
The sixth will judge the rest.
The seventh lives to ages old, and
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is by heaven blessed.So children and fairytales will always be a big go to for me. Because there is something creepier about playing with innocence and horror, than is about adults/maturity and horror. There is always more to foreshadow and more to lose when it comes to children. This book, another follow up on the prophesy of Bigsby and Snow's children did not disappoint.
This is the story of Therese who is stolen by her magical Christmas toy that-is-not-for-girls, and her brother Dare, who comes to rescue her and makes a great sacrifice to do so. Given that we all know the whole story now, we can assume that Theres is child three and Dare is child four. The amazing mythology of the lost toys, of the swords, cup, sacrifice, the fisher king (as well as playing it off "Fisher Price" the toy brand for a reference in there, too) was brilliant.
The story is painful. The conclusion is even more painful. But it is so beautiful. It's harrowing beauty. About the loss of a spoiled child through hard work, sacrifice and mourning. I loved this one so much and I can't wait to see more and more of what happens to the children. Who all the other ones will be, since we know three of the seven now (Winter, Therese, and Dare).
The backdrop story of The Big Bad Wolf (and how we're intersecting the turtle with the tea cup, and how both of those intersected King Arthur) was brilliant as well. I loved the play with fates, and the way all three of these characters are learning and growing in completely different places on completely different timelines in completely different stories, but here they are intersecting and changing things for each other.
Which has to be one of my favorite things where it comes to the adult storylines.
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Awards
Chesley Award (Nominee — 2017)
Language
Original publication date
2013-01-22
ISBN
140123769X / 9781401237691
Local notes
Snow and Bigby's cub Therese receives a Christmas gift from an unknown admirer. This red plastic boat may hold the key to a deep, disturbing secret that will incite a series of soul-crushing events for the denizens of Fabletown. Plus, a backup feature that follows Bufkin's (mis)adventures in Oz.
Originally published in single magazine form in Fables 114-123.
Originally published in single magazine form in Fables 114-123.