Jack Of Fables Vol. 6 RETROSPECTIVE: Big Book Of War: The Battle Is Over, But The War Has Just Begun
Updated: Feb 1
Jack Of Fables Volume 6: The Big Book Of War.
Collecting 'Jack Of Fables' Issues 28-32.
Written by Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges.
Pencils by Tony Akins (Issues 28-32) & Russ Braun (Issue 30)
Inks by Jose Marzan Jr (Issues 28-32) & Dan Green (Issue 32).
Last time around, we took a trip to the Wild West! Where nothing of worth was achieved and we were all left feeling a little bored. Was nice to see Bigby again, though. I've missed that dude. Then, we turned a page and things got really interesting, really fast, as we spent a little time with the Fourth Wall. She gave three tales, filled with some interesting back story on the Page Sisters. Threaded through all of this, we had Bookburners march on Golden Boughs, which pays off big time right now, as the Seige of Golden Boughs begins! So what you waiting for, let's get to fightin'.
Chapter 28: The Book Of Leadership - The Books Of War Volume One.
Mr Revise is rallying his troops for war! He doesn't like them, they don't like him, but they like Bookburner considerably less. So, in this time of great hardship, they're going to follow him... because who else would be crazy enough to lead this army?
Chapter 29: The Book Of Siege Warfare - The Books Of War Volume Two.
I shouldn't have said anything... The Fables have found someone new to run their army: Jack Of Fables. Because of course they'd put that dumbass in charge. And, while his defenders try their best to keep Bookburner out, Jack is too busy trying to dip his wick to notice that he's kinda losing...
Which leads MvP Pathetic Fallacy to come up with a rather crazy plan.
Chapter 30: The Book Of Restoration - The Books Of War Volume Three.
Buried deep within the First Draft tavern is a weapon so powerful, it just might shift the balance of this war. And potentially some other conflicts that may or may not be on the horizon!
Chapter 31: The Book Of Reversals - The Books Of War Volume Four.
Everything is going rather badly. Every weapon they've thrown at Bookburner, he's been able to counter. It's almost like he's been planning this far longer than they have. But, don't worry... Jack has a plan.
Chapter 32: The Book Of Revelation - The Books Of War Volume Five.
Our grand tale reaches its conclusion. And, somehow, despite all evidence to the contrary... Jack's plan was actually pretty good. Probably because it wasn't really HIS plan. Now, finally, the Fables can rest a bit, catch a bit of shut-eye and get themselves together again. Oh, wait, no. It's Crossover time!
Well, that was... kinda cool. A decent battle, some fun scenes and a whole heaping pile of set up for the big crossover which starts next issue. It felt a little rushed in spots, which is a shame, because given all his buildup I was really hoping Bookburner would be a little more formidable. But hey, I guess they didn't want to overshadow Jack, right before he causes a load of chaos. Also, there was a non-zero amount of incest in this book... which was unexpected.
Well, the sort of big, but not as big as the one that's coming up right now, war is finally here! After a couple of volumes of teases and set up, Bookburner has finally reached Golden Boughs, and it's all kicking off! And... it very much feels like a starter course. It's a light salad of a battle, before you dig into the meat and potatoes that's (hopefully) coming in the Big Fables Crossover.
I mean, it's not bad, by any means. It's a solid story and has some really fun moments... but it does all feel a little flat. Especially because some of the concepts and ideas that Willingham uses REALLY deserved a bigger chance to shine.
When I say that, I'm mostly talking about them undoing so many of Revise's revisions. As the battle goes on, it becomes clear that Bookburner and his Eidolons are winning the battle. Potentially because they just seem way more hardcore than Revise's army, and mostly because they're not being lead by Jack, who is utterly useless.
But, then, when all seems like it might be kinda lost, but not really because there's actually very little battle in this battle, the residents of Golden Boughs get the power-up they need!
You see, Mr Revise is an editor, not a destroyer. He carefully prunes the stories to make them more palatable... but like all good editors, he knows the value in keeping the initial draft around, just in case.
And so, using the magic of reading, Revise et al unleash the true, unedited powers of their Fable army!
The Cowardly lion isn't a coward! He's a freakin lion! He didn't need courage, he needed to learn to stop eating people! And don't even get me started on the Tin Man, who apparently has buzzsaws for arms and a freakin cannon!
It's all kinda awesome. It could have been SUPER awesome, if we'd actually seen any of these newly empowered Fables actually DO anything.
The problem is, they spend about two issues unleashing the true power of the Fables, and then almost immediately surrender. Yes, the surrender is part of a larger plan, and ultimately leads to their victory... but I can't help but feel a LITTLE cheated. They spend all this time talking about how the Fables will get all these forbidden abilities back, and then don't really DO anything with them.
The closest we get to actually SEEING these abilites is when the trio of warrior gods who spent the whole time complaining they had no powers make short work of some enemy minions... and then realise they were attacking during a ceasefire and that's why they had it so easy. That's it. That's the extent of the empowered Fables' glory.
Now, do I think that this whole plot point was a total waste? No, of course not. Much like everything else that happened in this volume, it feels like this was a taster. I little sampler intended to whet our appetites for the big war that's about to come. But, here's the thing: We need to see just how powerful our Fables have become now, so that when they struggle in the next battle, we'll understand just how high the stakes are!
It's a basic law or Shonen Battle Manga: MC gets new power, uses it to utterly dominate the first person he uses it on. New villain shows up, overpowers MC's new ability, to show how powerful they are. MC trains and either gets better with first power, or gains a new one. Repeat until you've either totally jumped the shark or you get cancelled.
So, for me, I'd have rather seen more of the actual battle in this arc, seen how badly the Golden Boughs were struggling, then seen the newly empowered Fables snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Then, when they march off to assist Fabletown against Jack Thorne, it'll be all the more impressive when he casually swats them all aside.
Honestly, I feel like they could have done something really great here, if they'd taken inspiration from somewhere a little... unusual.
Reading this arc, and seeing what little we did of the battle, I was reminded of the movie Toys, staring the absolute legend Robin Williams.
There's one scene that always really stuck with me, from that movie. At the climax of the film, the nice toys have to fight for their survival against the new, brutal, combat toys. Watching as a child, I found the whole thing rather affecting, seeing teddybears and little drummer toys getting utterly steamrolled by attack helicopters and tanks and stuff.
It feels, since they've already sort of established that Bookburner's Eidolons were a bit more combative than the Golden Bough Fables, they could have done something similar here. Here the Fables try to hold the line against a clearly more militaristic force, slowly falling back as their best just shows itself to not be enough. Then, when all seems lost, Revise's edits are undone and they find their inner soldier. This allows them to hold the line long enough for Jack to come up with his plan, and get the other residents and librarians to safety and ultimately blow up Golden Boughs, setting up for the crossover in the next volume.
But hey, that's just me. I'm not the author here.
But, of course, this volume wasn't all about the siege. Just, like 90% of it. The rest was about incest.
Seriously, though. Thrown in right at the end, just to mess with us, Revise reveals that Jack of Fables is half Literal himself. Yup! Shocking twist, his mother is actually... Rose Page, wife of Mr Revise (and mother of the Page sisters. EWW), and *drumroll please* Prince Charming! Yup. Turns out being a tool runs in the family, who'd have guessed.
But this raises an interesting question, for me. It seems like many of the Literals reflect aspects of story, so if Jack is half Literal, does that mean he also has an aspect?
I put it to you now, that he does! But... because he's not a literally a Literal (sorry, I hate himself but I couldn't resist), his power is only Literal adjacent. However, it DOES explain how he gets away with all the nonsense that he does.
I put it to you: Jack's Literal aspect is Fanfiction. Jack is the living embodiment of Fanfic. That's why people tend to get a little out of character around him, it's why things always turn out his way and it's why he's such a toolbag. Because he IS fanfic, meaning things like canon and character development have no effect on him. He's a walking, talking bundle of wish fulfillment. Ever fallen for a character in a story and wanted to run away with them? Jack can do that! Ever wanted to be a prince, or a cowboy, or a military general? Jack can do that! Ever wanted to cheat death at poker and live forever? Jack did that in Volume 2!
I know I'm probably overthinking all of this and there's a good chance that very little will come of this reveal... but my inner fanfic writer/reader can't help but see Jack in so many dodgy tales I've seen over the years on Ao3.
Overall, Jack Of Fables Volume 6 was a solid entry into the series, but ultimately suffered from "first course syndrome". Where everything that went on in this battle seemed interesting, but also like it was mostly just set up for the bigger event that was about to be unleashed.
That said, what little battle there was, gave Akins a chance to give us some really amazing splash pages and battle scenes. I just can't help but feel like if we'd had a few more actual battles, we might have had a chance for some even more impressive moments. Fingers crossed the crossover gives him a chance to really stretch his muscles and show off what he can do!
Because that's the problem with being the first course... if the main dish isn't up to scratch, it makes all the work setting it up feel wasted.
So, if you want to see if the Fables can win the war against Kevin and his magic pen, come back next time for Fables Volume 13: The Great Fables Crossover! Collecting Chapters #83-85 of Fables, Chapters #33-35 of Jack of Fables, and The Literals issues #1-3. As the free Fables struggle to regroup following the destruction of their New York City stronghold, they are suddenly faced with a new menace—one who threatens not only their adopted planet, but all of reality itself! Against such terrible power, can even the combined abilities of these legendary storybook heroes prevail? Only one thing is certain: Once battle is joined, the world of Fables will never be the same!
And yes, that is copy/pasted from the last time I said we were going to be reading the crossover. But this time, I'm not lying!
Taheg Gloder is a Freelance Copywriter from England. Obsessed with comics and Manga since his teens, he now splits his time between writing comic reviews and retrospectives for POP, and doing reactions on his YouTube Channel, The Dragon & The Hound. He lives alone, because he’s a hermit.