Review: FABLES VOL. 1 by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina

This is a "graphic novel" as the term is commonly used, a collection of several issues of a comic book that comprise a single story. In this case the first five issues are collected, and the story is a murder mystery.

Bill Willingham, the series' creator and writer, has built a sprawling world that amazingly feels complete in the first few pages. The chief advantage of a mystery is that it allows for the introduction of many characters and personalities, and Willingham uses it to great advantage. Throughout the investigation and various related scenes he introduces numerous characters and subplots that often don't come to fruition for several years. It's a very well-written book.

Lan Medina's art leaves me a little more conflicted. Taken alone, it's very good, but it suffers in comparison to the art of Mark Buckinghham,who became the series' regular artist with issue six. Medina's realistic, almost journalistic style is very different from Buckinghham's and from the future look of the book, but if the worst thing that can be said about the art is that it gets even better, then that's some pretty good art.

So if the story's good and the art's good, then I must recommend it, right? There are a few reasons why I don't. The first is the foul language. To go with that "adult language" are some "adult situations" involving both sex and violence. It never feels pornographic, but it does feel gratuitous. That's too bad, because other than that it's possibly the best-written comic book being published. As it stands, though, I can't recommend it, nor do I plan to read more.