Fables: Super Team (Vol 16) Graphic Novel Review

Fables: Super Team (Vol 16) Erica gives this comic three stars

Fables: Super Team (Vol 16) by Bill Willingham
Art: Mark Buckingham, Steve Leialoha, Eric Shanower, Terry Moore, Andrew Pepoy, and Richard Friend

This entire volume of Fables felt like a filler. And not in a good way. There wasn’t anything particularly bad about this volume; it just seemed to not really go anywhere.

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Bufkin. First, I don’t like monkeys. And second, I don’t like unnecessary male heroes who have the type of story that a woman character would never have. Now Bufkin is apparently going to take over pan-Oz from its evil rulers. I really hope this storyline is not cut-and-dry or evil-vs-good. (Good, of course, being whatever side Bufkin is on.)

I love the twist that Beast has lost his curse to his daughter, Bliss. I’m really curious at where this will go. Of course, with Bliss being a baby, it’s probably not going anywhere very quickly.

As much as I love that Bellflower was part of this ending, I couldn’t help but think that this only did two things for the plot: 1) show Ozma as ineffective and 2) get Willingham out of the plothole that he dug himself into.

As much as Pinocchio has dumb ideas, using the powers of comic books, given the mythology of the Fables universe, felt like a smart turn. However, I’m still looking for a point since the North Wind taking out Dark Man negated any use of the super team. (Don’t even get me started on how anti-climatic Bigby’s fight with his father over Ghost was.)

I love Sleeping Beauty and the Snow Queen being kidnapped since their kidnappers don’t know which is which. If they wake the Snow Queen, they’re in for a nasty surprise. (I miss the Snow Queen!)

The Dark Man’s ending seemed extremely anti-climatic. I did not like Leigh Spratt’s “transformation” nor her need to be a “princess.” The whole story was just icky. Majorly icky. Seriously, all Spratt cared about was her physical body and finding her prince. Ugh. The whole thing is just a mess of bad ideals about what women want (or what men think women should want). Perhaps part of the real problem is that Willingham writes so few women who are not princesses in these books. Which is why I think he has little idea about what to do with Rose Red, but that’s another rant for another day.

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