Monday, March 12, 2012

Comics: Review of Fables' Fairest Issue #1 confirms some of my fears

Fairest Interior artwork Phil Jiminez

Remember how I was worried about how the Fairest spinoff of Fables would not do these strong female characters justice? Well, this review has confirmed some of my fears.

For a book that’s supposed to focus on the women, this book was startlingly light on any female’s presence, focusing instead on the “buddy cop” pairing of Jonah and Ali Baba.  Ali isn’t fleshed out too thoroughly yet, but he seems singularly concerned with attaining wealth.  His skills as a thief and swordsman are effortlessly displayed.  Like most of the Fables, he’s had centuries to perfect his craft!  Jonah is chatty and sarcastic and injects humor and a real-world connection to the story.  Oakheart is still firmly devoted to the memory of his master and his mission. (Full review).
It worries me that the first issue of a female-centric spinoff has the girl characters sleeping while the seemingly rather shallow male characters trade jibes and gold-dig. The women are objects of affection, rather than agents themselves. I am still holding out hope, as they may be doing this traditional set up of male questing for innert female only to turn the dynamic on its head in issue #2. Fingers crossed!


No comments:

Post a Comment