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| Fables Vol. 7: Arabian Nights (and Days) | 
 enlarge | Author: Bill Willingham
Creator: Mark Buckingham
Publisher: Vertigo
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $7.89
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Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 10518
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.5 x 0.5
ISBN: 1401210007
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9781401210007
ASIN: 1401210007
Publication Date: June 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
When a savage creature known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced into exile. These magical characters now disguise themselves as normal citizens and have created their own peaceful and secret societies in modern-day New York and around the world. When wayward fables from Arabia arrive in Manhattan at the exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown, a culture clash of dire proportions arises that must be defused before blood is spilled.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 More Legends to Be Exiled July 8, 2006
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
Bill Willingham's Fables is an amazing series. This collection brings us up to th 47th issue, and so far, not a single one has been bad. It started off great and kept getting better. March of the Wooden Soldiers, the story arc collected in the fourth collection of the same name, is one of the most phenomenal stories I've ever read (and I will continue to praise it in my reviews, seeing as how, for some reason, Amazon won't let me post a review for that collection), and while the Homelands arc was a bit weaker (in my opinion), it was still great, and it showed us an enormous revelation that will affect the course of the series for years. Though, in addition to finding out the identity of the Adversary, the power-hungry emporor who forced the Fables such as Snow White, Bigby Wolf, Prince Charming, Jack Horner, and Boy Blue to flee their homes and journey to our world, we saw that he was nowhere close to finishing his conquoring. It took him nearly 1,000 years to fully take over the lands of European Fables, and now he has set his sights on the Homelands of the Arabian Fables, which includes residents such as Sinbad, Aladdin, and Ali Baba.
As the Arabian worlds begin to fall to the mighty armies of the Adversary, the Arabian Fables send Sinbad as an envoy to Fabletown in order to figure out how to accomodate the many new exiles to come. However, when he arrives, along with a bodyguard and a sorceror, a culture clash of epic proportions is ignited between the Arabians, who are fresh out of the Homelands and the Europeans, who have had 1,000 to assimilate to modern-day American culture. And when Sheriff Beast learns that the Arabians brought a D'Jinn (known in the West as a genie) with them, Mayor Prince Charming is forced to regard that as an act of war.
But alongside the Arabic situation, Charming and Deputy Mayor Beauty have to deal with their own residents who are fed up with the way that Charming is running Fabletown. While Beast has gotten used to his role as sheriff, Charming is still regretting his decision to unseat King Cole as the mayor. The political intrigue is just as interesting as ever as Charming is forced to deal two very unhappy camps.
The 4-issue Arabian Fables arc is followed by a 2-part story that takes place in the Arabian Homelands, and is told from the perspective of two of the Adversary's wooden servants. The wooden soldiers of the Empire were introduced in March of the Wooden Soldiers, and we saw them as exceptionally powerful and merciless footsoldiers. Well, after seeing things from their point of view, we learn that our original assessment of them was completely right. However, two subjects, a soldier named Rodney and a nurse named June begin to show human emotions, which are regarded by the wooden soldiers as being among the worst things that have to do with being human. The wooden soldiers discuss at length their disgust with humanity; humans must eat (shoving dead animal and plant matter into one hole), must excrete waste material (out of another hole), must sleep one third of each day, and are easily injured. However, the story of Rodney and June is both moving and bizarre, and the conclusion may have many consequences for the residents of Fabletown.
Arabian Nights (and Days) may be the best collection of Fables since March of the Wooden Soldiers. While there is no major revelation, many potential future storylines are set up in these 6 issues, and numerous moments of character development occur, one of which may cause a lot of trouble between two characters.
A Great Read July 27, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Fables is arguably the finest comic being produced today. This volume continues the stellar work of both Willingham and Buckingham as writer and artist, respectively. The fun of this series is seeing characters we all knew of as a child brought to life in modern times.
This volume brings to town the Arabian Fables, lead by the fair and noble Sinbad. The Arabian Fables are trying to negotiate an agreement to bring their people over to our "Mundy" world. Willingham's humor is at its best when these two cultures clash while negotiating, especially over whether slaves should be allowed.
I wasn't a big fan of the last two issues from this volume, the only two issues in this collection not drawn but Buckingham. Actually, it wasn't the art that I disliked, but rather I thought the story wasn't as original as some of the other issues and that it could have been told in a single issue without losing any of its effictiveness. I thought the art style was very clean and fit the overall tone of the series very well, it just wasn't a story that needed two issues.
Overall, though, that last point was just nit-picking. This book is a great read and, if you haven't read any of the previous books, start at volume one because you won't be disappointed.
 Doesn't Live Up.... July 31, 2006
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I'm a tremendous fan of the "Fables" series of graphic novels, and eagerly await each new installment. With the central concept -- the characters of fable and fairy tale, driven from their homes by an evil tyrant, now live in secret among us normal folk -- author Bill Willingham and artist Mark Buckingham continue to outdo themselves with bizarre plot turns and a massive, wonderful cast of immortal refugees. That said...I didn't dig this seventh installment quite as much. It has the same flair as the rest of the series, but the two stories are detours from the main plotline, and my favorite characters have minimal screen time. After "March of the Wooden Soliders" (definitely the best in the series so far), the plot got a makeover that doesn't entirely agree with me. I hope they get things back on track soon.
"Arabian Nights and Days" continues the second chapter of the series, after the power shift that occured in Volume 5, "The Mean Seasons." Prince Charming is the mayor of the hidden Fabletown community in New York City, and is learning the hard way that when you're mayor, you have to do more than attend fancy dinners and get laid. Beauty and the Beast are his deputy and sheriff, respectively. Former deputy Snow White is raising her kids at the non-human Fabletown in upstate New York, former sheriff (and father of Snow's kids) Big Bad Wolf is MIA, and Charming has enlisted Mowgli (y'know, from "The Jungle Book") to track down the wolf.
The main story in Vol. 7 focuses on the sudden arrival of Sinbad (of "Arabian Nights" fame), who comes to Fabletown with his entire harem in tow. Seems the Arabian fables are evacuating their homelands in advance of an invasion from the evil Adversary. Sinbad is their diplomat, but his arrival in the US sparks a massive clash of cultures. (Concubines are bad? Why?) Even worse, Sinbad brought a djinn (aka a genie) with him, and as Fabletown's head witch explains, djinns are the magic equivalent of WMDs. Any three wishes you want? What if the wrong person rubs the lamp? Unfortunately, this particular conflict resolves itself in a very lame, anticlimactic way. Call me crazy, but I think this series works best when the heroes get to kick butt. That doesn't happen here. Although there are some clever/ironic digs at the current situation in Iraq and some good jokes about the culture gap, this story made me ache for the main storyline. I miss the Big Bad Wolf!
SPOILER WARNING!
This volume also includes a two-issue story about an unconventional love affair between Rodney and June, two sentient wooden mannequins serving the forces of evil. (In the series' craziest twist, the evil Adversary turned out to be Gepetto the puppetmaker.) Because they're made of wood, Rodney and June can't exactly realize their love for each other, but their determination to be together leads them on quite a journey. Sorry, but I didn't really care. Again, good writing and execution (the drawing is by guest artist Jim Fern), but a blah story.
I liked this book, but I wish Willingham would get back to the interesting stuff. There's things I'm dying to know. Will Boy Blue get over Little Red Riding Hood? Will Pinocchio side with his rotten father? Are there more traitors lurking in the fables' midst? Is Goldilocks really dead? And what about that reporter dude who discovered the fables' existence? I have high hopes for Volume 8, which will focus on Mowgli's search for the Big Bad Wolf. Sounds like it'll be blast. With "Arabian Nights and Days," it felt more like a muffled thud.
 An introduction to the next phase in the war August 11, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Arabian Nights" is as good as any of the books in the Fables series, but the entire sequence read like a prelude to future volumes. Nothing happens in this latest installment to significantly impact the war against the Adversary, nor are there any major changes in the established cast, though we see a lot of new characters introduced who will no doubt play major roles in the future.
There are basically two stories in this volume. The first concerns the arrival of a delegation of Arabian Fables in New York, led by Sinbad. We've seen references to non-European Fable lands in previous volumes and knew that the Adversary had already begun his invasion of the worlds of the Arabian Fables. Now we learn that the Arabian Fables are quite aware of the threat, but still have not decided whether or not to ally themselves with the Fables who have fled to Earth.
There are a lot of culture clashes and the requisite amount of treachery and bloodshed, along with a few subplots highlighting the personal lives of Beast, Beauty, Prince Charming, the Frog Prince, and Red Riding Hood. (As a side note, I personally found the resolution of the Djinn threat to be rather lame -- it is introduced as the magical equivalent of a nuclear weapon, but resolved in an anticlimactic manner in which Willingham seems to be making up new magical rules just to get himself out of a plot bind.)
The second story is about two wooden soldiers serving the Empire in a unit that is establishing a beachhead on an Arabian Fable world. We get another glimpse inside the Empire and learn more about the wooden soldiers, and these two individuals are obviously being set up as recurring characters whom we'll see in future volumes.
Fables August 16, 2006
2 out of 9 found this review helpful
The Fables series continues to get better and better. This is clearly evident in Fables vol.7.
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