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Thursday, May 1, 2014

Tons of "Fables" News: Movie Update, Willingham Teases End Of Series Details, the Fables Game "Levels Up" + Bonus Awesome Cosplay

Bigby Wolf & Snow White of Fables, "The Wolf Among Us" video game cosplay by Saskeks-Cosplay
The Fables movie news is pretty small but very significant. Warners is now in direct competition with Disney, now that Disney has bought Marvel so the amp up on superhero movies is expected and speculated on. The big question is, since it's Warner's property: will they be doing a Wonder Woman movie? The answer is "not yet" because there are a bunch of others already in production ahead in the cue, including...
...several other movies in development unconnected to the Justice League that are based on DC superheroes and fantasy and crime titles from its Vertigo line of genre comics, said Mr. Silverman and Toby Emmerich, president of Warner’s New Line Cinema label. They include “Shazam,” “Metal Men,” “100 Bullets,” and “Fables.” (Wall Street Journal)
What does that tell you? That Warners are confident enough in how the Fables movie is going that it's been put forward as a major property, currently in active development, and that other likely-to-be-hot properties (aka Wonder Woman) are going to have to wait their turn until after Fables is complete (or at least well established in actual production).

AKA: it's very good news! At least, that's where it stands right now, anyway. These things change so quickly but for the present it's full steam ahead on another fairy tale film of major proportions. *fistpump*

And regarding the long-running, critically acclaimed, Eisner Award-winning, fan-favorite comic book series, Fables ,wrap -up (cue wailing and gnashing of teeth), here's a little teaser that came out on Monday (April 29th), care of ComicBookMovie.com and DC All Access:
In this exclusive clip from DC All Access, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham reminisce about their long running Vertigo fantasy series and share some hints on where it's going in its final year. Plus, look for an exclusive announcement about Fables #150 and the final arc of Fables!
Did they just say "I guess there MIGHT BE A POSSIBILITY of returning to those (surviving) characters..."? I hear more fairy tale possibilities for the future care of Willingham & Co... *double fistpump!*

By the way, the images are cosplay for the TellTale Games video game Fables prequel The Wolf Among Us. The talented cosplayers are Saskeks-Cosplay team and aren't the only cosplay I've seen for the game (though their comicbook-line approach is pretty cool and unique). And you know what they say about cosplay, right? OK, I don't know what the phrase is exactly but it's akin to someone tattooing one of your characters on their body. It's considered a "level-up". 
Note: the most recent episode of The Wolf Among Us, A Crooked Mile, is getting amazing reviews. It's been called addicting and akin to The Walking Dead (which TellTale Games won Game of the Year for last year). The Wolf Among Us seemed to slump slightly with the second chapter but people are revved all over again and demanding the next chapter release dates be moved up. (I'm sure they're adding a pretty please in there somewhere... with bared fangs..)

Additional sources: HERE & HERE (and a ton of other reviews from gamers - official and amateur)

8 comments:

  1. Hmm . . . I still haven't written anything about Fables on my blog, despite it being such a huge "fairy tale geek" thing. Probably because I always had mixed feelings about Fables. I thought the idea was great, but I always had trouble warming up to the characters. We'll see how the movie does, or if it happens at all. I remember that they announced that a Fables TV show was in production at ABC years ago but then it never happened and Once Upon a Time came out instead. The entire comic book fan community pretty much lost it's, um, composure over that because they thought ABC was pulling a fast one.

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    1. OUABlog has been following Fables for a long time now (click the "Fables-Willingham" tab to catch up) and if you look into it a little more you'd be surprised to see what depth of knowledge of fairy tale Willingham has. He's an avid researcher of both the popular and obscure, the European and many more diverse cultures' fairy tales as well. As a "fairy tale geek" you really need to look into the series more and understand what an accomplishment it is on behalf of keeping fairy tales in circulation in pop culture (even if it's not to your taste necessarily. Borrow the Fables Encyclopedia - it will give you a good overview without having you wade through the stories or comics if you'd rather not). It has a battered history with trying to get a TV series and/or movie happening, though fans-and-beyond have been enthusiastic every time. (Even Henson had a go at it at one point, without success but I'm kind of glad that didn't pan out. That would have been... weird.) The current development at Warner's is the furthest forward any live action property of Fables has ever gotten and with TellTale's Game proving the franchise has managed to reach an even wider audience now, the enthusiasm to make it happen in the money circles is the highest it's been as well. Translated: this is more likely than not at this point, though it's clear they're not rushing it either, which is good. It's a very complex property to make into a 2ish hour movie.
      Re the community freaking out at OUAT, it was understandable and it took Willingham having a sit-down, heart to heart with the creators about it and then writing a self-imposed Q&A for his fans so they would back off. (Pretty sure I blogged on it at one point and linked to everything.) Now that OUAT has revealed itself to be basically a prime time soap with fancy costumes and magic (complete with a very convenient reset button), Fables fans don't see OUAT as trying to take it's place anymore, which is good. Fables is definitely more complex and adult and the writers are way better at understanding the old tales and researching their myths. They also don't care about 'pretty' so much, though their artists are pulled from the best in the business.
      If you want to have another go at Fables, I suggest starting at the beginning, with issue 1, and reading them in order via the volumes, which contain approx 10 issues each. (I have a reading guide available at the tab FABLES 411, which will be getting an update shortly as well, to add more recent issues.) The volumes present the artwork beautifully and you get more of the 'throughline' as a result too. I also recommend Peter and Max. While the writing craft isn't the best I've seen, the storytelling overall is good and you get a very good feel for the Fables world and characters as well, even though it's a stand-alone novel.
      Good luck! Looking forward to your eventual post. ;)

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    2. I know about Fables. I read Fables for about 11 volumes of graphic novels before I decided to stop (around the time the Emperor got dethroned). I always thought it was well-written, well-drawn and well-researched but I could never call it a favorite because I never found any of the main cast all that likable. I know there were people who loved Bigby, but he didn't do much for me. Wasn't crazy about Snow White either. They turned Jack into a complete scumbag, which upset my inner child greatly. The one character who I actually liked was Flycatcher. His idealism and tendency toward pacifism really drew me in. Otherwise, there was no one I was really rooting for. I knew it was a good book but I just couldn't "geek out" over it. I wanted a fairy tale comic that would absolutely rock my socks off, but it didn't. I wouldn't give it a negative review because of that, though.

      I'll probably write something about it for next week considering people are likely talking about it "now". Have to strike while the iron's hot, y'know.

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    3. I get where you're coming from. It's definitely not for everyone and is a little vague on clear heroes at times (which is one of the reasons it should translate well to live action, as long as the actors are good enough to layer the subtleties). I'm glad they changed the plan for Flycatcher and kept him alive as well plus bonus points for the pathos in his backstory! (for those who are reading the exchange but don't know, he was originally supposed to die shortly after his first appearance).

      Sounds like you have the good beginnings of a post there (above) already and I think it's a good idea to let people know what you don't like as much as what you do. That's why we like to read a variety of reviews before we buy, right? ;) It also sounds like you might have some ideas of "a fairy tale comic that would rock my socks off". Have you given any thought to writing one? I'll bet you have some great ideas...

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    4. Well, I suppose I was just afraid of having to do a negative post eventually. But then, this theoretical post wouldn't necessarily be negative as much as it would just admit that just because something is objectively good doesn't mean I necessarily love it.

      I also acknowledge that maybe I'm just kind of immature. Why do I say this? Well, there are three properties out there with similar concepts: Fables, Once Upon a Time and Sisters Grimm. Fables is very mature but never really lit my fire. Once Upon a Time is more family-friendly and even a bit adolescent with its melodrama, and I've admitted to having issues with it. Sisters Grimm is a children's book series and for some reason I just love it to death.

      Anyway, I did have an idea that I thought would be fun as a webcomic or something. It was something along the lines of a comic about a school for fairy tales characters, but that idea seems a little well-used at the moment. But anyway, keeping in mind what I said above, if I did write a fairy tale comic it would probably be aimed at a younger audience. Not in a Disney way, but more like Sisters Grimm or The School for Good and Evil. I should say that my favorite fairy tale comic right now is a webcomic called Erstwhile and all it does is adapt less famous Grimm's fairy tales. Sometimes, that's all I need.

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    5. Erstwhile is indeed awesome. I hope they continue with the series for years to come!

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