Fables, where fairy tale characters have fled to the real world to survive the conquering of their own realities, is a large series, ongoing as I write this, past eleven volumes.
I like much of the ideas and re-working of fairy tales, but again, I am left feeling there is too much obviousness and not enough craft or cleverness, no subtle nods, and when a metaphor is used it is usually pointed out to us, rather than left to our intelligence to garner for ourselves.
The art is decent, but rarely, except for moments here and there, excels or makes us think wow. Never mind Wow. Which is a shame, as this takes the idea that Moore's League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen began, of using fictional characters as real, and pushes it further, and into new territory.
In this particular volume, it improves on the previous beginning volume, bringing more characters in, being more riske than before. But it misses obvious and interesting methods of doing things. The background of any given panel should be packed to the gills with references and hints, allusions and intrigue. Instead, either due to the writer's lack of ideas (or spreading of them out over a series) or the artist's lack of ability to convey many layers at once (some pictures often look flat and depthless), we have simple ideas presented simply.
To take on such a field is bold, and I want more than I have been given. I will keep reading the series because it has just enough worth and enjoyment to give me hope it will grow into what it could and should be. Multilayered, sophisticated and beautiful.