I’d previously decided not to buy Bill Willingham’s Fables. Sons of Empire, volume 9 of Fables, made me decide to not even get it out of the library. I am no longer Willingham’s audience—actually, I haven’t been for a couple of volumes, but I can no longer ignore it.
The last straw for me was the title arc, which boils down to a glamorization of not just war, but violent conquest taken to the extreme. It made my skin crawl. (The continued stereotyping of Arabian Fables, in the last episode, was just a bonus, as it were.)
All hail libraries, because I’d be really bitter if I’d spent money on this series to have it turn out this way.
“The last straw for me was the title arc, which boils down to a glamorization of not just war, but violent conquest taken to the extreme.”
Can you go into a little more detail?
I don’t know how spoilery you want things here, so not to comment, but I don’t get that reaction out of the two lines of description from that arc.
Richard: hope you’re still around. I’m not quite sure if you’ve read the arc, but I can’t explain what I mean without spoiling it. It’s not exactly plot-ful, but nevertheless, I’ll ROT-13 it (see sidebar):
ng n tngurevat bs gur nqirefnel’f uvturfg nqivfbef, gur fabj dhrra chgf sbegu n cyna gb pbzcyrgryl jvcr bhg uhznavgl, qrfpevorq va tencuvp qrgnvy. cvaabpuvb qvffhnqrf gubfr nffrzoyrq ol qrfpevovat, nyfb va tencuvp qrgnvy, gur erfcbafr bs uhznavgl: gur oehgny (vzntvarq fbyvqre: “gur ehyrf bs ratntrzrag ner jvqr bcra . . . . Nalbar abg shyyl naq pbaivapvatyl cebfgengr va gbgny fheeraqre vf n dhnyvsvrq gnetrg”) naq creznarag pbadhrfg (cvaabpuvb: “pbzzba sbbg-fbyqvref sebz gur zhaql jbeyq jvyy orpbzr gur arj tragel bs n zvyyvba gval xvatqbzf”) bs gur rzcver.
The way this is described gave me the unshakable impression that I was intruding on someone’s pornographic fantasies.
I’m still here, and I have read the arc.
V nffhzr, ohg pbhyq or jebat, gung vg’f Cvaabpuvb’f qrfpevcgvba gung lbh svaq ceboyrzngvp?
V frr (sebz na va-punenpgre crefcrpgvir) Cvaabpuvb’f erfcbafr, juvpu vf qrfpevorq va tencuvp qrgnvy, nf whfg uvz qbvat uvf orfg gb zngpu gur Fabj Dhrra’f ivfvba. Gur Fabj Dhrra’f cyna jnf bire gur gbc va snibe bs gur Nqirefnel, fb Cvabppuvb pbzrf onpx bire gur gbc va erfcbafr.
Nqqvgvbanyyl, Cvabppuvb’f qrcvpgvba bs gur vainfvba fgevxrf zr nf qryvevbhfyl tbbsl. Favcref, fbeprebef, tvnagf, rgp. Sebz gur nhgubevny-snagnfl cbvag bs ivrj, V fhccbfr V whfg pna’g vzntvar nalbar snagnfvmvat nobhg na bhe-gvzryvar zvyvgnel vainfvba bs n snagnfl xvatqbz, ceb be pba. Creuncf V’z jebat.
Uvf qrfpevcgvba qbrf unir bar vagrerfgvat vagreany synj, gubhtu; n fretrnag va bar bs gur cynarf frthrf qverpgyl sebz rkcynvavat ubj gurl jba’g unir nal ceboyrzf jvgu zntvp rgp. vagb rkcynvavat gung fubbgvat Ovtol jbhyq yvxryl unir ab rssrpg…
Richard: I apologize, I was unclear. It was the authorial choices made in portraying the character’s description, combined with my recollection of Bigby’s comment in issue 50 about Israel, and Willingham’s external comments expressing the same view, that gave me that impression.