Jack of Fables

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title = Jack of Fables
comic_color =background:#c0c0c0


caption =
schedule = Monthly
format = Ongoing series
publisher = Vertigo Comics
date = 2006-present
issues =
main_char_team = Jack Horner
past_current_color=background:#5be85b
writers = Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges
artists = Tony Akins, Andrey Pepoy, James Jean
pencillers =
inkers =
colorists =
creative_team_month =
creative_team_year =
creators = Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges
TPB = The (Nearly) Great Escape
ISBN = 1401212220

"Jack of Fables" is a spin-off of the comic book "Fables", both published by DC Comics as part of that company's Vertigo imprint. It shows the adventures of Jack Horner after his exile from Fabletown. A preview of the series was shown in "Fables" #50, and the series itself debuted in July 2006. It is written by "Fables" writer Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges.

Plot

The series follows Jack's adventures following his time in Hollywood where he successfully completed a hugely popular series of movies based on himself and his life. However, he had his power and money stripped from him by Fabletown authorities.

In the first issue Jack was abducted whilst hitch-hiking across America and taken to the Golden Boughs Retirement Village, where he is essentially held prisoner. Following his first encounter with Revise, he then plans and executes the first successful breakout from the Golden Boughs. While some of the escapees were captured or killed, many are now free and on the run from Revise's team.

Following his escape, Jack met up with some other refugees in the Rocky Mountains and hid there, until he made his way to Las Vegas. After meeting up with the Pathetic Fallacy, he decided to swindle The Grande Duche de Luxembourg casino, only to find a bride in Holly Wagner, the daughter of the owner. Tragically, Holly and her father were killed by Belgian mobsters working under the orders of Lady Luck.

After the events in Las Vegas, Jack and Gary are captured again by Priscilla Page who already captured Wicked John. After a fight between Jack and John starts in the van, it crashes off the road into a the Grand Canyon. After recovering from the crash, Jack, Gary and Priscilla are sitting near a campfire, when a mysterious man appears plunges plunges the sword Excalibur through Jack's chest and dies shortly thereafter. Once John appears with the Gertrude (Priscilla's assistant), Gary explains that Jack is actually a copy of John and Jack, delighted with the news, pulls Excalibur out of his chest and impales John with it. Raven shows up after that and the party decides to move out of the canyon while leaving John behind (as the sword would draw too much attention to his Fable nature) but Jack, Raven and Gary soon ditch Priscilla and Gertrude and end up in a motel near the interstate in New Mexico.

During these events, Hillary Page cooks up a plan to venture in the Fable Land of Americana and blackmails Paul Bunyan to go with her.

In the motel, Jack does the impossible, and puts Humpty Dumpty (who had died during the Golden Bough breakout) back together again. Jack explains he brought the Humpty Dumpty parts with him, as Humpty promised to lead Jack to a hidden treasure. The treasure lies in Americana, so the foursome breach the magical border by jumping on the Great Train and bump into Hillary and Paul Bunyan.

Once in Americana, they find out that the man Hillary thought to be her father, the "Bookburner", isn't and that he holds a grudge against Revise for stealing her away from him. He sends Natty Bumpo and Slue-Foot Sue after them until they finally shake them off and end up on the spot where Humpty's hidden treasure lies. In the end, Humpty and Hillary are captured by the Bookburner and he begins his march against the Golden Boughs.

The first issue also sees the return of Goldilocks, who seemingly died in a much earlier issue of "Fables".

tory

An important location for the series is the Golden Boughs Retirement Village, named after Sir James George Frazer's "The Golden Bough", a wide-ranging comparative study of mythology and religion. Despite its innocuous name, not all the residents live there voluntarily. In the first issue Jack is abducted to there while hitch-hiking.

torylines

Four storylines have been published/announced so far for the series; The (Nearly) Great Escape was the first one, detailing Jack's capture and time in the Golden Boughs.

Jack of Hearts recounts his brief tenure as Jack Frost as well as his trip to Las Vegas after escaping from the Golden Boughs.

The story titled The Bad Prince, as a counterpart to the Fables storyline, The Good Prince, and involves Jack in the tale of the Sword in the Stone, with Jack as the stone.

Following this, the current story is to focus on Americana, which is described in issue seventeen as "the American Fable land".

Critical reaction

"Time" magazine's Lev Grossman named it one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007, ranking it at #5. [ [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686244_1692139,00.html Grossman, Lev; Top 10 Graphic Novels; time.com] ]

Collected editions

References