Fables Vol 2: Animal Farm

Fables Vol 2: Animal Farm (2003) Bill Willingham

Fables who can’t pass as human live on “The Farm”, where they are hidden from the mundanes. Every year Snow White, the assistant mayor of Fabletown, visits “The Farm” to see how things are going. This year she takes her sister, Rose Red, partially as part of her community services after her escapades in Legends in Exile, and partially because Snow White wants to try and work things out with her sister. When Snow White and Rose Red arrive that “The Farm” they realize that all is not right, and that those fables who can’t pass are plotting to return back to the homelands to fight the adversary who took over their homes and forced them into exile.

I enjoyed this story for many different reasons. I liked Rose Red much better than I did in Legends in Exile; I liked the way Snow White reacted to everything and her solutions to her problems; I liked that we got to see more of the fables; and I really liked Reynard the Fox.

Okay, Shere Kahn was cool too.

Again, I really enjoyed the story, and again I don’t think I fully appreciated the artwork. However, I did go back through a second time, and caught things in the art that I’d missed the first time. I’m impressed with the story, and I like the fact that the first two volumes are self-contained (as we all know, I hate cliff-hangers and waiting to find out what happens) and although there remains the idea that the Fables will eventually need to face the Adversary and return to their lands, and although they may have taken another step towards that, the story within Animal Farm is complete, and I really like that.
Rating: 8/10

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