Fairest #28 – Review

By: Mark Buckingham (story), Russ Braun (art), Lee Loughridge (colors)

The Story: Has Reynard found his rebound girl?

The Review: In what has to be a burst of psychological insight—or stating the obvious, you decide—I’ve realized why Reynard is so determined to make it with this human thing. The fact is he never needed a human body to succeed in anything; he was doing quite well without before he got his glamour. Being a handsome man is really only necessary for one thing: attracting the ladies. Small wonder that he thinks finding a woman to love is key to unlocking his potential as a man.

You might say it’s his final challenge, the last thing he needs to stand aside the likes of, say, Prince Charming. There’s really just one thing getting in his way: he’s not Prince Charming, which is to say that he doesn’t have Charming’s shameless addiction to conquest. His audacious move on Snow is driven by ignorance of human mores rather than lust, which makes his poor reception that much more pathetic. Reynard likes to be of service, but he won’t get that chance chasing after strong, independent women.

Which is why Meghan, our Cajun Cinderella, seems like his perfect match. Orphaned and slaving away out of a misguided sense of obligation to her Uncle Bobby and Cousin Joey, she’s in a much better position to appreciate the tuxedoed man who fell out of the sky with flowers in his hand (“Thank you, thank you, thank you!“). It’s not just the romantic and sexual escape he provides, although there’s definitely that; it’s his eagerness to please, requesting a needle and thread to patch up his own suit and offering to help with her many chores around the place. And once Bobby and Joey catch on to his existence, he gets his opportunity to be the hero he’s bragged about being.

Meanwhile, the trouble his boasts helped brew last issue continues to simmer resentfully. Despite the Witches’ decision to offer five glamours for the non-human Fables to share by lottery, some continue to mutter about injustice—mostly Sunflower. He’ll have even more to grumble about once it comes out that Riding Hood and Flycatcher are manipulating the lottery to ensure that one Mr. Webb, the spider from the Little Miss Muffet story, gets first crack at a glamour. While Buckingham manages to get you invested in Webb’s state (“[He] always felt needed…but not wanted or loved. It’s not easy when you’re a giant spider.”) and his troubled marriage to Mrs. Webb (nee Muffet), there’s just one major plot hole Buckingham completely fails to explain: how Webb got and lost his first human form. That seems to be a pretty important point to just skip over.

Anyway, this whole shared glamour thing seems like much more trouble than it’s worth. There are quite a lot of Fables clamoring for one, which means the duration of each glamour will be a huge logistical pain in the future. Think about Mr. Webb; his marriage is falling apart and a temporary human body isn’t going to save it. There’s a long-term solution to all their problems, though none seem ready to face it yet. Sunflower narrates that some non-human Fables “live in the Homelands, and therefore can already travel more freely than Fable animals in the mundane world. Lucky buggers.” So why bother with all this glamour nonsense? Go back to your Homeland and bandy about all you want!

Braun’s art fits in perfectly with the Fables, being at once fun and cheerful, yet also well-rendered. He can capture the cartoony silliness of the dour Sunflower, but also take it back a notch so that the dramatic scenes play a little more convincingly—even if it’s the tears of a massive spider as he watches his wife tearfully depart. Braun’s art invites you to not overthink the story and just enjoy yourself, which you do.

Conclusion: The integrity of the narrative could use some tightening, but it’s a fun read, nonetheless.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Well, it’s kind of nice to think that both Meghan and Reynard are having their first time with each other. Them’s just good Christian values.

– Sunflower is precisely the kind of ungrateful citizen you don’t mind disappointing. This is why I shy away from politics.