Fables - Werewolves of the Heartland [Hardcover]

I'm a big enough fan to own all the Fables graphic novels so I just automatically preordered this one. Well, it was a Bigby the wolf solo story according to the cover and the blurb and that was enough for me to feel it was worth the money. Whoops, big mistake on my part. The first problem is the artwork, the series regular cover and interior artists are missing and it makes everything seem off. None of the characters carry the weight they generally do so all the story beats you would recognize from the other books are missing visually and the art is a bit weak.

The blame can't land on the artist alone though. The story is very weak, there's really not anything else to find out other than what you see on the cover. Bigby runs into a bunch of other wolves that seem similar to him and he has to fight them.... and there is a blonde to protect. It sounds throwaway and derivative because it is, there's no sense of reason or consequence to anything and I could not find anything to care about. For a series fan, this should be as much of a slamdunk as finding a 4th Eastwood / Leone western, but it's just stale rote.

In short, the story forms a thin grasping link between Bigby's WW2 adventure that acts as the precursor to a town full of werewolves that are related to him. They've been doing their thing in the heart of America for a few decades without any clear plan or purpose other than to be waiting around for Bigby to wander by so he can kill most of them and lament the poorer choices others with some of his abilities and none of his strengths have made before wandering off again. The whole thing is like an unfinished sentence, a half formed idea or partially remembered dream.... ie, terribly unsatisfying and a bit embarrassing once you try to share it with someone else and realize how little there was to the thing other than your personal feelings about it.

I wouldn't expect that it will relate in any meaningful way to future Fable stories beyond a one sentence reference to 'that town with the werewolves I ran into last year' in a grasping attempt to make series fans like myself run out and buy a book they don't need. So if you are wondering if you need to pick this up because it ties into something else that might be important to the ongoing story.... I seriously doubt you need to worry, save your money and buy the Fables Covers by James Jean instead, its fantastic, this isn't.

It pains me to say this being a HUGE Fables fan but this stand-alone graphic novel "Werevolves of the Heartland" may be the single worst entry in the ENTIRE Fables canon. It's THAT weak. The concept is interesting enough: Bigby Wolf encounters a sleepy, Normal Rockwellesque little hamlet in the Midwest populated by werevolves who worship him as a God and have a mysterious connection to his past.

When I first read that tagline I thought "Sweet"! But then I got the book and that's where the hijinks ended and my tears began. The writing is mediocre...huge chunks of the story are told in blocky, awkward narration. "Show, Don't Tell" is apparently a technique this writer never learned in Generic Writing School. The entire first fourth of the book is basically a retelling, almost page by page, of a story we have ALREADY read before in the main Fables story. If this had been a monthly it would mean that basically the first issue would have been a retread. I would have seen red if I had bought it.

The story is riddled with plot holes. One of the key characters regenerates after being burnt to a crisp because of his werewolf blood...but later in the book it's shown that actually werewolves are terrified of fire because it's one of the few things that can hurt them! Say what? What an amateurish mistake.

Bigby meets an old friend, who confesses to terrible, savage crimes and he just shrugs it off as if it was no big deal. This character's wife by the way, is an old enemy of Bigby which he despised deeply...but apparently he's forgotten all about it since it's never mentioned again. The depiction of this couple's first meetings and eventual joining together to create a werewolf town are so terribly written you will struggle not to laugh.

The only redeeming feature of this work is the art. It's nice and original...reminds me a lot of a discount P. Craig Russell. However, even the art is not without its faults since inexplicably the artist chooses to illustrate every single inhabitant of Wolf Town in the exact same Aryan way so you'll basically have no idea who's who.

Not that it matters. Only 13 year olds would be engrossed by this story. I lost interest in the 10th page and just read it the whole thing because of a grim determination to getting my money's worth. Quite frankly I cannot wait to donate this to a local library and get it out of my sight.

Do not recommend in any way, shape or form.

P.S. I just remembered another thing about the art: near the end of the story...for absolutely NO REASON at all a different artist draws two pages. It's jarring enough to make you wince and I have no idea why it happened. Usually fill in artists are hired to illustrate monthly books because the main artist is behind on schedule. This graphic novel wasn't a monthly publication. It's a stand-alone work written and drawn completely before release. Why in God's name would they need a fill-in artist? This just add to the overall amateurish aspect of the whole thing.

For those Fables fans who wondered what Bigby was up to when he was sent out on his mission to find a new place to settle Fabletown: Bill Willingham delivers with this story.

However, the art is something else entirely. Detail inconsistencies between pages (or lack there-of) and colors between panels. (Trying to avoid spoilers, so I will stay as unspecific as possible.) At one point, I felt they had just blown two smaller panels up, to be full two-page panels, in order to increase the page count. Although the story itself was great, it was hard to follow at times because of the quality of the art and layout.

I hold Fables up to a higher standard than I would other comics. It is, without a doubt, my favorite comic book series. Fables has won 14 Eisner Awards, and honestly, I expect a better drawn book. (Something at least in line with the rest of the series.) However, I still feel let down after waiting over a year to read Werewolves of the Heartland. The drawings felt rushed. This is the first time I have rated a Fables anywhere below 5 stars.

I would not recommend this story for those new to Fables. Start with TPB #1, and move yourself forward to this point in the story. Graphic violence and a lot of nudity as well, so keep away from younger audiences. Again, great story, and less to be desired art (from something within the Fables universe.)However, still worth a read, so dive in.