By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/20/2016
Well that didn’t take too long. Bill Willingham’s beloved Fables series wrapped up last summer with issue #150, but the franchise is continuing at Vertigo with EVERAFTER: FROM THE PAGES OF FABLES, a new monthly book by writers Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus, with artwork by Travis Moore and covers by Tula Lotay – the […]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 6/20/2016
Well that didn’t take too long. Bill Willingham’s beloved Fables series wrapped up last summer with issue #150, but the franchise is continuing at Vertigo with EVERAFTER: FROM THE PAGES OF FABLES, a new monthly book by writers Matthew Sturges and Dave Justus, with artwork by Travis Moore and covers by Tula Lotay – the […]
By: Candy Gourlay,
on 11/1/2015
By Nick Cross
By: Jennie,
on 8/20/2015
I've been reading a lot of comics this summer, and it's the greatest.
But also, I've been reading some new series!
What comics are you reading?
Books Provided by... my local library, except for Fables, which I bought.
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 8/7/2015
You know, maybe the narrative about Dark Horse losing the Star Wars license to Marvel wasn’t DH’s loss but Marvel’s gain: sales of Star Wars comics seem to be what’s propelling them to stay on top by a comfortable margin. But Secret Wars #4 was the #1 comics of the monht—the Fables wrap up in the trade […]
By: [email protected],
on 7/7/2015
Today I thought I’d take a closer look at the differences between fables and parables and come up with some recommendations for readers of all ages who enjoy a little learning with their leisure. A fable is: a short story that conveys a moral to the reader, typically with animals as characters. A parable is: a short story designed […]
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By: [email protected],
on 5/31/2015
‘Narragunnawali’ – peace, alive, wellbeing and coming together. A word that lies at the heart of Reconciliation in Schools and Early Learning and aims to ‘increase respect; reduce prejudice and strengthen relationships between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.’ With National Reconciliation Week in full swing (27 May to 3 […]
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By: Kurtis Scaletta,
on 5/6/2015
A while back I blogged about an Ursula K. Le Guin story that injects ants with human consciousness and modern human values, and opined that I would like to see a story that didn’t see eusocialism as oppressive — I think we can learn from these little citizens. I have since (while doing immersion tasks on Duolingo) found exactly that story in the form of a fable by author Horacio Quiroga, which seems to be a testament to the responsibilities of an individual to her community above personal will. The ending seems dead serious, but the story seems to have an ironic bent, too, in its didacticism against intelligence (even as cleverness and learning saves the bee heroine).
This story is closer than the Le Guin, at least, to understanding the eusocial colony of insects. I particularly like the use of “sister” as greeting among bees in the hive, since they would be sisters, as well as carrying the flavor of fellow travelers in the early 20th Century, when the fable was written. I have not read enough Quiroga to know his intent but the era and the location make it more likely that he was sympathetic to socialism, having seen the hell foreign capitalists wrought on his continent.
It seems to be published as a picture book, in both Spanish and English, but minus it’s classic status I seriously doubt any publisher would do a children’s book with such a message against personal exceptionalism and individualism. Unwavering faith in these principles seem to cross all religious and political factions. The fable now would have to take the turn of Lionni’s Frederick, where the other bees come to love the lazy bee for her imaginative flights. For the record, I absolutely love Frederick and can barely read it without tearing up. But sometimes I feel only one side of the story is every told, and that such fables not only prevent us understanding the natural world, but from fully understanding ourselves.
What other fables about ants and bees (or other eusocial organisms) that seem to deal with the role of an individual in a society are out there?
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 1/15/2015
by Edie Nugent
Writers: Dave Justus, Matthew Sturges
Artists: Steve Sadowski, Shawn McManus, Travis Moore
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Sal Sipriano
Cover Artist: Chrissie Zullo
Editor: Rowena Yow
Publisher: Vertigo
It seems fitting that Fables: The Wolf Among Us is Vertigo’s “first ever digital-first series” according to the publisher’s website. If you can parse that distinction, meaning Vertigo has never before released a comic series in digital format prior to it’s print debut, it makes a strange sort of sense that they chose this particular series to hold the title of first-ever first digital. Fables: The Wolf Among Us #1 is a comic series based on the popular Telltale video game series of the same name, which was itself based on the 14-time Eisner award winning series from creator Bill Willingham. While the digital version of Fables: The Wolf Among Us launched in early December 2o14 and is set to release “chapter 6″ of the ongoing story today, print-format fans get a good opportunity to catch up to digital readers with Fables: The Wolf Among Us #1 as it collects the first three chapters of the digital story in this first print issue.
The comic runs very close to the story, dialogue and plot of the Telltale game while also providing additional back story and details for a more in-depth story than the game provides. Having played the first installment of the game and now read this series, I found the first three chapters to be an enjoyable read. It was a solid decision to enlist Matthew Sturges in translating the video game story to comic form, his previous work on the Fables comic series that birthed the game that served as template for the comic (is your head spinning yet?) comes through in the additional material added to chapter 1. Sturges is aided by newcomer Dave Justus in the writing department and their collaboration is seamless: all the writing seems of a piece.
The decision to set the series as a prequel to the events in the original run of Fables was a good one: it is an easily understood entry point for new readers while also rewarding faithful fans of the aforementioned comic series, which began in 2002. The concept is simple: the fairy tale characters we all know have been chased out of their Homeland by a malevolent force. They’ve escaped to our world, setting up a new home in colonial America which later becomes New York City. Some are of means and can purchase glamours to hide their non-human appearance when applicable, others cannot.
We get to see Bigby Wolf (the second “b” stands for bad) as the newly minted Sheriff of Fabletown, as he responds to a domestic violence call from Mr. Toad (Wind in the Willows fans might be a bit shocked by his language) who reports a disruption in his upstairs neighbor’s apartment. Bigby is understandably not eager to take the call, as Toad’s upstairs neighbor is The Woodsman and their last confrontation of fairy tale legend didn’t end well for Bigby . The Woodsman proves he is still the brute with an ax he was back in the Homeland, beating up a mysterious woman called Faith who has resorted to prostitution to make ends meet in our mundane world. Bigby’s efforts to subdue him, however, only serve to escalate the violence.
Faith proves to be pretty lethal herself, dispatching the Woodsman handily just as he gains the advantage in his fight with Bigby. Faith is unruffled by the proceedings, taking her injuries and unpaid work for the Woodsman in stride. Bigby takes pity on her situation, and gives her what little money he has on him to help cover the debt. He also arranges to meet up with her later to get a statement detailing her abuse after she has returned to her boss with Bigby’s cash. Of course, any character that essentially says “I’ll be right back” is in narrative danger. Charmingly, when Bigby returns to his apartment to decompress, we run into another of the Sheriff’s former enemies: one of the three little pigs is crashed out on Bigby’s couch. This pig, known as Colin, demands whiskey and chain smokes while chastising the Sheriff for his lone-wolf habits. Also featured are some of Bigby’s earliest interactions with Snow White and Beauty (who is hiding from her Beast for unknown reasons).
The art across all the issues is different enough to showcase the style of the three artists: Steve Sadowski (chapter. 1), Shawn McManus (Chapter. 2), and Travis Moore (Chapter. 3), but also cohesive enough to provide a nice continuity of design. The series will hopefully go on to introduce more of the iconic Fables characters, while also making good on the answer to the compelling mystery set out in these first three chapters of the series.
By: Franki,
on 1/15/2015
By: Andy Yates,
on 11/21/2014
DC/Vertigo’s long running title Fables has been a showcase for some of the top illustrators working in comics, today. One of the shining stars to contribute covers to the series(as well as a recent interior story) is artist Nimit Malavia. His dynamic yet delicate illustrations portray a strong sense of mood/color existing in a deep field of depth. While looking at them, you literally feel like you could fall into the page(or screen, if you prefer digital)!
Nimit’s work graces the walls of Shopify’s offices(as pictured above), and he’s done commercial work for high profile clients like 20th Century Fox, DC, and Marvel Comics, just to name a few.
Iam8bit in Los Angeles, CA is currently featuring Nimit’s art, along with 39 other artists, for a show called Sequel, where artists create movie poster art for imaginary sequels(Cowboy Bebop:The Movie was Nimit’s contribution).
You can explore more of Nimit Malavia’s art, and keep up with the latest news on his website here.
For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 10/12/2014
By David Nieves
Today during DC’s “Download This!” panel new books were announced that will expand the publisher’s digital comics universe. Wonder Woman 77 will be written Marc Andreyko with cover art contributed by Nicola Scott. No story details or interior artist were mentioned, but the comic will debut as a six-part weekly series in December with print editions to follow. The series follows Lynda Carter’s TV Wonder Woman and is a natural extension of what the publisher started when they launched Batman 66.
Fables: The Wolf Among Us spins out of the popular Telltale games series which was originally based on the Bill Willingham Fables series. The creative team on the digital comic will include Matthew Sturges who will co-write with Dave Justus with art by Steve Sadowski, Travis Moore, and Shawn McManus. Covers will be by Chrissie Zullo. This will be Vertigo’s first digital series.
Mortal Kombat X will be written Shawn Kittelsen and drawn by Dexter Soy with covers by Ivan Reis. The series serves is a prequel to the highly anticipated game of the same name by NetherRealm Studios and Warner Interactive Entertainment. The story takes place 25 years after the events of 2011’s Mortal Kombat game and will tell the stories of characters both new and old.
By: Jennie,
on 9/19/2014
Check it out! Prince Charming is alive! And back!
And that’s the best thing I can say about this volume.
After dying in the battle against the adversary, Prince Charming comes back (which we all knew he would eventually, right? He’s much too powerful) but doesn’t want to go back to the mundy and instead becomes a ruler in an Indus fable world. There he meets a woman, Nalayani, who’s come to ask for help. Her village lost all its men to the adversary and is now constantly being attacked by roaming bands and they’re about to be wiped out. Charming is also facing issues as there are those who aren’t fond of having a white foreigner ruling them.*
I do like Nalayani because she’s awesome, but she’s also a new character and not having lived with her for years, I just didn’t care as much about her as I did about Charming or some of the other Fables characters.
Charming… has lost a lot of character growth. When we first met him, he was an arrogant ass, but over the series he had mellowed and matured, but he’s reverted back to all jack-ass charm and lost what made him a deeper, more likeable character.
But here’s my real problem-- the great romances of Fables have all been a slow burn building up through multiple story arcs. If Charming is *finally* going to meet someone for him, someone “better” than Snow or Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty, we need the slow burn. We need to get to know Nalayani, we need to see them get to know each other and fall in love. The whole execution seemed rush and I never bought that Charming liked her more than he likes most awesome women, and Nalayani’s affections seem to turn on a dime. Overall, its was just really disappointing.
*this is problematic, as Charming is set up as the good guy, and those who aren’t into colonization are the bad guys. It's kinda worked out in the end, but ergh. But this whole issue is ergh, so...
Book Provided by... my wallet
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By: Jennie,
on 9/18/2014
This is a bit of a jump-back in time from where the main series is. With the “present day” happening in 2002, so the action is pretty firmly at the beginning of the series, with lots of flashback to Rapunzel’s back story.
So, like most fairy tales, Rapunzel has a dark edge that we tend not to retell. In the original, the witch discovers the prince because Rapunzel is pregnant. She casts Rapunzel into the desert where she gives birth to twins. The prince gets tangled in brambles trying to climb the tower, is blinded by the thorns and is also cast into the desert. They all wander around for like 20 years before they find each other, Rapunzel’s tears of joy cure his eyesight and only then do they all live happily-ever-after.
In the Fables world, Frau Tottenkinder is the witch that imprisoned Rapunzel. She casts her out, Rapunzel gives birth, and she’s told her children die during childbirth. She’s always known that they survived and has spent centuries searching for them. At one point, she tries to drown herself but washes up on the shores of a Japanese fable kingdom (named the Hidden Kingdom).
In the present day, she gets a message via attacking crane origami that there is news of her children. She meets up with friends and enemies from her old adopted homeland, and Tokyo’s version of Fabletown where the present is tied with the fall of the Hidden Kingdom to the adversary's forces.
I loved this one. I loved the look at Japanese mythology and fables, how they played in their homeland and how they survive in the modern Mundy world. I liked the old school “present day” with Jack running his schemes, Snow and Bigby in the business office and Frau Tottenkinder doing her thing on the 13th floor of the original building. It was a nice return to the beginning. But more than that, I loved Rapunzel’s story and her strength. We don’t see a lot of her, as she’s not allowed to leave Fabletown because of her hair and she’s been kinda shoved to the side in this series.
There’s also a tantalizing clue about the truth about her daughters, that I don’t believe we’ve seen the answer to yet. (I’m trying to rack my brain, as this happens so far in the past to see if we’ve seen them and not known it, or if they have yet to come up.)
This is my favorite volume in the Fairest spin-off series.
Book Provided by... my wallet
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
By: Jennie,
on 9/17/2014
I was so excited for the one. Tom Taylor is trying to fix Leviathan and ends up in the middle of the witches from the 13th floor of Fables (which is my favorite comic) But, in the end… ugh.
Basically, it’s an alternate Fables universe where Mr. Dark has won and the Fables are barely hanging on (most won’t survive.) This is how alternate it is--Snow White is married to Mr. Dark and they’re keeping Bigby prisoner (and Mr. Dark has conquered all of Earth and is moving on to other realms.)
As such, the witches summon the “greatest wizard who never was, but might be” and end up with Tom Taylor as a stand-in for Tommy.
Now it’s a great concept--Fables who know they’re fictional, but they’re real and living in our world intersecting with this story about the power of story and where the line between fiction and reality is, and where it blurs. And it kinda touches on it, but not nearly as much as it could have, or should have. Instead, it ends up being a dark AU piece of Fables story, in which they get Tommy, Sue, and Peter to help fight their battles. It’s a rather horrifying look* at what could have happened in Fables, and it’s so Fables-centric, I’m not really sure what’s the point of having it as an Unwritten story instead of a Fables one. The only thing it really does is end in such a dramatic fashion to set up the Unwritten reboot. Not sure what this does to all the stories and threads that we still have resolve. I kinda wonder if Carey and Gross wrote themselves into a corner and this was the only way to get out.
That said, this series has kept me guessing the entire time, so I’ll withhold final judgement until we see what happens with the reboot.(But at the moment, I'm rather discontented.)
*And given how dark Fables has been recently, that’s really saying something. ALSO, when announcing the upcoming end of Fables Willingham has said that what comes up in the Unwritten crossover has consequences and now I’m really scared.
Book Provided by... my local library
Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 9/11/2014
As noted in my Baltimore Comic-Con report for Publishers Weekly, one of the programming highlights was a two hour “The LAst Fables Panel” which united Bill Willingham, Mark BUckingham, Steve Leialoha, Todd Klein, Andrew Pepoy, Barry Kitson and special guests for a last look at the beloved comic. Klein, the logo letterer, has a fine report on the panel, which included special guests like Paul Levitz and Bob Wayne. There are also photos, such as Pepoy and Willingham above.
Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told me in my childhood than in any truth that is taught in life. ~ Johann Christoph Friedrich v. Schiller, German Poet (1759-1805) Using fairy tales, fables, and other story forms to guide and nurture our children. I’m very excited to announce the launch of my publishing site […]
By: PennyF,
on 5/15/2014
Jean de La Fontaine’s verse fables turned traditional folktales into some of the greatest, and best-loved, poetic works in the French language. His versions of stories such as “The Shepherd and the Sea” and “The Hen that Laid the Eggs of Gold” are witty and sophisticated, satirizing human nature in miniature dramas in which the outcome is unpredictable. Here we compare La Fontaine’s versions to the enduring tradition of Aesop’s fables from the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Aesop’s Fables.
THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA
Jean de La Fontaine
A neighbour of the goddess of the deep
lived free of care on earnings from his sheep,
content with what he had, which to be sure
was modest, though it was at least secure.
He liked to watch the ships return to land,
unloading treasures on the strand.
They tempted him; at last he sold his flock,
and traded all the money on the main;
he lost it when the vessel struck a rock.
The trader went to tend the flocks again,
not as the owner that he used to be,
when sheep of his had grazed beside the sea;
not Corydon or Tircis as before,
just Peterkin and nothing more.
In time he had enough, from what he gained,
to buy some of the creatures clad in fleece.
And then, when winds blew gentle and restrained,
to let the ships unload their goods in peace,
this shepherd could be heard to say:
“You want our money, Madam Sea;
apply to someone else, I pray,
for on my faith, you’re getting none from me.”
This is no idle tale that I invent;
it is the truth that I have told,
which through experience is meant
to show you that a coin you hold
is worth a dozen that you hope to see;
that with their place and rank men must agree;
that thousands would do better to ignore
the counsels of ambition and the sea,
or else they suffer; one perhaps may thrive.
The oceans promise miracles and more,
but if you trust them, storms and thieves arrive.
THE SHEPHERD AND THE SEA
Aesop
There was a shepherd tending his flocks in a place beside the sea. When he saw that the sea was calm and mild, he decided that he wanted to make a voyage. He sold his flocks and bought some dates which he loaded into a ship. He then set sail, but a fierce storm blew up and capsized the ship. The shepherd lost everything and barely managed to get to shore. Later on when the sea had grown calm once again, the shepherd saw a man on the beach praising the sea for her tranquility. The shepherd remarked, “That’s just because she’s after your dates!”
THE HEN THAT LAID THE EGGS OF GOLD
Jean de La Fontaine
Wanting it all will lose it all,
and avarice does that. So let me call,
to give some evidence for what I say,
on him who owned a chicken who would lay
(or so in fable we are told)
a golden egg each day.
Deciding that inside her she must hold
a treasure-house of gold,
he killed her, opened her, and found the same
as in the hens from which no riches came.
He had destroyed the jewel of his store.
Those people always seeking more
can learn a lesson from this dunce.
How many of them recently have passed
from wealthy man to pauper all at once
because they wanted wealth too fast!
THE MAN AND THE GOLDEN EGGS
Aesop
A man had a hen that laid a golden egg for him each and every day. The man was not satisfied with this daily profit, and instead he foolish;y grasped for more. Expecting to find a treasure inside, the man slaughtered the hen. When he found that the hen did not have a treasure inside her after all, he remarked to himself, “While chasing after hopes of a treasure, I lost the profit I held in my hands!”
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-95) followed a career as a poet after early training for the law and the Church. He came under the wing of Louis XIV’s Finance Minister, Nicolas Fouquet, and later enjoyed the patronage of the Duchess of Orléans and Mme de La Sablière. His Fables were widely admired, and he was already regarded in his lifetime as one of the greatest poets of his age. Christopher Betts was Senior Lecturer in the French Department at Warwick University. In 2009 he published an acclaimed translation of Perrault’s The Complete Fairy Tales.
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Image credit: Images from Selected Fables. Used with permission via the public domain.
The post A tale of two fables: Aesop vs. La Fontaine appeared first on OUPblog.
This collection of pithy tales is multi-layered. The stories linger in the mind the way a good poem resonates. They are ancient Chinese fables Shiho S. Nunes has expanded into longer tales.
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By: Jennie,
on 3/25/2014
So, I think the last two volumes of Fables really work together, as they have overlapping timelines for the main story, so I'm going to review them together.
Cubs in Toyland starts in the with main story right away. Therese has a toy boat that takes her to be the Queen of Toyland, but Toyland is a dark, twisted place. It's the island of Misfit toys-- toys that were all involved in the death of a child. They have hopes for a Queen that will restore them, but there is no food to sustain Therese. Meanwhile, Snow, Bigby, and Therese's brothers and sisters are frantically searching for her. One will find her, with devastating consequences.
It then moves onto some back story on Bigby Wolf, and destiny.
The first third of Snow White takes place in Oz, wrapping up the storyline of Bufkin. It's a good end to the story, and it was dragging a bit there and needed to be wrapped up, but I will miss him greatly in the lost business office of the Fabletown.
The last part of the book is where the "Snow White" title of the Omnibus comes from and covers the same amount of time, showing what's happening in New York when Therese goes missing. Now, here's a very cool thing-- the magical car that we got out the end of Fairest: Wide Awake has appeared-- so Bigby and Stinky are off through worlds, tracking the missing cubs. Meanwhile, the fencing instructor from Castle Dark? The one that Mrs. Spratt/Leigh was into? Turns out, he's Snow White's fiance, pre-Prince Charming days and he's come to claim her. Snow's having none of it, but he has some powerful magic working there. This, too, has devastating consequences.
So, I wanted to look at these together, partly because I'm super-behind on reviewing, but this time it works out, because these volumes play out so well. The main storyline in each volumes actually ends with more-or-less the same panel. (The "camera angle" is a bit different, but the scene, and dialogue, are the same.) Both storylines are heartbreaking and they both bring back some of the magic that's been lacking a bit. I wasn't a huge fan of the whole Mr. Dark storyline (I just don't think it every really got going or had the same gravitas as the Empire in terms of the Big Bad.) I think this hits at a much deeper, more emotional level in a way I think is a first for the series.
I read Cubs in Toyland a full year ago, and Toyland is so creepy, it still gives me the heebie-jeebies. I love the way the storylines play on each other-- ending Snow White with that same panel is the ultimate gut punch in a gut punch of a book. I don't know if this series has every really made me cry, but both of these did.
Also, let's give a shout-out for Ambrose Wolf. He's obviously the "loser" or the pack, but adult Ambrose plays a large narrator role in these stories, and it's great to see a glimpse of who he's going to grow into. Maybe not a hero, but a pretty great stand-up scholarly guy (with a wife I have suspicions about. Check out the color of her skin--is it because it's nighttime and it's shadow? Or is she actually green, and quite probably the Lady of the Lake?)
And, I love that the Fairest series is weaving in a bit right now. In general, I like that Fairest is about stuff outside of Fabletown, but it's weaving in in small, interesting ways. I'm intrigued.
Anyway, this whole set is super powerful and moving and I need to TALK ABOUT IT. Hit me up if you want to discuss.
Also, I had forgotten about the end story in Cubs of Toyland until I started working on this review. I have some hope about things now. If you haven't read them yet, it's very relevant to what happens in Snow White. I think. I hope.
Books Provided by... my wallet
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By: Kirsty,
on 3/13/2014
Jean de La Fontaine’s verse fables turned traditional folktales into some of the greatest, and best-loved, poetic works in the French language. His versions of stories such as ‘The Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing’ and ‘The Lion and the Fly’ are witty and sophisticated, satirizing human nature in miniature dramas in which the outcome is unpredictable. The behaviour of both animals and humans is usually centred on deception and cooperation (or the lack of it), as they cheat and fight each other, arguing about life and death, in an astonishing variety of narrative styles. To get a flavour of the fables, here are two taken from Selected Fables by Jean de La Fontaine, translated by Christopher Betts.
The Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing
A wolf had hunted sheep from local fields,
but found the hunt was giving lower yields.
He thought to take a leaf from Reynard’s book:
disguise himself by changing what he wore.
He donned a smock, and took a stick for crook;
the shepherd’s bagpipes too he bore.
The better to accomplish his design,
he would have wished, had he been able,
to place upon his hat this label:
‘My name is Billy and these sheep are mine.’
His alterations now complete,
he held the stick with two front feet;
then pseudo-Billy gently stepped
towards the flock, and while he crept,
upon the grass the real Billy slept.
His dog as well was sound asleep,
his bagpipes too, and almost all the sheep.
The fraudster let them slumber where they lay.
By altering his voice to suit his dress,
he meant to lure the sheep away
and take them to his stronghold in the wood,
which seemed to him essential to success.
It didn’t do him any good.
He couldn’t imitate the shepherd’s speech;
the forest echoed with his wolfish screech.
His secret was at once undone:
his howling woke them, every one,
the lad, his dog, and all his flock.
The wolf was in a sorry plight:
amidst the uproar, hampered by his smock,
he could not run away, nor could he fight.
Some detail always catches rascals out.
He who is a wolf in fact
like a wolf is bound to act:
of that there ’s not the slightest doubt.
The Fisherman and the Little Fish
A little fish will bigger grow
if Heaven lets it live; but even so
to set one free, and wait until it’s fat,
then try again: I see no sense in that;
I doubt that it will let itself be caught.
An angler at the river’s edge one day
had hooked a carp. ‘A tiddler still,’ he thought,
but then reflected, looking at his prey:
‘Well, every little helps to make a meal,
perhaps a banquet; in the creel
is where you’ll go, to start my store.’
As best it could, the fish replied:
‘What kind of meal d’you think that I’ll provide?
I’d make you half a mouthful, not much more.
I’ll grow much bigger if you throw me back;
then catch me later on; I’d fill a sack.
A full-grown carp’s a fish that you can sell;
some greedy businessman will pay you well.
But now, you’d need a hundred fish
the size that I am now, to fill a single dish.
Besides, what sort of dish? Hardly a feast.’
‘No feast? quite so,’ replied the man;
‘it’s something, though, at least.
You prate as well as parsons can,
my little friend; but though you talk a lot
this evening it’s the frying-pan for you.’
A bird in the hand, as they say, is worth two
in the bush; the first one is certain, the others are not.
Jean de La Fontaine (1621-95) followed a career as a poet after early training for the law and the Church. He came under the wing of Louis XIV’s Finance Minister, Nicolas Fouquet, and later enjoyed the patronage of the Duchess of Orléans and Mme de La Sablière. His Fables were widely admired, and he was already regarded in his lifetime as one of the greatest poets of his age. Christopher Betts was Senior Lecturer in the French Department at Warwick University. In 2009 he published an acclaimed translation of Perrault’s The Complete Fairy Tales with OUP.
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Image credit: Both images are from Gustave Doré’s engravings, which are included in the edition, and are in the public domain.
The post Selected fables about wolves and fishermen appeared first on OUPblog.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 3/24/2013
by Matt O’Keefe
It was a packed room at the show’s official panel for the comic for which the convention was named. Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Shelly Bond and company began the event giving out prizes to winners of the con scavenger hunt. The grand prize winners, a couple and their baby daughter, received first a song from Gene Ha, who sang “Blue Skies” to loud applause. Willingham then blindfolded the mother and challenged her to identify several objects by feel alone. Whatever she identified, she got to keep. She wasn’t able to guess the first item, the pen with which Willingham wrote Fables #47, or the second, the dollar editor Shelly Bond told Willingham his first draft of Fables #97 was worth. She successfully guessed the third object: an engagement ring. The father proposed in front of everyone and she accepted, to more applause.
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Next it was time for announcements. Willingham repeated the announcement from Emerald City Comic Con that Vertigo would publish a Fables Encyclopedia written by Jess Nevins with a cover by Adam Hughes. He went on to tell the crowd that they were working on a companion book for a 2014 release, which would have interviews with the Fables creators and background on the series.
Fables editor Shelly Bond then talked about the upcoming Fairest original graphic novel also announced at ECCC which, like the 1001 Nights of Snowfall OGN, will be an anthology with art by a variety of artists. She revealed that Fables regular Chrissie Zullo would provide the framing sequence and that other illustrators included Mark Chiarello, Karl Kerschl, Adam Hughes, Phil Noto, Renae de Liz, Chris Sprouse, and sometimes singer Gene Ha.
Bond went through a PowerPoint presentation to talk about issues of Fables coming up in the next few months. She highlighted three future covers. The first teased the return of Boy Blue, the second showed Snow White kissing someone other than her husband Bigby Wolf, and the third showed Snow as Joan of Arc. She talked about the issue after the “Snow White” arc, which will be illustrated by Barry Kitson. In the issue Junebug, the daughter of former wooden soldiers Rodney and June, would visit the abandoned Fabletown.
Willingham opened the floor to a Q&A.
Asked about his unique borders for the series, Buckingham talked about how in the third arc of Fables, once he knew that he was the ongoing artist, he began to get playful and designed the borders so readers would know which character’s stories they were reading.
Plans to bring back Jack? Willingham pointed out that his death in Jack of Fables happened at some undisclosed time in the future, so his return to the main Fables series was a possibility.
An attendee asked the panel which character from Fables they most identified with. Gene Ha said Flycatcher because he was someone who didn’t reach his full potential until later in his life. Willingham joked that he was like Bufkin because he drinks too often and has too many books. Bond chose Thumbelina so she could beat Willingham to the punch on a joke about her height. Buckingham said he was like Wellstoff because when drawing he tends to sit around all day eating jellybeans.
Does Bill Willingham always have a big picture in mind when writing? Yes. Willingham said he could do a three page comic and still conceive the whole world in which the story takes place. His default setting is to think big.
Would Bufkin’s solo adventure be in the next Fables trade paperback? Yes.
Asked about spontaneous changes, Willingham told the audience that he was going to kill off Flycatcher in the March of the Wooden Soldiers arc, but Buckingham convinced him to reconsider. Flycatcher went on to become a significant character in the series.
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 2/21/2013
TweetShould that have been a semicolon instead of a comma in the title? Oh boy, the things I worry about when writing up Mike Carey news. Today! Vertigo have announced a bathful of new books, with an encyclopedia and anthology for Bill Willingham’s Fables coming later this year, followed by a full original graphic novel from the creative [...]
By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 2/15/2013
TweetFriday is art day! Friday is also the harbinger of the weekend, but who cares about that? Instead, take a look at all the pretty pictures I gathered for you from the shady, cob-webby corners of the Internet you dare not venture… (I can’t say more) FF by Mike Allred (you HAVE to click on this to [...]
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By: Keith Schoch ,
on 2/3/2013
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Top 10 Worst Killer Animals You Wouldn't Want to Meet by Fiona Macdonald and David Antram boldly counts down the top killers from around the world, providing curious readers answers to questions such as, "How do jellyfish feed?" and "How do you avoid a shark attack?" Kids find this book fascinating since it profiles not only the predators, abut also those malevolent creatures that carry infection and kill by disease.
If you're interested in getting "up close and personal" with some amazing animals who have found their ways into our human history, check out Tales of Famous Animals by Peter and Connie Roop, illustrated by Zachary Pullen. These true tales tell how amazing animals, from the time of Alexander the Great to the present, have played critical roles in the lives of humans they've encountered. Find familiar names like Koko the Gorilla and Smokey Bear, and not-so-familiar names such as Quest and Old Abe. While some critics may argue that animals serving humans are in bondage, this book clearly illustrates that affectionate and respectful relationships between humans and animals are mutually beneficial. Highly recommended as a read aloud!
In addition to working with humans, younger readers may also be interested to learn how animals work together. In Do Animals Work Together?, author Faith Hickman Brynie describes the many ways that animals communicate among their colonies, packs, and herds. What's neat about this book is that each spread features a picture page and a text page, with the text page containing new reader sentences at the top, providing basic information, and a fluent reader section at the bottom, providing more details. One text section isn't dependent upon the other, and both can be read without sounding redundant. Enslow Publishing provides an educator 's guide for this book, as well as all books in the I Like Reading About Animals series. (Win this book! See bottom of the post).
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| Screenshot of a LinoIt discussion of Dunbar's The Sparrow (see below) |
A curious boy named Livingstone, who finds ordinary toys and diversions a bore, loves to explore. To his mother's horror, however, he enjoys bringing the results of those explorations home. From the book: 
Let’s not forget last year in July there was a Loot Crate for Rocket Raccoon #1. No Loot Crate this year in July. That probably accounts for a part of the decline.
Gotta be a rough day at the DC offices looking at these numbers. I mean, the Archie comic was good. It was also something readers wanted. But still, gettin dogged by Archie….
“Interestingly, I think we see a bit of a slowdown in periodical sales showing up here.”
Probably helped by the crap DC are producing that seems entirely aimed at the internet trolls like this site