Peter & Max: A Fables Novel - Softcover

Willingham, Bill

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1401225373 ISBN 13: 9781401225377

Publisher: Vertigo, 2010

Synopsis

The critically acclaimed first-ever prose novel published by DC/Vertigo — now in trade paperback.

Set in the imaginative realm of the award-winning comic book series FABLES, the book takes place long ago, in the deepest dark of The Black Forest. Two brothers — Peter Piper and his older brother Max — encounter ominous forces that change them both irreparably. Thus begins an epic tale of sibling rivalry, magic, music and revenge that spans medieval times to the present day, when their deadly conflict surfaces in the placid calm of modern day Fabletown.

PETER & MAX: A FABLES NOVEL features the prose of award-winning comic book writer Bill Willingham and the lush ink drawings of FABLES artist Steve Leialoha. The novel also reveals secrets of some of the regular FABLES series cast members including Bigby Wolf, Frau Totenkinder and Bo Peep. Also included is an 8-page sequential story by Willingham and Leialoha that serves as a bridge to the FABLES titles.

About this title

About the Author:

Bill Willingham has been writing, and sometimes drawing, comics for more than 20 years. During that time, he's had work published by nearly every comics publisher in the business, and he's created many critically acclaimed comic book series, including Elementals, Coventry, Proposition Players, and of course the seminal Vertigo series Fables, as well as its spin-off series Fairest, Jack of Fables and The Literals. His work has been nominated for many awards, including the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz comic industry awards and the International Horror Guild award. He lives somewhere near a good poker room.

Steve Leialoha began his comic career in 1975 and inked and pencilled for Marvel from 1976 to 1988, working on titles including Spider-Man, Howard the Duck, Indiana Jones, and Spider-Woman. In the early 1990s, he worked on Batman, The Shadow, and The Sandman at DC Comics. His most recent credit is as inker on the multiple Eisner Award-winning series Fables, written by Bill Willingham.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 8 Up–The Fables, a group of folk and fairytale characters, are living as a community in New York after being chased out of their previous lands by an evil conqueror. Some of their story has been told through a series of award-winning graphic novels, but Bill Willingham has written this tale as a novel (Vertigo, 2009) that can stand alone. An author's note introduces the audiobook, providing backstory to help those new to the series. The cast of characters includes many recognizable figures: Snow White, the (former) Big Bad Wolf, Rose Red, Peter Piper and his brother Max (The Pied Piper), Bo Peep who is married to Peter, and others. Through wonderful pacing, flashbacks, and clever references to the well-known tales of these characters' former lives, listeners are transported to a world where the storybook fables become real. Wil Wheaton does a wonderful job in timing the drama, humor, and tragedy of this complex tale, only missing the mark with the slow-paced delivery of Bigby Wolf's lines. Be aware that this is not a Disney-esque vision of the world. The characters curse when appropriate, the sex life of Peter and Bo is called into question, and violence is not sugar-coated. The intense conflict between Peter and Max harkens back to the gritty fairytales of old where blood is shed, evil exists, and things are not always as they seem.Genevieve Gallagher, Charlottesville High School, VA
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vertigo
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1401225373
• ISBN 13: 9781401225377
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400
• Illustrator: Leialoha Steve