JACK IS BACK

No, not Jack Bauer. I gave up on 24 this past season anyway; sold off the DVD sets. Instead I'm talking about Jack Horner, also know as Jack Be Nimble or Jack Giantkiller. Last year, he spun off from Fables into a book of his own and I've finally gotten around to reading the first collection, Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape. It collects the first five issues of the ongoing series. Fables writer Bill Willingham is here, sharing those duties with Matthew Sturges. Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy are the art team.

When we last saw Jack, he was kicked out of the Fable community and told never to come back to Fabletown. Why? He became a Hollywood producer and made three movies based on his exploits. The problem? Fables are supposed to keep a low profile. That's never been Jack's style, however, though that serves him in good stead here.

The book starts with him being captured by Mr. Revise and put in a prison made to look like a retirement community (and it is one of sorts - Mr. Revise's goal is to strip away the myths of all the Fables he has imrpisoned) and as the title indicates, he spends the next few issues planning an escape. We meet new Fables, come back in contact with those already familiar to us (like Goldilocks), and have the whole thing told from Jack's point of view. He's a bit of a bastard but he's our bastard, as they say. There are some fun concepts here and the interplay between characters is lots of fun. I think if you like the main series, you'll like this one too. I know I did.