Graphic Novel Review – Farewell (Fables, Book 22) by Bill Willingham (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Graphic Novel
Length: 160 pages
Publisher: Vertigo
Release Date: July 28, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1401252335
Stand Alone or Series: 22nd trade paperback in theFables series
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the 22nd trade paperback in the Fables graphic novel series, and the final book in this series. This series had been a solid blend of urban fantasy and fairy tale retellings that I have really enjoyed a lot. This book was a bit anti-climatic after Happily Ever After, but it did wrap things up nicely and did a good job of playing homage to all of the our favorite characters in the series.

The first third of this trade paperback covers the final story arc of the battle between Rose Red and Snow White. Call me blood-thirsty but I thought it was a bit anti-climatic. I mean I am glad everyone got their happy ending (for the most part) but with these huge armies amassing…well…I was kind of hoping for a good battle and some bloodshed.

The second two-thirds of the book are “The Last Story Of…” stories where all of the other characters get their final story and we find out where their lives are going. These were all well done, but again kind of anticlimactic after the big build up in Happily Ever After.

The illustration continues to be very well done. I enjoyed the afterward as well; which states some crazy facts and figures about the series. I loved the fold-out cover and how it shows all of the characters who have been involved in the series (there’s a key in the back of the book in case you have trouble recognizing them all).

This was a well done conclusion to the series and does tie everything up nicely (if not as explosively as I had hoped). It’s a bittersweet ending for me; I have really enjoyed this graphic novel series and it was the 2nd graphic novel series I ever started reading (after Sandman by Neil Gaiman). However, I do feel like the series had started to wind down a bit and this was a good place for it to tie-up.

Overall this is a nice conclusion to a graphic novel series that has been many many years in the running. I would definitely recommend the Fables series to anyone who enjoys graphic novels and loves either urban fantasy or fairy tale retellings. It’s a series I am sad to see end, but also happy to see end before it got too run down.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge
– Series Enders Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge