Fables – Legends in Exile, Part 1:

Fables presents us with a comic book unlike anything before, when I first got my envelope from the unc bookstore and pulled this book out from it, I thought it was sent to me by accident. Indeed the idea of something looking so comical to be used as academic material seemed a little strange to me, and although I knew I was still missing the book, and remembered the title to be Fables, I had to double-check the syllabus just to make sure it was the right thing. The idea of a comic book to me has always been a bit of an alternative in entertainment, something that strongly appeals to a certain group of people, but is generally disregarded by most as a major form of entertainment. But who are these people that read comics, and why is it the ultimate form of entertainment for some, while it leaves other people uninterested and rejecting its values.

To understand this, we have to look at what a comic essentially is; traditionally, we commonly find two kinds of people, ones who like to read, and ones who like to watch movies. While these two kinds of personality have become more and more intertwined, and many people accept and use both forms of media more equally today, it used to be a bit more split up traditionally. So a comic book then seems to mix both of these together. It follows the concept of a book, with clear pages and binding, yet it also relies on images to convey the scene the text is currently dealing with. One could argue then that the reader gets the best of both then, with a quality comic presenting the reader with a thoughtful piece of text along with an intelligent and often artistic representation of material. But is this what the reader wants?

Many people argue that to read gives one the chance to utilize their imagination, to read a passage and use one’s own mind and experience to form the adequate picture the book is trying to portray. Yet many people have accepted movies and TV as a more common form of entertainment and storytelling, as one doesn’t need to sit down and read for hours and hours under a reading lamp, but can simply hit a button and let the information flow into the mind through sound and visual stymulus. Someone who reads comics then would have to be somewhere in-between, willing to read a plot but also interested to see how this plot would look visually the way the author intended it. It follows more the idea of a script, and many movies utilize comic like plots to first draft individual movie scenes, especially when dealing with fantasy based movies, or ones that rely heavily on portraying certain aspects visually. So are comics then mostly read by people that think in a director sort of way? The audience for comic books is interesting, and it would be fun to see what kinds of personalities one would find in searching for the ultimate fan and supporter of comic based entertainment.