Review by Chad Burdette

Bill Willingham

Craig Hamilton

P. Craig Russell

Fables: The Last Castle is the prequel to the Fables series that reveals the history behind the fall of the homelands to the Adversary which led to their present day refuge in New York City.

The story begins with Boy Blue planning the yearly get together of the Fables who were on the last boat out of the homelands. While he is planning the get together Snow White asks him about the get together since it is only for a select few of the Fables and he proceeds to tell her of the last days and the fall of the Fables to the unstoppable and pitiless forces of the Adversary.

In the story we learn what happened to well-known characters such as Robin Hood, Rapunzel, and Red Riding Hood who Boy Blue falls in love with and tries to save. Boy Blue works it out so that Red Riding Hood has a seat on the boat to the mundy world while he plans to stay and fight to the end with his captain. As it turns out, Boy Blue's job is to use the witching cloak and observe the fall of the last castle and report back to the fables in exile.

Not only does this story work as the prequel to the Fables series but also plants the seeds for the plotlines in the future issues of Fables such as the return of Red Riding Hood and Boy Blue's eventual return to the homelands. In short this one shot is an epic tale of war, love, and explains why Boy Blue plays nothing but the blues on his trumpet. This book is a must read for fans of this series but is also very accessible to give to new readers to get them interested into the series.