It’s hard to talk about the first twelve volumes of the Fables series for two reasons. First, it’s fraught with spoilers. To mention what happens in, say, volume 6 might spoil the shit out of what happened in volume 4. Second, talking about Fables with the uninitiated makes you sound a little, well, stoned.

I tried to review the first three volumes and failed miserably. So why am I even trying again? Because this series is so good. SO GOOD!

When it comes to comicbooks or graphic novels, I’m not a huge fan of the superhero genre. It’s not to say that I don’t enjoy a good Superman yarn once in awhile, or a nice tale about the Dark Knight, but as a whole, it’s just not for me. There’s just so much backstory in superheroes that whenever I read them I always feel like I’m a little bit out of the loop.

But with Fables, I’m familiar enough with the backstory of Snow White and Cinderella and the Frog Prince and the Big Bad Wolf that I was comfortable right from the start. Plus, there’s just something intriguing about fairy tales living among us. So instead of a proper review, I’m just going to list a few of the reasons I am loving the Fables series.

1. Reading it makes me feel like a kid again where I don’t want to do anything but read. I drape myself over furniture with book in had and don’t budge until the growling of my stomach is too distracting. It made me eschew as many responsibilities as possible (and probably too many for being, you know, a grown up) until I had finished a book.
2. There was a good chunk of Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince where I was afraid to turn the page. I feared what I thought was coming but wanted so desperately to find out what happened. It was amazing to be that wrapped up in a book.
3. The princesses are not delicate, Disneyfied, weak women sitting around simpering and awaiting rescue by a handsome prince (they did that once and it didn’t work out so well for them). Instead, they are ass-kicking leaders, organizers, spies, and masterminds.
4. The characters are so intriguing that when I stumble upon one I didn’t know enough about I was compelled to google it up (see: Weyland Smith and Baba Yaga).
5. I have a serious crush on the Frog Prince. While I can see the appeal of Bigby Wolf, digging on a werewolf just makes me feel too Twilighty. Plus, I’ve always had a penchant for redheads.
6. Fables Vol. 4: March of the Wooden Soldiers was so damn clever the way it came together, it might be my favorite volume (after Volume 10).
7. Fables Vol. 14: Witches comes out on Tuesday, December 7th and I’m anticipating it about 76% as much as I anticipated Scott Pilgrim 6, which is a lot, because I anticipated SP6 so much I bought it twice.