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arbre_rieur (arbre_rieur) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-09-16 22:10:00

Entry tags:

creator: bill willingham, creator: mark buckingham, publisher: vertigo comics, title: fables

Fables 88: Why, Frau Totenkinder, how you've changed...
Part two of "Witches", the story arc focusing on, well, obviously...

The Frau readies herself for a great journey.

She also changes her granny bag into a small pouch, her bag of tricks, named Pathfinder; and her rocking chair into the Gingerbread House, named Capture. The house in turn changes again...

The cat in the background is a new character introduced this issue, Maddie. She used to be Medea of Greek myth and Sycorax from The Tempest. No explanation yet as to why she's a cat these days.

Also, the first five pages of Willingham's Fables prose novel PETER & MAX.

"In the deepest dark of the Black Forest, two brothers will come undone."

The remaining two pages of the preview can be found on Vertigo's website: http://vertigo.blog.dccomics.com/2009/06/10/welcome-to-vertigo-graphic-content/

Tags:
title: fables, creator: bill willingham, creator: mark buckingham, publisher: vertigo

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sinisterlink
2009-09-17 06:04 am UTC (link)

Dang, Totenkinder, you got it going on. XD

I basically have no idea what's going on in the story right now since Fables is one of the books that I buy when it comes out in trades, but from what has been posted here, this witches arc looks to be pretty darn good. I also like the add on that Frau Totenkinder shows some remorse for sacrificing her child. Have they mentioned anywhere what her real name is, yet?

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	strannik01 2009-09-17 07:50 am UTC (link)
	Personally, I am curious why she would revert to her younger-looking form. After all, as I recall, her backstory said that she adopted an older form because she didn't want lust getting the way of her schemes. (Like you, I am following the series in trades, so I don't understand the context either). (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	icon_uk 2009-09-17 02:59 pm UTC (link)
	Perhaps because, as she's not going to have repsonsibility for the Fables as she had before, she'll now have different schemes which mean she can enjoy all the lust she wants. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	autolychus2 2009-09-18 12:47 am UTC (link)
	Like you, I believe it marks a sea change in the way she's dealing with the other Fables. I don't think it portends anything good. To quote the Bard, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." Auto, who is only 93% as pretentious as he sounds. (Also, drinking.) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chains_of_irony 2009-09-17 08:08 am UTC (link)
	Has anyone in this comm got any clues as to her real name, yet? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thandrak 2009-09-17 02:13 pm UTC (link)
	Bag of tricks. Two knives. A stone. Barefoot. Gypsy? Well, she's not one of the knitting women from Tale of Two Cities anymore. Something older than the Witch of Hansel and Gretel. Something cursed by betrayal. Probably not Lilith. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/roma/gft/gft074.htm The Witch from the Red King and the Witch? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ex_menagerie993 2009-09-17 04:59 pm UTC (link)
	I vaguely recall Hel having a knife called Hunger or similar, but that's all I have. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2009-09-17 06:37 pm UTC (link)
	She does. To quote the D'Aulaire's: "Pitfall her doorstep was called, sickbed was the name of her lair, her knife was hunger, her platter starvation." Even if Totenkinder isn't Hel, Willingham sure seems to be taking a page from this type of mythological motif. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	comicoz 2009-09-17 04:10 pm UTC (link)
	From what I remember from very early in the series is that she said she was ALL the evil witches from stories, combined. This was said as she defeated Baba Yaga (which happened off panel, but you can see part of the fight in the Mayor's glasses, who then looks away in terror). She's essentially the "used to be evil, got bored with it" person. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thandrak 2009-09-17 04:47 pm UTC (link)
	While true (And she's also Madame DeFarge, undoubtedly... who is an evil witch, true!), the form she takes here is... very distinct. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	comicoz 2009-09-17 06:40 pm UTC (link)
	By that, do you mean a specific character reference? I'm missing it, so clue me in! I actually enjoyed the Literal War in that they expanded on why so many of the Fables "were", as well as how they became that way. Intelligent writing is a plus. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	thandrak 2009-09-17 06:50 pm UTC (link)
	That's what I'm trying to figure out. From the bare feet and outfit, I'm thinking gypsy. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	comicoz 2009-09-17 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	Getting that vibe as well, and the daggers, pouch, and even stone only accentuate that, at least to me. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	xammax 2009-09-17 06:11 am UTC (link)
	Frau Totenkinder is the best character they have bar none. (Reply to this) (Thread)

spiritoftherain.livejournal.com
2009-09-17 06:58 am UTC (link)

I always expected her to somehow turn out to be super evil and worse than any of the characters there (which I guess she was pre-Amnesty). I'm AMAZED and impressed that Willingham's got bigger plans for her, and I'm really happy she's getting more opportunities to shine.

I stopped buying Fables when Bigby and Snow had their happy ending, when they got married. For me, that was the ending of the book - I didn't need to go any farther than that.

Frau Totenkinder may well get me back into the series.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2009-09-17 07:36 am UTC (link)
	She probably still is evil in many ways and can cause much harm to her enemies. The reason we see her has good is because she is on the side of the Fables for whatever reason and uses her powers to protect them. She's always been a hidden character, one who's reasoning is never completely uncovered. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ninjapeps 2009-09-17 02:33 pm UTC (link)
	I don't see her as evil. self-interested, sure, but she seems to have long since stopped caring about anything beyond living quietly. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	akodo_rokku 2009-09-17 04:24 pm UTC (link)
	Her reason for siding with the Fable Exiles is explored somewhat in 1001 Nights of Snowfall -- Snow White and Rose Red pulled her out of her oven as they fled the Adversary's armies, and helped her recuperate and regenerate. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-09-18 06:06 pm UTC (link)
	She's also mentioned that in the Adversary she finally found an opponent worthy of her power levels and skill, which is part of why she aids Fabletown. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	arilou_skiff 2009-09-17 08:44 am UTC (link)
	Heh, so her name was meant LITERALLY? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	cainofdreaming 2009-09-17 10:01 am UTC (link)
	She did try to eat Hansel and Gretel, didn't she, so I kinda always thought it was. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	ninjapeps 2009-09-17 02:34 pm UTC (link)
	also, she gained most her power through child sacrifices, didn't she? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	comicoz 2009-09-17 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	While never directly stated that I recall, there was something about her taking blood from every newborn Fable to fuel her power that I vaguely recall. I'm finding myself wondering if I need to go back to 1 to see if there was anything along this line mentioned before. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

greatest_zatara
2009-09-17 09:13 pm UTC (link)

That was debunked during one of her talks with Kay (cursed with seeing others' sins). She does indeed collect the one drop of blood from the newborns, but it's a red herring. She flushes it down the toilet.

She apparently invests in something 'out in the Mundy' that kills far more children than she ever did on her own, but is legal. It was implied that whatever it is would be thought of as utterly distateful by Fable 'values'.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	proteus_lives 2009-09-17 09:36 pm UTC (link)
	Abortion, right? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	outlawpoet 2009-09-17 09:47 pm UTC (link)
	probably. They've already had an abortion mention, during the pregnancy thing, and they pretty much set it up as evil beyond words to the 'good' Fables. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	proteus_lives 2009-09-17 11:47 pm UTC (link)
	I can see that with all the royalty and the fact they come from societies with large families. It would be interesting to see the fables POV on other Mundy issues. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arbre_rieur 2009-09-18 06:04 pm UTC (link)
	Well, we do know from the first two story arcs that they consider the guillotine an acceptable form of execution rather than something utterly barbaric the way (I hope) most people would, and that they consider stealing a sufficiently large sum of money is a crime worthy of execution. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	autolychus2 2009-09-18 12:59 am UTC (link)
	I think this comes from Willingham's worldview and it really irritates me -- for reasons that I won't go into here -- that I didn't make the connection between abortion and ... I really feel stupid now. Thanx all. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	comicoz 2009-09-18 02:37 am UTC (link)
	Interesting! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	icon_uk 2009-09-17 02:56 pm UTC (link)
	Given that we knew it was a pseudonym, why else would she choose a name that means "child killer", if she wasn't being completely honest? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	arilou_skiff 2009-09-17 07:20 pm UTC (link)
	Totenkinder doesen't mean "child killer" it means "Dead Children" Sort of (Grammar isn't exactly right). (Reply to this) (Parent)

	greenmask 2009-09-17 08:20 pm UTC (link)
	Oooh nice dress. (Reply to this)

	greatest_zatara 2009-09-17 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	And just like that I've got visions of Frau Totenkinder and Madame Xanadu of opposite sides of a chessboard, just pleased as anything with a classy worthy opponent. (Reply to this)

	ashtoreth 2009-09-18 05:17 am UTC (link)
	That place looks like the Wood Between Worlds from Lewis' Narnia books. (Reply to this)