The thing that makes very little sense about The Great Fables Crossover is that it was categorized as a Fables rather than a Jack of Fables trade. From a character sense, there’s no denying that every character crossed back and forth freely between the serieses, but from a plot perspective, the threads of the ongoing Fables plot (which as you will no doubt not recall is the aftermath of victory against the Adversary) barely budge, whereas the threads of the ongoing Jack plot are finally completely wrapped up, leaving one to perhaps wonder why Jack still needs two more (three more?) volumes of his own.

Be that as it may, the stories are still pretty great and the stakes have never been higher. When you have a guy who can (and plans to!) end reality and start over with just a few strokes of his pen, well, I suppose it’s no wonder that a plot is getting wrapped up. You know, one way or another.

I feel ever so slightly bad that I’m being a bit cavalier as to the outcome of the endeavour, but there are two things to consider. First: granted how very meta characters based on literary concepts are in the first place, I think it’s fair to say that all of creation being wiped out and written anew is a possible outcome that could still allow for more stories to be told. Second, and far more relevant: I am staring at 17 subsequent Fables trades that I have not yet read on my shelf. It’s hard not to be cavalier under the literal weight of that metaphorical onslaught on my psyche.