Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10

All empires must eventually wither, contract, fade and die. It is perhaps the most human of all truths, which nothing can, or indeed should, last forever.

The days of empire should surely be beyond thought and yet in many minds it is as necessary as breathing, from business to the old empirical values of ownership, empire is nothing more than a control set upon from afar, the will of one people over another. It is a mindset that is perhaps eagerly captured in Bill Willingham’s ninth collection of stories in his Fables series, the stunning Sons of Empire.

Sons of Empire is one of those classic collections, very much in the same vein as the Locke and Key series throughout, that captures the essence of Humanity and asks the question of just how far revenge can go before it tips into a seismic abyss. For better or for worse we are all the sons and daughters of Empire, perhaps geographically, perhaps politically and certainly in the modern age, offspring of the consumer generation and one that shows no sign of abating. In the words of Queensryche, “We’re building Empire.”

Sons of Empire concerns itself with the aftermath of Bigby Wolf’s one man assault on the Empire and the fall out in which certain characters tussle with the dilemma of just how far revenge should stretch. It is a scenario which is all too common in the world we inhabit today. The seeds of Empire sown before our time coming back with frightening abundance to bite us on our collective back-sides, the discontent shown, memories long and fruitful, gear themselves up to take whatever revenge is needed, and then by some strange twist of fate, certain media outlets, certain people with war-like agendas decry and fashion the rhetoric of “Bomb them back to the stone age.”

It is a more terrifying thought that there are those who advocate the use of escalating violence by destroying a civilisation that by coming to terms with the wrongs created in our name. Sons of Empire magnifies this approach and in scenes which could come straight out of any real life scenario, each possible motif is explored by the Empire in how to wreck revenge on the free Fables and their hosts, Humanity.

It is a possibility that these types of conversations, albeit without the use of dragons favoured by the Winter Queen, happen in dens and outposts all across the globe, especially when it comes to the prospect of biological agents finding a breeding ground in any big city and a plague on both houses being recognised.

Fables: Sons of Empire is perhaps the biggest collection yet, a story so immense in its outlook that it could hold many to account with its dialogue damning those who search only to escalate such issues to the point, where in the end, death is an option to be taken seriously.

Fables: Sons of Empire is by far the best graphic novel yet in Bill Willingham’s gripping set of tales.

Fables: Sons of Empire is available to purchase from Worlds Apart, Liverpool.

Ian D. Hall