Okay this was a memorable day. This day, Aaron learned to drink through a straw. It was a big step forward for us given his ear infections. As recommended we weaned him off bottles early and to sippy cups. The next big step was mastering straws. This is THE day he mastered it! Being Aaron he added his own flare by going “AHH!” after every drink. LOL!
I’ve been putting off writing about the Fables 114 – 121 Cubs in Toyland while I sorted out how I felt about this powerful arc. It’s another arc centered on Bigby Wolf and Snow White’s cubs. This answers more questions related to the San Diego Comic Con 2009 One Page Fable‘s predictions. We saw that Winter became the North Wind to succeed her grandfather as ruler. We think that she’ is the first child – the one to be king. Now with this arc the fate of two more of the cubs is established. In the back of each issue my beloved Bifkin continues his revolt in Oz. It provides a light comical relief to the heaviness of the story.
First the legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.
Now to give credit to the wonderful creative team that brought us this powerful arc. Cubs In Toyland credits are as follows: Bill Willingham, Writer/Creator; Mark Buckingham, Pencils; Steve Leialoha, Inks; Lee Loughridge, Colors; Todd Klein, Letters; Gregory Lockard, Assistant Editor; and Shelly Bond, Editor. The credits for A Revolution In Oz Chapters 2-8 are: Bill Willingham, Writer/Creator; Shawn McManus, Artist; Todd Klein, Letters; Gregory Lockard, Assistant Editor; and Shelly Bond, Editor.
Normally I talk story first but this time I’m going to talk art. As always with major arcs the art is wonderful. It was in this arc I remembered what Fables art reminded me of… Classics Illustrated Comics from my childhood. The comic books that told the classic stories like Black Beauty (my favorite at the time) or Pinocchio (not Disneyified version) ore Rumpelstiltskin and such. I loved those so much. Probably why I enjoy Fables art so much. This is used in the telling of the main arc – Cubs In Toyland. The secondary arc, or comic relief arc, is more cartoony. I enjoyed it and smiled at the story being an Oz fan and all. However, it’s light fodder compared to the main one as it should be.
The A Revolution In Oz arc continues to follow our Bifkin former librarian now Revolutionary Leader in Oz. His Barleycorn girlfriend rescues him from the noose. He rejoins the revolt and becomes its leader again. He plans a bloodless coup but this is Oz and things never work out as planned. I enjoyed the characters and the parody of revolutions – the various stages. It’s a fun but serious arc that moves Oz forward down the path of Revolution that Bifkin has set. Only will there be regrets?
Now for the main arc – I’ve put it off long enough. I had to do some soul searching about why I liked but cringed at this arc. I know why – it places children in positions a loving adult never wants to see a child placed. Children having to make adult decisions about things without having the benefit of adult experiences. It wrenches my gut much like Torchwood: Children of Earth did. This hits the same emotional notes that were struck in X-Men that drove Wolverine to found his own school. We in the modern “first” world countries think children should have time to be children and not face adult burdens. We want to protect them but in this arc as much as Snow and Bigby want to and are capable of protecting their children they can’t.
That brings me to another aspect of the story that made it very hard for me. Good parents who have lost their child/ren to circumstances beyond their control. As I’ve said before I like crime shows. Often it is a gut punch – the thought they did everything they good but evil still befell them. That’s Snow and Bigby as parents in this arc, they are good parents but evil befell Darien and Therese. As Snow and Bigby looked first for one child then for two my heart broke for them. I’m a mom I get it. I am so relieved that Aaron made to being an adult without tragedy. It’s a risk every parent takes but does their best to minimize.
The story centers on Therese. She receives a boat for Christmas. Here it plays upon her vanity, her wanting to be better than others. She’s taken away to Toyland and made Queen. Only there are a few things young Therese doesn’t get – there is a weight/price to ruling a heavy mantle to being Queen and these toys hold a dark secret, one she only discovers too late after she too is drawn into their dark fraternity.
At home Darien the cub who feels the responsibility of leadership of the pack sets out to find his sister. Lord Mountbatten helps him and they both wind up in Toyland. We learn the true dual nature of the clockwork tiger in the process. Darien becomes a true hero in Toyland taking care of his sister in the bleak land. He uses his brother Ambrose’s interests in ancient magic to pull off this feat. Despite never seeming to pay attention to Ambrose’s ramblings Darien has absorbed the deep meanings so much he can use them. His story draws heavily from the Fisher King legends. It’s well written and tragically beautiful while wrenching your gut every step of the way.
Therese now fully gains the weight of the Queen’s mantle. She’s learned there is a price to decisions, sometimes prices we didn’t see. With her new insight she takes command of her position and sets out to save her land, her subjects, and herself as best she can. However the hardest lesson of all is that the past can’t be undone we can only learn, change, and atone for our errors even grave ones made in youth. Once she is strong enough she returns home only to tell her mother of Darien, herself, and assume responsibility for all that has transpired. Finally Therese is mature she’s taken responsibility for herself and her actions. Unlike her siblings She is now an adult both physically and emotionally as time moved differently there from here.
There are many levels to the story. It’s well written. Like all good tragedies when you are finished it is satisfying but sad. Hat’s off to Fable for using all mediums of the comic book to bring a powerful story to the page.
***** WARNING SCANNED PAGES BELOW MAY BE CONSIDERED SPOILERY BY SOME*** You have been warned.
Last photo post left you on the Road To No Where also known as the Amstutz Expressway or IL-137. We were on the odd road heading to Bowen Park in Waukegan. We’ve commented on the park for years as we’ve passed. It’s restored Victorian house up front, the rolling hills and gardens, the use of its other building and sporting facilities have always caught our eye. We’ve talked several times of going down there to see just what it offered and touring the house. That was our agenda this Saturday before the University of Tennessee versus Florida game.
We pulled in and weren’t sure where to begin. He headed down to the Jack Benny Arts center. There it appears they have a place for the performing arts. However we weren’t to learn much about the place. The lady behind the counter wasn’t very helpful and seemed put out that we didn’t know how the park operated. She kept her arms crossed over he chest the whole time, dismissed the idea there was more to tour than the house as if seeing well kept historical buildings and a museum sign didn’t suggest that maybe all were open. She didn’t offer to explain what the art center was or if there was something to see there. After struggling to get any useful information we learned the house was the historical societies and opened in twenty minutes. With that she turned her back to us to tend the stack of mail. Being so dismissed we wandered out into the sunny day and beautiful landscape.
What we learned wandering, reading plaques, and later from the helpful AND friendly historical society gentleman was that Bowen Park park has long been a park. Originally it was purchased by a family from New York City and was a farm for years. Then a Mr. Buck purchased the place, he was a forward thinker and wanted to designate the area as a park preserve for the town of Waukegan. Now the town thought this was strange because this was just a farm out in a large swath of farmland between Waukegan and Chicago. We’re talking pre-Civil War era. However Mr. Buck was convinced that an area needed to be preserved because the growth of both would one day meet and such areas would be needed. However, his idea didn’t fly.
It was then purchased by a Chicago Mayor and his wife. Well they used it as a summer home to get out of the heat of the city until the great fire. Then while Chicago was rebuilding they lived there full time. Along the way it was owned by Louise Decoven Bowen was a Decoven of the affluent Decoven of Racine, live here long enough you get to know the names. Upon her husband’s death she thought it’d be nice to bring underprivileged children from Chicago out to the country to get fresh air, do outdoor play, and learn things to help them get ahead in society. She’d spent years working with such families and saw the need for the children. The Bowen Country Club was born. Not a Country Club like we think of but club in the country for underprivileged children to get out of the sooty city and enjoy the countryside. The land was converted from farming to this park use. That’s really when the root of the park design started. The idea was Buck’s, the basis was Bowen.
This club officially ran from 1912 – 1963. That was when the dorms and cottages were finished and opened. Before them she hosted small groups in her home and out buildings. When the club closed the land was converted to a park for Waukegan. By then Mr. Buck’s idea didn’t seem so odd. The growth of Chicago and Waukegan proved to meet as he had predicted and this was a green gem in middle of them.
Today many of the buildings from the Country Club are still used for various activities. The Lilac Cottage houses a library and class rooms for the arts. Other buildings serve as offices for the park department or historical society. It’s still a place to get away from the city and enjoy the land. Judging from the children’s garden we found it’s still a refuge that caters to children. We eventually sat down on a bench and listened to the drumming circle. We watched children enjoy rolling down a little hill in front of us while a family set up a pavilion for their family reunion that day. All in all I think Mr. Buck and Mrs. Bowen would be pleased by the park’s usage today.
This Saturday Aaron made a second run up to the house he’s rented with two of his buddies. He’s getting ready to start his sophomore year at Madison. I personally think this is it, he’s moving out. He won’t be home this Summer because he’ll miss Winter semester to go to boot camp. So this was the move of the large furniture. Mike helped pack the truck. Mike couldn’t go to Madison to help unpack because he had stuff to do that day. I’d not be that much help. Aaron was depending on his roommate to help. Only it didn’t work out that way. Roommate was called into work and Aaron unloaded by himself. Still here’s the photos of my son moving on in life. Later this week, he’ll take off in his car to settle into his new home. I’ll probably have photos of that too.
In the above picture is my maternal grandfather John Hollis Rolen. He always went by Hollis. On the left in the picture is his oldest sister Sammie Sue, she went by Sammie Sue all her life.
This picture has a few stories behind it. First one that comes to mind was when Aaron my son saw it as a little boy. I explained who the people were, that the little boy on the right grew up to be father to his Granny. He looked confused and asked “Didn’t they know he was a boy?” LOL!
The answer is yes they knew he was a boy but little boys wore dresses until about 5 or 6 then they moved to knee britches. Then when they got to be 12 or so they moved up to long trousers. Was the custom then to which my son replied “I’m sure glad they don’t do that now. People would laugh at ME in a dress.”
I remember Papaw, that’s what I called Hollis, telling me about transferring to knee britches. He father was home and they celebrated by going to the barn and putting one of the dresses on a stick and lighting it on fire. The marched about singing while Lavator, Hollis’s father, waved the burning dress. When they got back into the house Ollie Belle, Hollis’s mother, was irate that they burned a perfectly good dress!
Another story Papaw told was he had a pair of yellow knee britches as one of his first pairs. Early on during the privileged time where he had a boy’s haircut and just moved into knee britches he was playing by the mailbox. The mailman came up on horseback and addressed Papaw as “fine sir.” Which Papaw replied, “It’s me Hollis bet ye didn’t recognize me in my little yaller britches.”
So now back to the story that explains the sour faces in the photo. Ollie Belle, Granny Rolen to me and my mom, said she tried to get them both looking their best for the picture. However, Papaw was mad that they wanted to take away his new whip. Sammie Sue was mad at him for ruining her pretty pictures. Best Ollie Belle could do was get a picture of two pouting children dressed in the best clothes. Oh well what’s a mom to do?
I have to say that pouting boy face carried forward in family genes. It looks just like Aaron did at that age when he pouted. Except we didn’t dress him in dresses. Much to his relief and mine, I’d hate to maintain all that finery in hand washing and ironing.
As always I’d love to hear from ya. You can comment here or reach out to me on Flickr, Twitter, or Google+. Email is always welcome send ’em to marylouiseeklund at either yahoo.com or gmail.com.
Until next time keep your skirts down and a tight hold on that whip!
Mary Louise Eklund 