Neil Gaiman inspired the look of a plague-spreading warlock in the comics series ‘Fables’
In issue 53 of the fantasy comics series Fables, the warlock Tom Harrow debuts, an enemy agent from a magical realm who is to be sent to Earth as the vanguard of a proposed invasion. By design, Harrow resembles acclaimed writer Neil Gaiman, and although Harrow is a minor character, he plays an important narrative role by visually centering the story’s thematic conflict.
First published by DC Comics in July 2002, Fables features characters from fairy tales and folklore (such as Snow White, Cinderella, and the Big Bad Wolf) driven to Earth when their enchanted otherworldly Homelands are conquered by the armies of the mysterious Adversary. These refugee “Fables” establish a secret community called “Fabletown” in New York City amid normal humans, whom the Fables refer to as “Mundies.” The series was created by writer Bill Willingham, with Mark Buckingham serving as the primary artist, and concluded in July 2015 (although subsequent continuations of the series have since been published by DC).
In the four-part narrative arc Sons of Empire, the Adversary assembles a counsel of his advisors to discuss options for the final defeat of Fabletown; the sorcerous Snow Queen outlines a plan for the total destruction and conquest of Earth.
The first phase of her plan would entail “secretly placing warlocks in more than two thousand of their greatest population centers” where they would later “go into action, simultaneously releasing the six most virulent diseases in our arsenal.” As the Snow Queen narrates this scenario, the warlock Harrow is briefly depicted carrying out these envisioned orders, causing massive casualties before additional phases of the plan result in complete conquest and genocide; despite the grim subject, the artwork by Buckingham — with assistance from inkers Steve Leialoha and Andrew Pepoy, and colorist Lee Loughridge— is gorgeous.
Gaiman, celebrated for writing the Sandman comics series and notable prose fantasy works such as Coraline, American Gods, and The Graveyard Book, had previously worked with Buckingham on the superhero series Miracleman for the now-defunct publisher Eclipse Comics; only eight issues were released before Eclipse went out of business. (Marvel Comics later acquired the rights to the Miracleman character, and Gaiman and Buckingham are collaborating on a new, soon-to-be published Miracleman series that continues their unfinished story.)
In the Fables Encyclopedia, Buckingham acknowledges that Gaiman inspired Harrow’s look, commenting that “The evil warlock Tom Harrow possessed more than a passing resemblance to a very famous writer and the best man at my wedding (Neil Gaiman). I gave him the splash page that he… I mean Tom… first appears on as a birthday present.”
Harrow appears again briefly two issues later (Fables #55), as Pinocchio (a former long-time Fabletown resident with a connection to the Adversary) counsels against the Snow Queen’s plan. As Harrow spreads plague, Pinocchio narrates these envisioned scenes with the argument that such a scenario would be promptly identified by Mundy institutions like the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control as a biological attack. Pinocchio cautions that the Fables would then reveal themselves and ally with the Mundies, whose technological superiority (machine guns, jets, etc.) would quickly overwhelm the Homelands:
“We don’t have anything that can stand up to them. You’ve kept advanced technology out of the Empire because you fear a revolt. You’ve kept combat-viable sorcery rare and concentrated in the upper bureaucracy for the same reason. Our type of empire only survives as long as an elite few have all the power. Problem is, such structures are extra vulnerable to an outside force. In short, then — if they invade us, our empire crumbles.”
Although Harrow is a minor character, he is used as a crucial visual juxtaposition of the two conflicting scenarios: the Snow Queen believes that elite magical forces will easily conquer the Mundy world, while Pinocchio argues that modern technology democratizes the conflict, with a high-powered rifle allowing a common Mundy soldier to become the equal of a wizard in combat.
Via Pinocchio, Willingham seems to assert the moral superiority and greater resilience of a democratic society in conflict with a tyrannical political system led by elites that deliberately de-power its citizens.
However, Willingham undercuts this presentation with depictions of Pinocchio’s fear that the invading Mundies would be corrupted by their conquest of the Homelands, taking over these new territories with an imperialist appetite that replaces their initial justified retaliation, and that allows for the worst atrocities.
In her book A Tour of Fabletown: Patterns and Plots in Bill Willingham’s ‘Fables’, scholar Neta Gordon discusses this thematic conflict between magic (representing a tool of repressive elites) and technology (representing a modern, democratizing force), and how Fables counters traditional depictions of this conflict in the fantasy genre:
“In its oppositional representations of magic versus technology… Fables counters basic principles of the sword-and-sorcery genre, i.e., that the simpler world of swords and magic offers greater potential for justice, and that so-called progress produces moral regression. However, the collision in Fables of primary and secondary worlds, associated respectively with the contemporary period and an imagined pre-industrial period, allows for the complex exploration of such ‘existential dilemmas’ as the use of advanced weaponry as a means of imperialist conquest, the function of religion in the contemporary moment, and the important place of scholarship in a world of competing narratives.”
The oppositional scenarios argued by the Snow Queen and Pinocchio provide a thought-provoking metaphor for real-world societal, political, and military concerns, and the Harrow character — drawn to resemble Gaiman — serves as a strong visual centerpiece for this metaphorical debate.
NOTES AND FURTHER READING:
DISCLOSURE: As works published by DC Comics are referenced in the above article, it should be disclosed that the article’s author is a former DC Comics contributor. There are no current financial arrangements between the author and DC Comics.
Fables: Sons of Empire (Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, et al.; DC Comics, 2007) [this trade paperback collects the Sons of Empire story arc serialized in issues 52 through 55 of Fables]
Fables Encyclopedia (Jess Nevins, with commentary by Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham; DC Comics, 2013) [quote cited above can be found on page 111]
A Tour of Fabletown: Patterns and Plots in Bill Willingham’s ‘Fables’ (Neta Gordon; McFarland & Company, 2016) [quote cited above can be found on page 143]
“‘Miracleman: The Silver Age’ to Finally Continue Neil Gaiman’s Lost Superhero Saga” (Jesse Schedeen; www.ign.com, June 27, 2022)
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