Fabulous Wisdom

July 25, 2007

Fabulous Wisdom

An omen? Hours before I head down to Comic-Con, I stumbled across a brilliant exchange in Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers. Background: In this Eisner Award-winning series, legendary figures ("Fables") have been exiled from their native lands to the mundane ("Mundy") world. Here's a dialogue between a fresh-off-the-boat Fable immigrant, and two long-term Fable exiles - a father and son:

Fable Father:We'll put you on a plane to Saskatoon.

Fable Immigrant: A plane? Do you mean a flying machine? I'm actually going to fly?

Fable Son: Of course. Don't worry, it's safe enough. Everyone does it.

Immig: They were right. This is a land of miracles.

Father: You don't know the half of it. People can talk to each other from across the globe, for less than the cost of a single meal. And every house has a box that plays music and another box that gathers information and another box for - well, I guess you might describe it as endless puppet shows.

Son: Whatever kind you want, comedies or tragedies, at the push of a button.

Father: And not just for the gentry. Even the peasantry has these things.

Immig: Astonishing. And yet we call this the Mundane World.

P.S. Any last-minute answers to this question will be much-appreciated.