I'm not getting a vision or a philosophy or even an original voice on the other side, just an inexpert rehash of what they think writers are supposed to do. The guy seems to recognize that, as an author, he's meant to kind of smoosh different ideas together, and have a conflict and some attractive people doing stuff in the forefront, but beyond that, it's a wash. In this arc, he does the same thing with Animal Farm. Those issues showed that Willingham was perfectly capable of name-checking fairy tales without seeming to know anything about them. This one does have more action than the first arc, but still less action than the average Fairy Tale. This is Syfy made-for-TV quality here, but without the relief of flashy action, gratuitous sex, and so-bad-it's-fun CG monsters. Pick an X-Comic at random off the shelf and you'll probably get more vivid characters and engaging dialogue than we're getting here.

It's a basic story written without elegance. And that's his problem in general: he's giving us archetypes and conflicts, but doesn't do anything with them. The conflict in this arc is painted in broad strokes, dividing good guys and bad guys cleanly, but Willingham never really sells any of it to us. I'm getting the distinct impression that Willingham doesn't have a very good grip on his world and as such, there's no gradual reveal of details. There's no character to these characters, and the art isn't helping. The dialogue is so wooden, and everyone has the same personality and tells the same lame jokes. I'm trying to get through this series, but it isn't getting any better. In the early 2000s he began writing extensively for DC Comics, including the limited series Proposition Player, a pair of limited series about the Greek witch Thessaly from The Sandman, and most notably the popular series Fables

He produced the 13-issue Pantheon for Lone Star Press and wrote a pair of short novels about the modern adventures of the hero Beowulf, published by the writer's collective, Clockwork Storybook, of which Willingham was a founding member. In the late 1990s Willingham reestablished himself as a prolific writer. He also produced the pornographic series Ironwood for Eros Comix. He contributed stories to Green Lantern and started his own independent, black-and-white comics series Coventry which lasted only 3 issues. However, for reasons unknown, the series had trouble maintaining an original schedule, and Willingham's position in the industry remained spotty for many years.

He first gained attention for his 1980s comic book series Elementals published by Comico, which he both wrote and drew. In the late 1970s to early 1980s he drew fantasy ink pictures for the Dungeons & Dragons Basic and Expert game rulebooks.

Fables, Vol. 2 by Bill Willingham