Raven in JACK OF FABLES

Unlike FABLES, the spin-off series JACK OF FABLES has included some Indians and Indian lore. Here's the scoop on Jack:Jack Horner is a fictional character in the comic book series Fables by Bill Willingham. His first appearance was in issue #1 of Fables and continued as a regular character of the series until leaving the series for his own title, Jack of Fables. The character is based on various nursery rhymes and fables with characters named Jack including Little Jack Horner, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and Jill, Jack Be Nimble, Jack Frost, Jack O'Lantern, and Jack the Giant Killer and others.In JACK OF FABLES #15, an Indian named Raven shows up and introduces himself as the "faithful Indian compadre" of Wicked John, Jack's doppelganger. Raven is your typical tall, dark, handsome Indian hunk with long black locks. He's dressed Crocodile Dundee-style with a cowboy hat and vest-like shirt.

Raven provides a little information and then joins the team of misfits for their next adventure, which is chronicled in the Americana trade paperback.

Here Raven dresses in a black t-shirt. He's gruff, likes women, and cheats at chess and cards. Eventually, he transforms into a giant raven to save the others, revealing himself to be the mythical Indian trickster.

Zero of a hero

Other than this, Raven is a complete non-entity...a big zero...a waste of space. I'm not even sure why writer Bill Willingham included him. Maybe he thought Jack needed an Indian companion as he traveled through the West. I get the impression that Willingham hasn't thought or doesn't care about the role of Indians in American lore.

Raven is a bit of an odd choice for an Indian who first appears in the Grand Canyon. A Coyote figure would've been a more natural choice for the location. And the creative team could've given him a more imaginative name and appearance (think of the Marvel hero Black Crow). There must be a couple dozen comic-book characters with a variation of the name "Raven."

Unless it happens in a future issue I haven't read yet, JACK OF FABLES has missed a great opportunity. Jack is supposed to be the ultimate trickster figure in the FABLES universe. A character named Raven should've been his equivalent from the Native universe. Jack the Anglo-Saxon trickster and Raven the Native trickster could've waged an epic battle of wits, with Jack losing in the end as he always does.

Anyway, the JACK OF FABLES series is lighter and less substantial than its FABLES forebear. Read FABLES first and then pick up JACK if you want more.

For more on the subject, see Comic Books Featuring Indians.