| “ | What can I say? I may be lazy, but my home was built days before the others. | „ |
| ― Carl to Hillary Page, Jack of Fables #31 — "The Book of Reversals: The Books of War, Volume Four" |
Carl is a Fable pig who is the unknown fourth member of the Three Little Pigs and was erased from continuity by Mister Revise. He first appears in Jack of Fables #31 — "The Book of Reversals: The Books of War, Volume Four."
History
Background
Carl was the fourth of the Three Little Pigs. He made a house made from cloth, and admits that he may have been lazy, but he finished making his dwelling days before his brethren; even though they warned him that a tent would not keep the Big Bad Wolf out.[1] Carl was Snow White's favorite of the Four Little Pigs,[5] the moniker that they were originally known as.[1]
Eventually, Carl was imprisoned in the Golden Boughs Retirement Village and was erased from continuity by Mister Revise.[1]
Revival
During Bookburner's attack on the Golden Boughs Retirement Village, Mr. Revise makes the decision to allow the stories of the Fable prisoners to be reinstated,[6] and distributes copies of the book containing them to everyone.[7] As a result, Carl is revived and appears out of thin air in the heat of battle. He flirts with Hillary Page asks and is curious about what happened to his brethren and whether the Big Bad Wolf finally got them. He then joins forces with the others to defeat Bookburner:[1] The Tin Woodsman devises a plan to dig them out of their predicament,[8] so Carl starts to dig into the ground. Meanwhile, the Tin Woodsman makes a flippant comment, "You call that digging? That's nothin'. I have attachments."[1] Following the intense battle, Carl offers his congratulations to the Tin Man for coming up with the idea of digging them out. However, the Tin Man humbly credits Carl for being just as instrumental in the plan.[8]
Dino Diner
After abandoning the Golden Boughs,[8] the other former inmates gather in Dino Diner. Carl is present while Jack Horner makes a phone call to Snow White and the Big Bad Wolf, now known as Bigby; urgently requesting their presence.[9]
As Snow and Bigby arrive at Dino Diner, Carl is engaged in conversation with Babe the Blue Ox, who appears to be struggling to make sense of Carl's enthusiastic ramblings. Snow expresses her joy upon encountering Carl, whom she has not seen for centuries. However, she finds herself perplexed when she mentions "the Four Little Pigs," unable to comprehend the reason behind her own words. Carl keeps talking happily as he sits next to Babe, but his words are represented as strange symbols in the word balloons. Meanwhile, Babe pays no attention at all.[5]
Death
Decades later, Carl and the ex-inmates of the Golden Boughs have transformed Dino Diner into an amusement park, where Carl entertains on stage in front of enthusiastic audiences, who have been enchanted into believing that the talking animals and beings are not real.[2]
When Raven offers to show everyone the way to Fabletown,[3] the group follows his bird spirit for days, until they reach a grotto in Canada,[10] where the group finds themselves in the middle of a battle between Jack Frost, and Jack Horner in dragon form. Ultimately, Carl's life is cut short when he is caught in the crossfire created by the Page sisters: In their anguish over Jack Horner's act of burning the original Fable stories they have been searching for, the sisters begin to shoot at everyone in their vicinity. Carl is tragically killed in this incident.[4]
Appearances
Jack of Fables
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Fables |