| “ | I can't lie—the chicken came first! She was hot to trot! | „ |
| ~ Humpty Dumpty to Jack Horner and his group in Jack of Fables #17 — "Americana, Part 1: On Eggshells" |
Humpty Dumpty, also known as Mister D,[1] is a Fable who is a prisoner at the Golden Boughs Retirement Village, and first appears in Jack of Fables #2 — "Jack in the Box."
History
Early life
Humpty Dumpty is a giant anthropomorphic egg who can blast away like a cannon, and fought in the Homelands version of the Battle of Colchester.[3] At one point, he got himself shattered, but unlike in the nursery rhyme, the King's men were able to put him together again, as they were good with head wounds.[6] He is originally from Colchester,[4] but is also implied to be from the Looking Glass World, like in the novel Through the Looking-Glass: When Bloody Mary confronts the Knave of Hearts there in 1888, Humpty is seen sitting alone on the edge of a fountain in the village square, his shell broken and patched up with bandages, and a chunk of eggshell is missing from his head.[5]
Humpty Dumpty in the Looking Glass Kingdom in 1888
He presumably escaped to the mundane world at some point; however, he was captured by Mister Revise's forces and imprisoned in the Golden Boughs Retirement Village. During his incarceration, he attempted many daring escapes, but failed every time.[1] In one such futile attempt to flee from the village, Humpty was captured almost instantly by Robin Page and one of her tigers, ending up ensnared in an net. Hanging in the net suspended above the ground, Robin took the opportunity to mock him, asking if he would call this an escape attempt. She jokingly suggested that next time she should open the gates of the Golden Boughs and give him a three-hour jump on her, so that it would be a bit more engaging. Humpty responded by reciting well-known quotes regarding liberty and human rights: "Let My People Go," from the Book of Exodus in the Bible; the title of the protest song "We Shall Overcome"; and "I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King.[7]
Escape from the Golden Boughs
In his debut issue, Humpty Dumpty, yet again attempting to escape the Golden Boughs, sprints to the fence and manages to climb up, only to be met by Robin and her troops, including a white tiger. She orders him down from his perch, but he refuses. She cautions him, telling him that if he were to fall and break, there'd be no one who could be bothered to put him back together again. But still, he carries on, knowing it is better to be broken than stay confined as a prisoner. As he releases his grip, he shouts "Remember Colchester!," plunging towards the ground. But before he lands, Robin's forces catch him in a safety net. Smugly, Robin boasts that they will always be ready to catch him, and makes a point of warning that if he gets himself shattered beyond repair, they will throw him down the memory hole and start over.[1]
Later, Humpty Dumpty stands among a group of spectators, watching as Jack Horner shares his plan to break out. He listens intently, yet afterward, Jack says he will not let Humpty come with them. However, Jack's attitude quickly shifts when Humpty reveals he knows the location of a key to a secret treasure: He secured the key before being thrown in jail at the Golden Bough.[8]
Humpty informs his comrades that the western perimeter of the Golden Bough was in darkness as they make their daring escape. Soon, Goldilocks, Sam and Jack are doing their best to aid him in getting over the fence. Sam is disappointed that he can't scale the fence by himself, like he did last time, but Humpty reminds him that he was fleeing from a tiger then. The three assist him to the top of the fence and instruct him to carefully lower himself down. He leaps from the fence, and luckily Sam and Goldilocks are there to catch him. He panics as soon as he sees a Bagman heading towards them.[9] Humpty and Sam look on in shock as Jack assaults the Bagman, and Humpty is taken aback when Sam scrambles back over the fence to help Jack, calling out "hey!" Jack and Sam outwit the Bagman, and they all go on their way. But then Robin's tiger appears on the scene. He voices his apprehension to the company, then announces that this turn would be his, and they were about to witness what an old cannon from Colchester can do. He then fires a lethal blast from his body, which kills the tiger. But in the process, he begins to shatter. He confesses that he was fearful this might occur, and explains that he rarely does this and hasn't done so in a long time, since eggshell is not as strong as cast iron. He screams out a desperate "no!" as he breaks apart.[3]
Americana
Jack collects the falling parts for himself, placing them into his suitcase for safekeeping. Later on, he performs a seemingly superhuman feat by successfully putting Humpty Dumpty together again during four days of labor in a motel located in New Mexico. Jack uses an enormous amount of superglue for Humpty, and it's a very uncomfortable experience for the latter. Humpty inhales the fumes from the glue, getting lightheaded and talking nonsense. He's filled with jokes and wisecracks in this state. Jack splashed water on Humpty in an attempt to get him to sober up and tell him where the treasure was located. Despite this, Humpty refuses, knowing that Jack will take it all for himself. Instead, he offers to guide Jack to the treasure so that they can both share the reward. He suddenly regurgitates his own egg yolk and requests that his friends help him gather it up.[10]
Raven and Gary lift Humpty into a car before piling in for the journey to Americana in search of a hidden treasure. Jack contemplates how they're going to make it to their destination since Mister Revise annihilated all the entrances to Americana, but Humpty informs him that they can get in by disguising themselves as hobos and leaping onto a train in an area where there is strong overlapping between the mundane world and Americana. The group abandons the vehicle to climb aboard a freight car on the train, where they surprisingly come across Hillary Page and Paul Bunyan.[10]
They found the treasure eventually, but Humpty was captured by Bookburner[11] and forced to join him in his march against the Golden Boughs. After he got himself broken again,[7] Bookburner had him resurrected as an evil version of his former self.[12]
Death
Apparently, Humpty recovered, and was back as his old self again in the final Jack of Fables story arc.[13] He was killed when Hillary Page fired her rifle-mounted grenade launcher in a chaotic fight in the final issue of Jack of Fables.[2]
Appearances
|
Original source
- Humpty Dumpty is based on the titular character of the "Humpty Dumpty" nursery rhyme, and the character from the novel Through the Looking-Glass.
- The nursery rhyme goes:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
- The character in Lewis Carroll's novel is based on the titular character of the nursery rhyme, though they differ in one significant way: In the book, the character is depicted as a talking, anthropomorphic egg, much like he is in the Jack of Fables comics. In the novel, Humpty Dumpty grows from an egg that Alice purchases from the Sheep's curiosity shop. He perches himself atop a nearby wall and begins instructing her nonsensically in matters of grammar and semantics. After reciting the famous poem, which he explains "was written entirely for (Alice's) amusement," he promptly says, "Goodbye," and shakes her hand in parting. She adds, ."..till we meet again," but Humpty explains that he cannot recognize faces and would not know her should he see her a second time. He then closes his eyes and grows silent. After waiting for him to speak again, Alice walks away and Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall and breaks.
- In addition, the comics version of Humpty Dumpty looks much like the character as drawn by John Tenniel in the first original edition of Through the Looking-Glass.
- The comic version of Humpty Dumpty can blast away like a cannon and served as one in the Homelands version of the Battle of Colchester. This is a reference to the history of the nursery rhyme; "Humpty Dumpty" was originally the name of a big cannon used during this battle.[14]
References
See also
| Jack of Fables | |
|---|---|
| Characters | Jack Horner • Kevin Thorn • Gary • Mr. Revise • Robin Page • Priscilla Page • Hillary Page • Jack Frost • Babe • Snow Queen • Wicked John • Alice |
| Locations | Fabletown • Golden Boughs Retirement Village |