Day 29: Animal Farm by George Orwell

A political satire that every high school student must have studied in their English class. I must have been one of the few that actually enjoyed this vital work of contemporary culture. George Orwell’s classic work is an allegory and satire of the Russian Revolution, a biased and yet informative paradigm that illustrates how boundless hope and potential can disintegrate into tyranny. The bold struggle of the animals against the oppression of Mr. Jones in his Farm forges the Animal Farm, founded on the notion that All Animals Are Created Equal. But when the pigs re-establish an elite class over the masses, betraying their faithful followers, all realise the dark significance of the tacked-on postscript that Some Animals Are More Equal than Others. If you didn’t study this phenomenal work in high school, it’s never too late to read it now.

Day 20: Fables Vol 1 by Bill Willingham

This hardcover collects “Legends in Exile” and “Animal Farm,” introducing a host of characters that populate the Fables universe along with the two primary communities of the Fables on Earth: Fabletown and the Farm. Each chapter tackles a different genre as it explores the relationships between these immortal characters and their varied and often misinterpreted histories. Willingham’s writing is clever and witty and the stories are beyond phenomenal. Often his take on the fables are unique; he enjoys twisting and turning our expectations for these characters. For example, Prince Charming is a divorced, promiscuous womanizer with an insurmountable ego, Snow White is the deputy mayor of Fabletown, and Bigby Wolf, the sherrif, is the shapeshifting Big Bad Wolf of infamy. This is easily my favourite ongoing comic book.