By Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham & others (Vertigo)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-299-5 ISBN: 978-1-84576-393-0 (trade paperback)
The monthly comicbook Fables details the exploits of fairytale and storybook characters that we humans regard as fictional, living secret immortal lives among us, as refugees from a monstrous all-consuming Adversary who has conquered their original homelands. It is one of the best adult strips ever created.
This all-original graphic novel complements the collected trade paperback editions of the comic, which are handy, wonderful and absolutely indispensable reading before you even attempt the beautiful and compelling book I’m about to wholeheartedly recommend.
Written by series creator Bill Willingham and illustrated in a stunning variety of styles and manners by Esao Andrews, Brian Bolland, John Bolton, Mark Buckingham, James Jean, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Derek Kirk Kim, Tara McPherson, Jill Thompson, Charles Vess and Mark Wheatley with lettering and calligraphy by the great Todd Klein, the book uses the framing device of Snow White dispatched to the as-yet unconquered realm of the Arabian Fables (Fables: Arabian Nights {and Days} ISBN: 1-84576-278-9 (see below) on a diplomatic undertaking and forced to repeat the trick of Scheherazade to stay alive and complete her mission.
Using the (to us) untold histories of her fellow refugees as bedtime stories for the love-sick and homicidal Sultan Shahryar, Snow reveals the secrets of a number of our favourite characters including the Frog Prince, Frau Totenkinder, Old King Cole and Bigby Wolf in a superb mix of taut horror and broad comedy.
Now available in paperback as well as spiffy hardcover, this captivating volume of very adult yarns – and that doesn’t mean salacious; it means clever with violence, swearing and nudity – is a perfect book for people who never lost the ability to appreciate stories. Another absolute gem.
© 2006 Bill Willingham and DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.