Fairest, Vol.1 – “Wide Awake” (Vertigo)

Writer: Bill Willingham & Matthew Sturges | Artist: Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Steve Sadowski, Mark Farmer, Andrew Pepoy & Shawn McManus | Colours: Andrew Dalhouse & Shawn McManus

Balancing horror, humor and adventure in the FABLES tradition, FAIREST explores the secret histories of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Snow Queen, Thumbelina, Snow White, Rose Red and others.

The first 6-issue tale follows the misadventures of Briar Rose immediately after the events of FABLES #107 (collected in FABLES VOL. 16: SUPER TEAM), in which she was stolen away by the goblin army.

The first issue of Fairest was the first comic I’d read written by Bill Willingham. Since then, I’ve read the first five Deluxe editions of Fables, his expansive re-interpretation of fairy tales transposed onto a contemporary setting (New York, for example). He has quickly become one of my favourite comics writers. With a bit more Fables under my belt, I was a little better informed about some of the content of Fairest. This is a superb series.

Upcoming: March 2012 Previews from Vertigo

If you’ve been in a comic store this past week, you may have either seen or received a new preview sampler issue that includes tastes of four new titles coming from Vertigo next month.

All four titles sound pretty cool, so I thought I’d just share some information on the blog to help generate some interest. I’m quite familiar with two of the series’ writers already, aware of a third, and one of them is an entirely new name to me.

So, read on for some information and quick thoughts on Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child, Fairest, New Deadwardians and Saucer Country.