Product Description

WHO KILLED ROSE RED?- In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case - and, along with Rose's sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams. FABLES: LEGENDS IN EXILE collects the first five issues of writer and creator Bill Willingham's acclaimed new VERTIGO series (superbly illustrated by Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, and Craig Hamilton), and includes a new FABLES short story written and illustrated by Willingham.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23324 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Review
"FABLES is a must-read for any aficionado of fantasy in a contemporary setting." - The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction "We hope this series lasts happily ever after." - WIZARD "Instantly compelling." - Cinescape.com "Looks as good as it reads." - Comics Buyer's Guide "Every fan should take a look." - The Fourth Rail

About the Author
Bill Willingham is a writer and artist whose work includes The Elementals, Coventry and The Sandman Presents: The Thessaliad. Lan Medina's work includes Aria and Wonder Woman. Steve Leialoha has been a professional illustrator for many years, and his work includes Nevada and the comics adaptation of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Customer Reviews

Mister Wolf on the case
This collects the first 5 issues of Bill Willingham's Fables comic. The run covers Bigby Wolf's investigation into the apparent killing of Rose Red in Fabletown - a community made up of refugees/exiles from the the lands of myth and fable. On paper the idea surely can't work but somehow it does by using characters that are imprinted on most children's consciousness from an early age. This is adult fare though even taking into account real fables propensity for the bloody and the macabre. It all fits together cleverly with a strange kind of natural symmetry. I n execution the comic walks the same paths of style as say Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen even down to the prose fairytale prequelling events at the back of the book, written and illustrated by Willingham. As with Moore's League it's all very much tongue in cheek. Bigby wolf is a good character noiring his way through the mystery complete with parlour denouement. Entertaining and well executed with some pretty neat art.

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
This series of comics is fantastic. Whilst taking inspiration from the fairytales we all know and love this graphic novel gives them a twist. Like another reviewer said, it gives back the darkness/edge that the fairytales of old had, rather than the watered-down, cutesy versions that exist today.

The book starts with the murder of Rose Red (Snow White's sister) and Bigby Wolf has to solve the crime. It is well written, well dramatised and well illustrated. The female characters are just as strong as the men and there are clever little jokes, such as the Wolf is known as Bigby Wolf in the real world (could that be short for Big B. Wolf, as in Big Bad Wolf).

The fables are a community of fairytale folk (from many backgrounds) that have taken shelter in our world (New York to be specific) because a big bad guy only known as 'The Adversary' has taken over their worlds. Prince Charming is a sleaze who cons women to survive, Old King Cole is the mayor (in name only) and Snow White really runs the show. The less human-looking members of the fable community inhabit a farm in upstate New York, but that's a whole different story (Vol. 2 - Animal Farm)!

Be warned - once you read this you will want to read the rest!

A good way of using fairy tales.
I was fascinated when I first learned of the fact that most of the best-loved fairy tales had been rewritten so as not to shock the parents. This book brings back the edge and violence to those old stories, The Big Bad Wolf as the detective on a murder scene, Prince Charming as a sleazy opportunist. It's so refreshing to see the life and vigour once hidden behind the cuteness.