Fairest (comics)
Fairest is an American monthly comic series created by Bill Willingham, published by DC's Vertigo. A spin-off of Fables, Fairest detailed the adventures and stories of Fabletown's female citizens and heroines. Fairest was described by Willingham as a series of miniseries, with each arc telling self-contained stories.[1][2][3]
| Fairest | |
|---|---|
 Cover for Fairest #1 (May 2012), art by Adam Hughes. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Vertigo |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Contemporary fantasy, dark fantasy, urban fantasy |
| Publication date | March 2012 – January 2015 |
| No. of issues | 33 |
| Main character(s) | Briar Rose, The Snow Queen, Ali Baba, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Princess Alder, Reynard the Fox, Nalayani, Prince Charming, Goldilocks, Cinderella |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Bill Willingham |
| Written by | Bill Willingham, Lilah Sturges (credited as Matthew Sturges), Lauren Beukes, Sean E. Williams, Marc Andreyko |
| Penciller(s) | Phil Jimenez, Shawn McManus, Inaki Miranda, Barry Kitson, Stephen Sadowski, Meghan Hetrick-Murante |
| Inker(s) | Andy Lanning, Shawn McManus |
| Letterer(s) | Todd Klein |
| Colourist(s) | Andrew Dalhouse, Shawn McManus |
| Editor(s) | Shelley Bond Gregory Lockard (asst.) |
The series ended in January 2015.[4]
Story arcs
Wide Awake (issues #1 to 6): Follows the misadventures of Briar Rose and the Snow Queen after the events of Fables #107, in which Briar was stolen away by the goblin army.
Lamia (issue #7): Beauty and Beast star in their own mid-century modern detective story set in the smoky clubs and dive bars of 1940s Los Angeles.
The Hidden Kingdom (issues #8 to 13): A prequel to the Fables story arc Legends in Exile. Rapunzel must travel from Fabletown to Tokyo and resolve a mystery from her troubled past.
Aldered States (issue #14): Princess Alder tells her tales of woe to Reynard the Fox.
The Return of the Maharaja (issue #15 to 20): When Nalayani's village is attacked, she is sent on a quest that will transform all of Fables forever.
Fairest in All the Land (graphic novel): Someone is killing the women of Fabletown, and Cinderella has only seven days to discover the identity of the murderer.
Of Men and Mice (issue #21 to 26): After an assassination attempt on Snow White, Cinderella is called back into service to unravel an age-old conspiracy that dates back to that fateful midnight ball.
Clamour for Glamour (issue #27 to 32): Refugees from Fabletown have returned to New York's Castle Dark, and Reynard, now able to shapeshift from fox to man, travels the mundane world to regale the animals with tales of his exploits.
Goldilocks and the Three (or More) Bears (issue #33): Final issue, but leads into the original graphic novel, Fairest: In All the Land.
Collected editions
| # | Title | ISBN | Release date | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairest Vol. 1: Wide Awake | ISBN 1-4012-3550-6 | November 27, 2012 | Fairest #1–7 |
| 2 | Fairest Vol. 2: Hidden Kingdom | ISBN 1-4012-4021-6 | July 30, 2013 | Fairest #8-14 |
| 3 | Fairest Vol. 3: The Return of the Maharaja | ISBN 1-4012-4593-5 | June 3, 2014 | Fairest #15-20 |
| 4 | Fairest Vol. 4: Of Men and Mice | ISBN 1-4012-5005-X | October 7, 2014 | Fairest #21-26 |
| 5 | Fairest Vol. 5: The Clamour for Glamour | ISBN 1-4012-5426-8 | August 25, 2015 | Fairest #27-33 |
| Fairest In All the Land | ISBN 1-4012-3900-5 | November 26, 2013[5] | Original graphic novel |
References
- "CCI Exclusive: Willingham & Vertigo Announce "Fables" Spinnoff". Comic Book Resources. 23 July 2011.
- "'Fairest' Comic Lets Fairy-Tale Characters of 'Fables' Romp". USAToday.com. 11 March 2012.
- "SDCC 2011: Fables Spins-Off New Monthly Series, Fairest". Newsarama.com. 9 June 2023.
- "Bill Willingham Explains Why FABLES is Ending with #150". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
- Willingham, Bill (2013). Fairest In All the Land. ISBN 978-1401239008.