"Erstwhile" Says Goodbye With "Mother Holle"

Would you believe Erstwhile, who have been bringing us wonderful comics of lesser known fairy tales, has been going for eight years? Sadly for us, the wonderful team of Gina, Elle and Louisa now feel it's time to bring this adventure to an end and to free themselves up for other things they've been wanting to do. While many of us sort of half-expected them to continue until all the tales were tackled, it should be acknowledged how much wonderful work in writing, designing and illustration these girls have done, consistently beautifully, over many years now. The web comic now unfolding twice a week, Mother Holle, is their final installation but well worth following, especially as it's the last chance we will have to do so - at least like this.

A note from the creators from their official website:

We are most honored to present to you our final story for the Erstwhile series, Mother Holle, by Gina Biggs. Yes, this story will indeed be our swan song, though it will be a song that carries on to the end of August and end with a Kickstarter for our third collected volume of fairy tales. 

Louisa, Elle, and myself have worked on Erstwhile for eight years now, though not all of those years was the series available online as a webcomic. In that time we have tackled twenty-four of our most favorite lesser-known fairy tales and we are quite proud of that work. 

We agree that it has been an amazing eight years together, but all feel that it is time to say goodbye. We want to move from this structure and possibly branch out with new comics, new fairy tale inspirations, and new adventures. We thank you so much for sharing in this love of fairy tales with us. We hope you will read to the end and in August grab the final hardcover volume of the collection. Thank you all, from the bottom of our hearts! 

Now, please enjoy the comic!

There are a few pages out already and if you logged in while they were having glitch and server issues and were unable to see their pages, that's now been resolved. Although comments (which are always wonderful to read and a great discussion center) have been lost for those pages, they are once again showing in order and the new pages are stable.

If you haven't yet, you can purchase previous volumes of Erstwhile tales via HERE and, after Mother Holle is complete, they will be Kickstarting a campaign for the third and final volume of fairy tales as well. (All are/will be available in print and in e-copy form.)

This wonderful team have done amazing work in bringing lesser known tales back into circulation and we're so grateful for all their work. I can't wait to see what they plan to do next, especially with regard to fairy tales.

Note: The artwork shown within the post are the covers for the two volumes to date, which are still available to purchase. We'll keep you updated on the Kickstarter campaign for the third and final volume when it happens.

I saw this entry on Tumblr this week and found it hilarious so had to share. All the images are from the comic series by Charles Vess that was eventually released in the GORGEOUS book, shown at the top of the post.

From the Tam Lin Balladry Tumblr HERE:

man, ballad tropes are fun

ceruleancynic:

• Anything that begins “as I was a-walking” is probably not going to end well, which is at least a good two-thirds of the ones I know 

• 366 days is the right length of time to wait before you give up on anything 

• If you’re going to drown somebody, for God’s sake weigh the body down with rocks or something so nobody comes along and MAKES A F-ING HARP OUT OF IT ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS because that harp is going to drop the dime on you so fast 

• The Queen of the Fairies has a hoarding problem

(via camwyn)
                      

I am STILL laughing.

Free Comic Book Day is TODAY and Officially Helps Kick Off Children's Book Week 2015

Yup - that is correct. Comic book stores around the US today will be helping to launch Children's Book Week for 2015 - officially - and not just by reminding you. They've gotten involved with the Children's Literacy Council and other reading advocate organizations for kids and are ready to encourage young readers (and would-be-readers) of all ages. The official Free Comic Book Day team and graphic novel artists and writers from all over have been preparing events BEYOND free comic book day  - to take place THROUGHOUT Children's Book Week  - to help promote reading, with comics as a launch pad to reading-success.

2015 preview of Labyrinth comic from the Boom Studios Anthology to be given away

From FreeComicBookDay:

On May 2, comic book stores will kick off Children's Book Week (May 4-10, 2015), the annual celebration of books for young people and the joy of reading, by giving away over two million comics to younger readers on Free Comic Book Day! 

With over two dozen kid -friendly titles to choose from, there's a free comic book available to help every young reader get into the spirit of Children's Book Week which will be celebrated the following week with more fun, book-themed events, appearances from beloved children’s book authors and illustrators, and more in all fifty states. 

Comics’ industry leaders Diamond Comic Distributors and Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) are partnering with Every Child a Reader and the Children's Book Council to bring greater focus to what comics offer kids, with cross-industry promotions and targeted resources for parents & educators during Children’s Book Week. In addition to Free Comic Book Day, the organizations will partner with authors, publishers, and comics specialty and book retailers to create Children's Book Week events spotlighting comics and the joy of reading at locations all over the United States! 

Jennifer L. Holm, three-time Newbery Honoree and CBLDF board member says, "When I was a child, my love of reading started with comic books. Today, as a comics creator myself, and as a mom, I'm excited by how much extraordinary storytelling is happening for young people in comics. Children's Book Week is a wonderful time for people to come together and share the love of reading comics with kids everywhere!"“Comics and graphic novels are incredible tools for fostering a love of reading in children, and transmit valuable literacy skills to readers of all levels. We are delighted to partner with Free Comic Book Day to share the joy of comics with kids nationwide this Children’s Book Week,” says Nicole Deming, interim director of the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader. 

“On behalf of comic shops nationwide that promote reading in their communities on Free Comic Book Day and all year round, and the writers, artists and publishers creating a fantastic array of children’s comics today, we welcome this opportunity to collaborate with Children’s Book Week and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund,” added Roger Fletcher, Diamond VP Sales & Marketing.

The kid-friendly FREE comics available this year will be more in number than usual and it's recommended parents take their kids and load up those arms!

What usually happens at comic book stores participating in Free Comic Book Day?

All the ones I've been to have had:

• costumed characters
• dressing up for guests (& contests)
• props and displays for photo ops (and general fun)
• artists signing comic books and special prints
• food!
• giveaways and raffles
• special appearances by guests
• art lessons
• FREE COMIC BOOKS!

Here's what our local store is doing:

Don't worry about breakfast, you can buy something delicious at one of the amazing gourmet food trucks, and Honu Coffee will be taking your order while you wait in line!

Did we mention the Stormtroopers, Ewoks, R2D2 and the LANDSPEEDER, not to mention Batman, Batgirl, Joker, and who knows what other characters might decide to stop by! In fact, dress to impress, and enter our SUPER COOL all ages COSTUME CONTEST sponsored by DK Publishing and LEGO!

Games, prizes, balloons, a rockin cool BINGO game, a DJ, gaming demos, free art lessons...SO much to do! Be sure you're following us on Twitter, for our giveaway game, where we will be giving away some amazing prize packages to the lucky winners.

And, OH YEAH: don't forget the comics. Miles and miles of free comics!

Get here early, stay all day!!! JUST BE THERE!

For fairy tale folk there are a few offerings in the free category, including a special Labyrinth comic (which you can see a preview page of in this post) and for slightly older kids, there's Steampunk Goldilocks. There are a variety of other kids fantasy too, though, sporting the prince, princess and monster motifs common to what people think of as fairy tales today as well though, so check them all out (and hey - if you don't like what you ended up with, donate them!)

Also DK are an official sponsor of Free Comic Book Day for 2015!

DK have signed on to sponsor and contribute toward the marketing and promotion of Free Comic Book Day (FCBD), which takes places Saturday May 2^nd at participating comic book specialty shops across the US, Canada, and worldwide. DK will serve as a supporter of Free Comic Book Day offering a special edition comic book along with the opportunity to win prizes as they help shape and enrich the comic fans’ experience of the event.

DK will offer FCBD Fans the opportunity to win various graphic novels, comics, activity books, and additional prizes through contests hosted on the Free Comic Book Day Facebook page during April through July. 

There's a list of bona-fide kid-friendly comic book stores by state HERE, but seeing our local  book store isn't on there yet it definitely fits the bill, it's not a complete list. Although not all comic book stores participate, most seem to, so check out yours - and remember, the earlier you get there, the more likely you are to get the freebies you want the most...

Happy reading!

An Update from Bill Willingham on the "Fables" Finale from the Vertigo Panel at ECCC 2015

I still cannot quite believe we are barreling toward the end of Fables. With not much time left and very little, if any news about the upcoming Fables movie (please let it be happening and be awesome!), everyone was very curious to see what Fables creator and chief writer, Bill Willingham, had to say at the Emerald City Comic Con, which began at the end of March.

Willingham headed up the Vertigo panel on the Opening Day of the Con, titled New Blood, immediately explaining this was an out-with-the-old (including himself) and in-with-the-new, sort of panel. (!)

From Newsarama:

"So why is this called New Blood?" Willingham began. "For one, the old blood is being moved out. I can reveal now that I did not decide to end Fables, I was told to end Fables. You'll notice that the 'Old Guard' like Kurt Busiek and Gail Simone haven't made it here yet because we're old, and we're tired, and our walkers just don't work the way they used to." 

...(Eventually) the panel switched gears (away from the new staff and talent), putting attention on the upcoming final issue of Fables. While Willingham spoke, exclusive art from Fables #150 was shuffled quickly across the projector screen. 

"The final issue of Fables is 150 story pages long," said Willingham. "So it's a collection and an individual issue, and it's coming out in July. Mark Buckingham is doing the best work of his career here, which is saying a lot. One thing Mark and I promised #150 would do, unlike the Jack of Fables series, is that we wouldn't kill everybody. If someone survives, we've kept our promise. The story spans from when #149 left off to about a hundred and fifty million years in the future. It's gonna be pretty fun." 

The floor was then opened up to audience questions..
... directed to Willingham - which Fable did he regret killing off the most?"I know you want me to say Boy Blue because it was a really good death," he replied. "I think we got a good story out of that, so I don't regret it. We got a good death out of Shere Khan, his was the first big death in terms of significance, and the atomic moment that the book was out and we couldn't take it back, I thought of all these things I could have done with him. We try to make the deaths count, so we couldn't bring him back."
"The truth is ideas are easy," finished Willingham. "Very similar ideas come to a lot of people. Execution is everything. That's what you need to know how to protect." 

Wow. I can't imagine how that must have been, to be told to end Fables when you weren't really ready to do so. I can only hope that the popularity, excellent reviews and critical acclaim of the video game The Wolf Among Us, and the obvious anticipation of fans for the upcoming movie will mean that perhaps Willingham will be given license to work in his favorite fairy tale world again in some capacity - even if it's in a completely different way to anything ever hinted at before. 

I do know he's announced that he will continue writing and creating comics and that he plans to focus on novels for a while. I know there have been plans to create other Fables-based novels, like Peter & Max, that haven't yet seen the light of day, and I know that he remains passionate about fairy tales - in a more serious, critical studies manner than most of his fans have any idea about.

July is going to be a weird month when all this goes down - and that's likely when we'll have a better idea of which direction Willingham goes next. I have a feeling that it will also be around that time that we'll get some more concrete information on the Fables movie - even if Willingham continues to not be directly involved. Bittersweet times.

These end of the era-things can get rough on the tear ducts.

Note: all illustrations are from Fables comics covers from the last arc, titled Happily Ever After, except for the header (which is from a very early issue). We've yet to see if this is a literal description of the end of these stories, or if it's ironic.

"Fables" Movie Gets "Kick-Ass" (& "Stardust") Screenwriter

Snow White by James Jean front cover for the expanded edition re-release of the Fables Cover Collection
(coming Feb 2015)

Here's some news that's getting pop culture (and possibly some fairy tale) geeks excited again: Warner Bros and the Fables movie has announced they have a new screenwriter: Jane Goldman. She's known for the recent movie Kick-Ass, Stardust, two X-Men films, and has most recently worked on Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (currently in pre-production).

In pop culture terms, Kick-Ass got a lot of 'street cred' (critics either thought it was an smart and outrageous black comedy or thought it was just violent and distasteful - I haven't seen it so can't comment), so people are REALLY excited to see what she will do with Fables.

Here are some quotes from the press release interview with Producer David Heyman (best known for the Harry Potter movies and, at the moment, Paddington), care of Slash Film and Comic Book Resources:

Rose Red by James Jean
back cover for the expanded edition re-release
 the Fables Cover Collection
(coming Feb 2015)

[Arcel] did a draft, and now he’s supervising Jane, who’s doing a draft. Hoping that it’ll come in and we’ll be able to move to the next stage. All these things always take longer than you want. And ‘Fables’ is not easy, by any means, but I think it’ll be pretty great.

Heyman also spoke about what attracted him to the property:

I’m drawn to stories about outsiders, and I think the Fables are outsiders. They’re people torn from the place where they were raised, by The Adversary. They arrive in a New York City-type place, and how we’re approaching is that they’re people who are all separate, and how they ultimately have to form the community in order to survive. They’re all inhabiting their own little universes within this world. But they have to form this community, and that really appealed to me. And I just think the characters are so vivid. And I also think the farm is, again, it’s very human. That’s what I like. It’s a challenging film.

The long-running Fables comics are rapidly drawing toward their final release (I cannot quite believe it!). They're in the midst of the Happily Ever After story arc (the Finale) and issue #148  - Chapter 8 of the last story - was released today. The last story arc echoes the opening, focusing on the two female leads, Snow White and her sister Rose Red and their ongoing troubled relationship (a different take again on the meaning of Beauty and the Beast here...).

Below are the synopsis for issue #148 and the cover. (The cover appears to be the Snow White character, surrounded,or being attacked, by red roses.)

 Chapter Eight of Happily Ever After; The Last Story of Beauty and the Beast

At long last Rose Red learns the truth about her mother, her sister and herself. This is why they’re so magical. This is why all of that wild magic is affecting their lives now. And this is why one will ultimately have to kill the other. Apparently that’s what siblings in this family do. 

Plus: Terry Moore illustrates the backup feature, “The Last Story of Beauty and the Beast.”

Tons of "Fables" News: Movie Update, Willingham Teases End Of Series Details, the Fables Game "Levels Up" + Bonus Awesome Cosplay

Bigby Wolf & Snow White of Fables, "The Wolf Among Us" video game cosplay by Saskeks-Cosplay

The Fables movie news is pretty small but very significant. Warners is now in direct competition with Disney, now that Disney has bought Marvel so the amp up on superhero movies is expected and speculated on. The big question is, since it's Warner's property: will they be doing a Wonder Woman movie? The answer is "not yet" because there are a bunch of others already in production ahead in the cue, including...

...several other movies in development unconnected to the Justice League that are based on DC superheroes and fantasy and crime titles from its Vertigo line of genre comics, said Mr. Silverman and Toby Emmerich, president of Warner’s New Line Cinema label. They include “Shazam,” “Metal Men,” “100 Bullets,” and “Fables.” (Wall Street Journal)

What does that tell you? That Warners are confident enough in how the Fables movie is going that it's been put forward as a major property, currently in active development, and that other likely-to-be-hot properties (aka Wonder Woman) are going to have to wait their turn until after Fables is complete (or at least well established in actual production).

AKA: it's very good news! At least, that's where it stands right now, anyway. These things change so quickly but for the present it's full steam ahead on another fairy tale film of major proportions. *fistpump*

And regarding the long-running, critically acclaimed, Eisner Award-winning, fan-favorite comic book series, Fables ,wrap -up (cue wailing and gnashing of teeth), here's a little teaser that came out on Monday (April 29th), care of ComicBookMovie.com and DC All Access:

In this exclusive clip from DC All Access, Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham reminisce about their long running Vertigo fantasy series and share some hints on where it's going in its final year. Plus, look for an exclusive announcement about Fables #150 and the final arc of Fables!

Did they just say "I guess there MIGHT BE A POSSIBILITY of returning to those (surviving) characters..."? I hear more fairy tale possibilities for the future care of Willingham & Co... *double fistpump!*

By the way, the images are cosplay for the TellTale Games video game Fables prequel The Wolf Among Us. The talented cosplayers are Saskeks-Cosplay team and aren't the only cosplay I've seen for the game (though their comicbook-line approach is pretty cool and unique). And you know what they say about cosplay, right? OK, I don't know what the phrase is exactly but it's akin to someone tattooing one of your characters on their body. It's considered a "level-up". 

Note: the most recent episode of The Wolf Among Us, A Crooked Mile, is getting amazing reviews. It's been called addicting and akin to The Walking Dead (which TellTale Games won Game of the Year for last year). The Wolf Among Us seemed to slump slightly with the second chapter but people are revved all over again and demanding the next chapter release dates be moved up. (I'm sure they're adding a pretty please in there somewhere... with bared fangs..)

Additional sources: HERE & HERE (and a ton of other reviews from gamers - official and amateur)

Erstwhile 2 (Uncommon Fairy Tale Comics) Kickstarter Needs Your Help (And There's Only 3, 2.. Days To Go!)

I am doing a large "cut-n-'paste" type repost from Tumblr & Kickstarter in the interest of getting this news out ASAP because it just came to my attention that Erstwhile isn't close to reaching their goal to produce a second volume of lesser known fairy tale comics - even after the first volume was well received and reviewed.

So here goes the info:

An anthology series adapting six rare Grimm's Fairy Tales into comic form. Three artists, six complete stories!

(FTNH: Here's the Kickstarter promo video.)

ERSTWHILE is an anthology project adapting the lesser-known GRIMM'S FAIRY TALES. That means you won't be seeing the same old-same old when you open this book. The tales are not watered down versions, but the real deal. The dark stuff is not edited out for mass consumption, but it is illustrated in a tasteful way to make the comics suitable for both kids and adults. There are three artists on this collaborative project, Gina Biggs, Louisa Roy, and Elle Skinner. Each have their own distinctive style and each of these ladies takes a turn at illustrating one of the tales.

Those of you who are new to Erstwhile please feel free to read the ENTIRE series online for FREE! If you like what you see, come on back and support our kickstarter.

Erstwhile volume 2 is a FULL COLOR HARDCOVER book weighing in at 176 pages. Volume 2 contain six completed tales; Brother & Sister, Iron Hans, Snow White & Rose Red, Death of the Little Hen, Doctor Know-It-All, and The Worn-out Dancing Shoes (aka The 12 Dancing Princesses). Each volume of Erstwhile contains its own set of completed stories, so you can jump in at any time to enjoy. And if you want to get the first volume, we have that offered in our pledge levels as well!

Snow White & Rose Red introduces us to two sisters who are as different as night and day, but love each other dearly and always promise to share everything between them. Everything goes as planned until a kindly talking bear and an evil dwarf change their lives completely.

Brother & Sister tells the tale of two abused children who run away from home. Once alone in an enchanted forest the brother falls under a curse, transforming him into a wild creature, and the sister finds herself wooed by a king.

Iron Hans is a story of growing up. A young spoiled prince accidentally frees the wild man, Iron Hans, while selfishly trying to acquire his lost golden ball. He runs away from home, fearful of punishment, but once on his own finds both pride in his work and meaning to his life.

Death of the Little Hen follows the hilariously morbid tale of a Rooster and his selfish wife, Hen. The biggest nut on Nut Mountain is greedily gobbled up by Hen and leads to her death, but the tragedy only leads to more mayhem as Rooster and friends travel to the funeral.

Doctor Know-It-All is a man who knows everything, or at least appears that way. The poor farmer in disguise finds himself in over his head when a wealthy merchant hires him to discover the mystery behind the thefts in his household.

The Worn-out Dancing Shoes (aka The 12 Dancing Princesses) tells of twelve royal sisters who awake each morning with their shoes worn to shreds and their bodies worn to exhaustion. The king declares whomever solves the mystery will succeed him to the throne, but whomever fails will get the axe.

The first volume of Erstwhile included the following tales:

                        

   

If you'd like to read a non-affiliated write-up and review, please check out Heidi's posts over at the SurLaLune blog HERE.

We're all thrilled that the lesser known tales are getting some attention and that people are making an effort to bring them to the public again but being an independent group of artists they do need help to make it a reality. The artwork and writing is just about complete so it's not a matter of concern over the substance of the project at this point, so much as getting it properly published. If you're able, please consider sending some dollars their way and let's see how close we can get them to their goal.

Breaking News: "Fables" Series End Planned (NOOooooo! *cue sobbing*)

I'm being a little dramatic, I know. In truth, we've been lucky to have fairy tale retellings from the Fables world for as long as we have (over ten years!), and there had to be an end at some point. Turns out, that end point will be issue #150, which will be in about one year.

I've been wondering if something like this would happen soon, since Mr. Willingham has been increasingly busy over the past year with a movie finally taking off*, a critically acclaimed video game, a new Fabletown & Beyond convention, spin-offs like Fairest doing really well and more. Deciding to finish on a high note is hard. It means you have to stop doing something that you love and is going well/is profitable, but it's smart if you care about your work and are lucky enough to have the choice.

It doesn't mean there won't be Fables-esque properties appearing here and there from various corners, nor does it mean Mr. Willingham will never return to working on a Fables story. It does mean that we won't have monthly installments of tale retellings and new fairy tale art each month from one of the most respected teams in the comic book world though.

Here's the official announcement from Bill Willingham's website (via talking comic books):

Bill Willingham

“After more than ten years of publication, and hundreds of issues of Fables, and various Fables-related works, I have decided the time has come to begin the process of bringing our sweeping story to a close. And, along the way, I’ve decided to retire from a great deal of my comics work. 

Retirement in the storytelling trade means, still working and writing every day, but being a bit more selective in what projects I take on. Pushing 60, I thought it would be a good time to start making concrete plans for those remaining good writing years. 

Fables will end with Issue 150, which will be a larger than usual size, as were many of the other milestone issues. Fairest, our companion series, will also come to an end just before the big final Fables issue. 

Both DC and I will announce more details later on, but first and foremost I wanted to let our wonderful readers know about this as soon as I could, and note that our story plans leading up to Issue 150 made it increasingly clear that this upcoming saga should naturally be the final story. 

Of course Mark is already well aware of this and said, “I respect Bill’s decision and am looking forward to working with him on the book’s epic final year, leading to the series’ grand finale.” 

Newsarama is going to have more details, and I’ll link to their story as soon as it’s ready to go. (FTNH Update later in evening: That interview is now live and I'm including excerpts of the interview below as well.)

Let me restate my thanks to the best, sustained readership in all of comics. I promise to do my best to make the coming year in Fables a great one.”

And here are some excerpts from the newly posted Newsarama interview, beginning after the initial announcement of wrapping up the series is addressed, when questions turn to the arc and plot lines:

Willingham: Well, we have the end of the "Camelot" story. We have, following that, a two-issue story that's sort of a side story, but it sets up the final, big saga. And that story is called "The Boys in the Band." And it's all about Boy Blue's Band up at The Farm. They go off on an adventure together. The adventure sort of lays the groundwork. It asks a few specific questions that, the answer to those questions are the last big Fables saga.And then that lasts for nine issues, I believe, ending in issue #150, which is going to be an oversized issue.

Nrama: Obviously you know, now, how the series is going to end. At what point did you know that ending? You said it could have gone one of two ways — did you have this in your mind as a possible ending for awhile now? 

Willingham: This is one of the planned ways to end it. But it's just like issue #75, wherein the war is won and Gepetto signs on to Fabletown, could have been one of the moments of ending. This is one of those situations where you could end it there, or you could find other ways to go on. And we decided to wrap it up. 

Nrama: Is Fairest ending as well? 

Willingham: If the timing works out, the last arc of Fairest will end one month before issue #150 of Fables.In that sense, both will wrap up around the same time. 

Nrama: There are a lot of threads hanging right now in Fables, like the promised return of Prince Charming, the effect of The Unwritten crossover, or even the giant rats that Junebug saw. Are you trying to wrap up all the loose ends before the series ends? Are all those things I mentioned going to play into this ending? 

Willingham: Most of it. The giant rats is dealt with in the new Cinderella arc in Fairest, which is the next major arc coming up in that book. The Prince Charming return is dealt with partially in the Fairest In All The Land graphic novel, about to come out, and will also play into the final big arc of Fables. The Unwritten crossover will be addressed pretty close to the end. 

Nrama: I'm just floored. And I'm sure your fans will be too. I mean, I can't speak for everyone, but I just always thought Fables would be around. 

Willingham: Well, me too. But you know, the story was good enough, the scheduling kind of fell into place, and I will make one promise — the ending of this will not be everyone dies....I think that's the way to approach any possibility of doing more Fables in the future, as just special revisit types of things....Mark Buckingham and I are not leaving the fairy tale realms entirely. There are specific projects planned, coming up in the future, when Mark and I will work together in a non-Fables, non-DC kind of thing. And I think those need to be announced a little closer to the actuality of them happening. That's a couple of years away, probably.There are at least two projects that I'm starting up with other artists and such that will continue beyond this.I'm not quitting the business. I'm working on new things. And as you said, maybe I'll be able to wrestle a little more time for the novel I want to do along the way.

Cover art for the current issue: #137
In which Rose Red finishes up the Camelot arc -
at a cost...

And hmmm…. what do I want to give away about the final act? The main plotline of the final arc will deal with what's happening with Snow and Bigby and a new conflict involving Rose Red, in a very definite way. And that's as much as I want to say about that. 

Nrama: We've already seen Snow and Rose Red at odds with each other. And you know, it's interesting that these characters would finish Fables, because Bigby, Snow and Rose Red were the focus of the very first storyline, when the series started. 

Willingham: They were. And the issue that just came out, issue #134, had clues about what the final, big saga is going to be about. I will tease the end by saying that the clues are right there in front of you right now. 

You can read the whole interview HERE. (Note: if you're not up to date in reading Fables, there are some spoilers.)

Did you take note of the section I put in bold and dark red? The part about "not leaving the fairy tale realms altogether"? Hah. Yes. If you truly love the tales, how could you? Fairy tale addicts unite. *solidarity fist-pump*

In fact, as a good example of just how into fairy tales Willingham has delved over the years, the newly released Fables Encyclopedia has over 230 characters profiled (groups like the 3 Billy Goats Gruff are listed under a single entry so in reality there are a lot more) and that doesn't cover all the characters included to date either, since there are more issues out than are referenced in the volume. Almost all these characters are from fairy tales and folk tales (ie only a small few are original creations by the Fables writers) and many of them are surprisingly obscure inclusions most people who aren't fairy tale readers would never have heard of. For example, have you ever heard of "Fair Katrinelje and Pif-Paf-Poltrie"? It's a tale from Grimm's Children's and Household Tales. For reason of this example alone and as a fairy tale reader, if you only ever acquired one volume from the Fables realm, make it the Encyclopedia. It breaks down where each character originated with a very brief tale history as well as how they are used in the Fables world, and makes for a handy reference of characters that have found their way out of lesser known texts and into the hands of comic book lovers (and many more) everywhere.   


As someone who loves fairy tales, and is particularly excited to discover any new works (or uses) today by people who research the early versions really well, I can't describe how grateful I am to have discovered and delved into Fables while it is still being created, to see that universe actively expanding into spin-offs and to cross over into other mediums of novels, art and film. Being able to explore all this when the sky was the limit truly made the stories and characters feel alive, rather than reading history and a tale already told.

I'm glad Mr. Willingham has left room to consider other Fables projects in the future, so it's not exactly as if we will be without Fables ever after. Thank goodness. Writing "The End" on fairy tales like these doesn't feel quite right.

In the meantime, we're currently at Issue #137 newly released, leaving us 13-ish monthly updates to go to the finale. Let the countdown begin...

Fairy tale news extra:

Bill Willingham on Fables video game & the Fables film (Oct 15, '13)

"[The Wolf Among Us video game is] unlike the first two attempts at a pilot for a Fables TV show that people have produced," Willingham said. "In those cases, there were loads of things I could have done, loads of notes I could have given them — you know, you missed this here, you violated this here, etcetera, etcetera. But luckily neither of those two pilots were produced because they bore only a passing resemblance to Fables. I asked myself with those two pilots, 'Did these guys even read the book?

"Unlike them, the writing team at Telltale Games really know the stuff," the writer said. "They knew the stuff backwards and forward. So even though I'm going to take the money for helping to keep them on the right track, I feel like I'm stealing most of that, just because I've had very little to do in the sense of correcting them, in the sense of, you know, 'you can't do that' and reminding them of things in the series. They know it. They know the material backwards and forwards.

In June, Warner Entertainment announced that Fables is also currently being developed as a film by Harry Potter franchise producers David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford of Heyday Films. Heyman, while promoting the film Gravity, has confirmed that the first draft of the script is currently being written.

"If the movie plans come as close to the material as this," Willingham said, "and as faithful to it as this, then I will be as happy as can be." (source)