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Graphic Novel Review


Book Cover

Fables
1001 Nights of Snowfall

 

Author: Bill Willingham
Artists: Various
Titan Books
RRP: £8.99, US $14.99
ISBN-13: 978 1 84576 393 0
ISBN-10: 1 84576 393 9
Available 25 April 2008


Travelling to Arabia as an ambassador from the exiled Fables community, Snow White is captured by the local sultan who wants to marry her (and then kill her). But clever Snow attempts to charm the sultan instead by playing Scheherazade, telling him fantastic stories from a total of 1001 nights, saving her very skin in the process...

1001 Nights of Snowfall will be of interest to all those that have been following the Fables series since it began. Now, at long last, we get to see the background to a lot of the characters we have come to know and love.

These include the birth and rise to greatness of Bigby Wolf, the Frog Prince, Old King Cole and the witch from the Hansel and Gretel tale. While we already know these Fables characters, and their place in the fairy tale genre, for most of the characters we have no idea about their origins (the original fairy tales that we all know and love only showcase the characters in a brief period of their lives and never go into too much detail. Here, for example, we learn why the witch kills children and what drove her to be so bitter.

There are also very brief appearances by characters we know well - like the three billy goats; the Beast from Beauty and the Beast; and little Red Riding Hood.

For me personally this was an interesting addition to the series, as I've always wondered about the 'real' background to these characters in the past. It's fine being able to make the mental jump from fairy tale character to Fables character, but there were always so many unanswered questions - like why was the witch allowed to live in the real world and not the farm, or how did Old King Cole get to be the Major of Fabletown - why did so many follow him blindly when he appeared to be such a poor leader.

For those who are not familiar with the Fables universe, this collection also acts as the perfect introduction to the series. So, whether you are a close follower of the Fables series, or have never read one of these collections before, there is plenty of entertaining story lines for everyone.

9

Nick Smithson

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