by Whitney Grace
Staff Writer
In Bill Willingham’s Fables universe, one could say that the beautiful fables are favored by fate to have their happily ever afters. It sounds unfair, doesn’t it? Someone has certainly gotten sick of this happenstance and is murdering all of the beautiful fables in a serial killer spree. Meanwhile the Magic Mirror, an army of small maidens, and various wooden heads have been trapped in the Business Office, floating somewhere in the ether ever since Mr. Dark destroyed Fable Town. The Magic Mirror knows all and sees all and he has a major inkling that the artifacts in the Business Office are playing a key role in the deaths. He is just not sure how to communicate this information to the fable on the case, Cinderella. The maiden detective spends her time tracking down clues and the culprit is as surprising as who dies.
After the most recent Fables story arcs, Willingham has been keeping things quiet for his characters or as quiet as he allows. Something big had to happen to shake up the Fable Town and what better way to do that than to kill half of the main cast? It works to draw the readers’ attention, along with a tried and true gumshoe story. While Cinderella doesn’t quite resemble a film noir detective, she has to track down clues hidden by magic à la the scavenge hunts known to that genre. Half of the story is told from the point of view of the Magic Mirror, who has hardly been given a voice until this comic. He proves to be an intriguing character caught between a magical personification and omniscient narrator. As he is immobile, chances are that this is a one off story for him and he will revert back to side character now that the Business Office has returned. Cinderella has been the detective action hero before. She is playing the defacto sheriff and protector of Fable Town, now that Bigby and other characters who used to fill those shoes have moved on.
Willingham also used what is described as a “wonderland of artists” for different chapters. He has used this concept before with short story collections, but the jumping art styles make the comic less cohesive and confusing as character designs change in each chapter.
Fairest In All The Land has some exciting moments with others that are relatively bland. The bad guy is disposed of quickly and peace is restored with a tidy ribbon tied on the top. The plot remains on the surface without any big risks taken (yes, many main characters were killed, but they are given their Lazarus movement). Willingham is setting the readers up for the next big story and kept them entertained with this side venture.
