Fairest, Vol. 1: Wide Awake

This spinoff series of Fables, Willingham’s hit fairy tales in the modern world saga, begins with an imaginative reinterpretation of the Sleeping Beauty story mixed with a second chance for one of the series’ longest-running foes. This volume puts the focus on the many fair princesses and queens of Fables, beginning with a tale of Briar Rose being rescued from her magical slumber by the prince of thieves, Ali Baba. But Briar’s returns also means the waking of the Snow Queen, the trusted lieutenant of the evil empire that Briar had been used, as a living weapon, to subdue. But a scheming know-it-all magic imp engineers the rescue of the two women to give the Queen a chance to renounce her past villainy. This is a different, more fantastical take on the characters of the Fable setting, with little to no interactions with the modern world, instead a more imaginative approach to recreating the fantasy at the heart of the tales that inspired the setting. Jimenez’s detailed art is fittingly gorgeous and gives the magic all the grandeur it deserves. (Nov.)