Fairest In All the Land
Omniscient powers of observation come in pretty handy when there’s a serial murderer on the loose, but the Magic Mirror still needs a mobile body to do the bulk of the legwork, and that’s where Cinderella—a pretty good detective herself—comes in. In this stand-alone graphic novel tied to Willingham’s monthly comic Fairest, someone is murdering the fairest of them all, and Cinderella takes on the task of hunting down the killer and protecting the rest of the targets. As she traverses the Fables universe, encountering many faces familiar to fans of the long-running series, she’s aided by the Magic Mirror and his storage-bound companions as they do their own investigation into the magical implements (and possible murder weapon) missing from the catacombs beneath their room. Each scene is illustrated by a different artist, showcasing a wide range of styles, from painterly portraits to panel-spanning action. Though familiarity with Fables and Fairest would come in handy, Willingham does a great job of telegraphing enough background that this volume can easily stand on its own. --Sarah Hunter