Vertigo's FAIREST reviewed

In 2002, Bill Willingham, whose work I first became attracted to in the mid `1980’s when he was working on JUSTICE MACHINE, THE ELEMENTALS and IRONWOOD,  began writing FABLES for DC’s Vertigo line of comics. The series deals with various fairy tale characters who have been forced out of their home and now live in a section of New York City known as Fabletown. The series has remained popular for the past 10 years and now has resulted in a spin-off series, written by Willingham and beautifully illustrated by Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning. The series is called FAIREST.

We begin by meeting Ali Baba, the Prince of Thieves, and a bottle imp named Jonah Panghammer. They end up in a goblin camp, where Ali Baba tries to wake not one, but two captive women with a kiss. He also battles with a certain Captain Oakheart, who we learn is made of wood. Victorious, at least one of the women, the raven haired Briar Rose, wake up as do the goblins. A wall of ice appears as the other woman, the Snow Queen, was also wakened by true love’s kiss. She threatens to fins them after she deals with the goblins and instructs the trio to run for their lives and they hide in a cave.

The Snow Queen's giants approach and Ali lets the entrance to get closed off by snow. Ali and Briar Rose snuggle for warmth, although he thinks otherwise. Once they get out of the cave, they realize ice giants surround them and capture them. This gives Jonah Panghammer a chance to explain Briar Rose’ history. Back in the day, the kingdom of Seppantyre celebrated the birth of the king and queen's new baby daughter. Hadeon the Destroyer was not invited and had Borian, a man she cursed to be used one thousand times, take her to the castle to place a curse on the child who we know is Briar Rose. Fairy godmothers bless the child with beauty, the wit of angels, grace, wealth and the singing voice of a nightingale. Hadeon curses the child before as final blessing can be bestowed and it is revealed that she will lose all her gifts when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and dies.

At this point, the trio is at the mercy of the Snow Queen  who invites them to stay for dinner. They do and enjoy themselves until they discover they are eating Goblin, which causes Briar Rose and Ali to throw up their meal. Jonah reveals his motives to the Snow Queen-that he serves who owns the bottle but really wants her to own the bottle so he can serve her. Jonah discovers Ali attempting to escape from the Snow Queen's ice palace and doing so without the bottle. Jonah claims he is now free to serve the Snow Queen. Ali sees the betrayal but Jonah convinces him otherwise. Jonah also begins telling tales to the Snow Queen. He relates the story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, which only bores the Snow Queen. Jonah tells the last part of Briar Rose’ tale.
 
Leysa the Defender modified Hadeon’s curse so that the death curse would be could be spread out among the kingdom. This way everyone would fall asleep, not die and Briar Rose would then only be woken by a true love’s kiss. And of course Briar Rose did prick her finger and the kingdom fell asleep. We discover that Prince Charming eventually rescued her but every time Briar Rose pricked her finger, everyone would again fall asleep until true love's kiss woke her. 
 
We also  discover that the Snow Queen was never truly evil. She had been under the influence of a loyalty potion given to her by Geppetto. But Snow Queen slept during Briar Rose’ last turn and because of that, the potion wore off  now she is her own woman and not under anyone’s control. Then Hadeon appears and destroys the ice castle.
 
Days go by and Briar Rose pulls Ali Baba from the ruins. It appears that is a duel occurring between the Snow Queen and Hadeon. Jonah has also been cursed to burn from the soul outwards. But he has no soul, so he just burns.The Snow Queen and Hadeon battle and while the Queen tries to kill Hadeon, it appears she has moved her vital organs. But the Snow Queen calls upon the fairy godmothers to defeat Hadeon. But she brings up The Judgment at Morencaire which says the fairies cannot perform acts of aggression unless they are directly attacked.
 
Briar Rose shows up and starts beating on Hadeon, knocking her out. The fairies marvel how Ali woke someone who wasn’t his true love as we all realize that trhe Snow Queen IS his true love. The fairies suggest Haedon’s vehicle curse be turned against her and she becomes Briar Rose's vehicle. Briar Rose and Jonah ride off together but not before the Snow Queen gives Jonah his bottle and essentially his freedom. Jonah finds his true love in a burger joint while Briar Rose rides off looking for her version of true love.
 
And Ali Baba and the Snow Queen? Well, poor Ali makes a comment about multiple partners and the Snow Queen punishes him with years of being frozen to the ceiling of her castle.

Thus ends the first story arc of this fun and clever title. There are so many great, light-hearted moments here and some of the coolest lines in comics. My personal favorite involved Jonah’s DVD collection which features all eight seasons of INAPPROPRIATELY TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, the complete SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR GOAT and the first six seasons of FIREFLY because “the seventh season with the new skipper” sucked (true fans all know FIREFLY only lasted one season!). Willingham’s writing, as always, is spot on and the of Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning is simply breathtaking. Andrew Dalhouse provides the colors and they are both loud and muted at the same time. This is truly one of the best looking comics on the market today. And with Adam Hughes doing your covers, including the beautiful wraparound that graced issue #1, it just jumps off the racks.

I cannot wait to see where the next series of issues takes us and with what characters. I hope to be in with this for the long haul and hope you find it as fun a ride as I do. The trade paperback for the first seven issues(this review includes the first six issues) is out in November.