Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love | |
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Publication information | |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
No. of issues | 6 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Chris Roberson |
Artist(s) | Shawn McManus and Chrissie Zullo |
Collected editions | |
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love | ISBN 1-4012-2750-3 |
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love was an American comic book limited series published by Vertigo Comics in 2009 and 2010, and set in the world of Fables . The story portrays Cinderella as a secret agent, performing missions on behalf of Fabletown. Its title is an allusion to the James Bond novel From Russia, with Love .
The series was written by Chris Roberson with art by Shawn McManus and cover art by Chrissie Zullo; a compilation of the six issues was published in August 2010. From Fabletown with Love was followed up with the mini-series Cinderella: Fables Are Forever in 2011. [1] [2]
In the story, the spy Cinderella travels to Dubai to prevent the sale of macical items to non-magical people. She and her allies then travel to Ultima Thule, in order to confront the totalitarian government of the Fairy Godmother.
The story centers on one of the covert espionage missions undertaken by Cinderella for Fabletown's government. Her latest assignment is to track and prevent the sale of magical items from the Fables' Homelands dimensions to "mundies", the non-magical people of Earth. Cindy's search takes her to Dubai where she encounters Aladdin, who is on a similar mission for the Arabian Fables. The two are initially at odds but soon become friends and eventually, lovers. The series also introduces several of Cinderella's agents, whom she can call upon with a magic bracelet. These include Puss in Boots, Jenny Wren (the former love of the deceased Cock Robin), and Dickory (a mouse with power over time and clocks).
The source of the illegal sales proves to be a trio of liberated concubines from the Arabian Fable Homeland, hoping to profit from the capitalistic mundy world. However, they are working for an unseen employer. Following a lead, Cinderella and her allies travel to Ultima Thule, a frigid Fable world controlled by a totalitarian government that forces everyone to smile on threat of physical harm. The mastermind behind the scheme proves to be Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, who is now ruling Ultima Thule and has become overzealous in her attempts to make the world pleasant. Cindy and her allies are able to stop her plans thanks to Dickory, who causes time in Ultima Thule to speed up to midnight, the hour when the Godmother's magic wears off.
The series features a sub-plot involving Crispin Cordwainer, Cinderella's assistant at the Fabletown shoe store she operates as a cover for her spy activities. Crispin proves to be the famous cobbler of The Elves and the Shoemaker and still maintains a business relationship with the Elves. The magical shoes he commissions them to make cause problems for the people of Fabletown, who are unable to stop dancing, jogging, or moving while wearing the shoes. This is cleared up when the shoes are transferred safely to injured Fables. Those who cannot walk would enjoy periods of magical movement.
PopMatters 's Shaun Huston ranked it one of the best comics of 2010, and declared that it "treats its hero with respect". [3] Comic Book Resources 's Greg McElhatton praised the first issue's action sequences, but noted that the story was "badly out of sync" with the rest of Fables, and that thus it lacks "a certain level of excitement or tension", [4] while, at IGN, Richard George commended Roberson's characterization and plotting in the first issue, but faulted the story for "adher(ing) strictly to spy genre clichés". [5] Tor.com's Lee Mandelo faulted Roberson's characterization as being too unlike that of regular Fables author Bill Willingham, and summarized the plot as "evil feminists did it"; Mandelo also described the portrayal of the concubines, who still wore "stereotyped 'sexy harem' outfits" even while secretly trading in munitions, as "mind-bogglingly stupid and badly thought out". [6]
"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world. The protagonist is a young girl living in forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune, with her ascension to the throne via marriage. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo sometime between 7 BC and 23 AD, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is usually considered to be the earliest known variant of the Cinderella story.
Shawn McManus is an American artist who has worked extensively over three decades for DC Comics and other companies, notably for DC's Vertigo imprint including the Fables series.
"The Elves and The Shoemaker" is a set of fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from three young helpful elves.
Fables is an American comic book series created and written by Bill Willingham, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. Willingham served as sole writer for its entirety, with Mark Buckingham penciling more than 110 issues. The series featured various other pencillers over the years, most notably Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha. Fables was launched in July 2002 and concluded in July 2015. It was revived in 2022 with a 12-issue continuation to the main series, as well as a 6-issue spin-off miniseries Batman vs. Bigby! A Wolf in Gotham, both published under DC Black Label.
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's Cinderella, he concludes the tale with the moral that no personal advantages will suffice without proper connections.
Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, including "Snow White", "Sleeping Beauty", and "Cinderella", even if in the original story they were given another name, or no name at all.
Jill Thompson is an American illustrator and writer who has worked for stage, film, and television. Well known for her work on Neil Gaiman's The Sandman characters and her own Scary Godmother series, she has worked on The Invisibles, Swamp Thing, and Wonder Woman as well.
Jack of Fables is a spin-off comic book series of Fables written by Bill Willingham and Lilah Sturges and published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The story focuses on the adventures of Jack Horner, a supporting character in the main series, that takes place after his exile from Fabletown in the story-arc Jack Be Nimble. The idea for the spin-off comic came after editor Shelly Bond suggested to put Jack in a separate comic when Willingham planned to write him out of the series.
Geppetto is a major character, albeit one that's rarely seen, in the comic book series Fables, written by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics as part of the Vertigo imprint.
Boy Blue is a major character in the Vertigo comic book series Fables. He is based on the nursery rhyme character Little Boy Blue. At the beginning of the series, he is portrayed as an efficient but meek office clerk helping Snow White run Fabletown; however, he has a colorful and violent history that is gradually revealed as the series goes on.
Pinocchio is a character in the comic book series Fables. The wooden boy magically brought to life in the story by Carlo Collodi, he was among those Fables who fled to the mundane world and formed a community in New York City.
The Homelands are the mythical lands from fairy tales, folklore, and nursery rhymes in the comic book series Fables. The majority of those listed have been conquered by the mysterious Adversary, as he has conquered most of the European Fable lands. This is a list of the Homelands that have been directly referenced in Fables and its spin-offs Jack of Fables, Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, Cinderella: Fables are Forever and Fairest.
John Christian Roberson, known professionally as Chris Roberson, is an American science fiction author and publisher who is best known for alternate history novels and short stories.
Lilah Sturges is an American writer of comics and fantasy novels. She is best known for co-writing with Bill Willingham the Eisner-award-nominated Jack of Fables, and other comics published by Vertigo Comics / DC Comics.
The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as heroine Dorothy Gale's transport home. They are originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her house lands on the Witch. At the end of the story, Dorothy uses the shoes to transport her back to her home in Kansas, but when she arrives at her destination finds the shoes have fallen off en route.
Cinderella is a 1977 American erotic musical comedy film directed by Michael Pataki and starring Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith, Brett Smiley, and Sy Richardson.
Chrissie Zullo is a comic book artist whose notable works include the covers for Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love. Her work been compared to that of Tara McPherson.
Bigby Wolf is a fictional character in the American comic book series Fables published by DC Comics and its alternative imprint Vertigo. The character first appears in Fables #1 and was created by Bill Willingham and Lan Medina. He frequently serves as the lead character among the ensemble cast of Fables and is the central protagonist of Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland as well as Fables: The Wolf Among Us, the comic book adaptation of the 2013 video game The Wolf Among Us.
Fairest is an American monthly comic series created by Bill Willingham, published by DC's Vertigo. A spin-off of Fables, Fairest detailed the adventures and stories of Fabletown's female citizens and heroines. Fairest was described by Willingham as a series of miniseries, with each arc telling self-contained stories.