Don’t tell him I said this, but I sometimes think of Bill Willingham as my very own Fairy Godmother. A few years ago, with a dozen novels to my name and not a dime in the bank, facing the prospect of returning to the dreaded DAY JOB, I got a call from Bill one day, offering me the chance to write a miniseries featuring Cinderella, Fabletown’s greatest spy.

Of course I said “YES!” right away. Isn’t that what you do when wishes are granted?

See, what Fairy Godmother… erm, Bill, I mean… what Bill didn’t know is that I had wished that Cinderella miniseries into existence. A year or so before I’d mentioned to fellow Tick Tock Man (as we members of the Clockwork Storybook writers group call ourselves) Matthew Sturges that I thought Cinderella was a fantastic character, and that I wished she’d get her own miniseries. What I didn’t tell Matt was that, if Bill ever did do a Cinderella miniseries, I was going to trick him into letting me write it somehow. I didn’t know HOW I would trick him, of course, but that was a minor detail.

So I got to write CINDERELLA: FROM FABLETOWN WITH LOVE, and to work with Shawn McManus and Chrissie Zullo and Shelly Bond and the rest of the gang. It was a blast to write, a dream come true. But all good things come to an end, and as much as I wished I could keep going, eventually my time with Cinderella was at an end.

Then, a few months later, my wife and I were watching a movie featuring another fairy tale character, and I suddenly realized that they would make a perfect arch-nemesis for Cinderella. I emailed Bill that night, handing him the idea and insisting that he use it in FABLES sometime.

The next morning, I awoke to find the response from my Fairy GodBill in my inbox. He wanted me to write the idea up as a formal proposal and send it over to Shelly Bond, pronto. I outlined a story in which a simple murder investigation quickly spirals into a much larger mystery, and as her search takes her from Russia to the Caribbean and all points in between, Cindy is brought face-to-face with her arch-nemesis, an assassin long thought dead. But if Cindy’s nemesis is still alive, that is serious bad news for Cindy, for the rest of the Fables, and the whole world.

And now I’m writing CINDERELLA: FABLES ARE FOREVER. Another wish granted.

So Bill? Fairy GodBill? Have I mentioned that I also want a pony, a jetpack, and a functioning lightsaber?

Just saying.

--Chris Roberson

Chrissie Zullo is back as the cover artist of the 2nd miniseries featuring our favorite secret-agent, CINDERELLA: FABLES ARE FOREVER.

Here’s the cover of issue #1:

All I can say is WOW!

And here's a preliminary cover for JACK OF FABLES #50:

Wonder if this'll be happily every after?

Now, we all know that Fables already have magical powers and use them, well, in their own clothes. So why has Pinocchio suddenly got it in his head that he needs to design tight fitting costumes for a carefully selected team of Fables? In fact, why was the little brat caught looking over his own comic book collection, mumbling things like, “We can call him Werewolf Man, and he can be the Golden Knight, and she can be called The Green Witch?”

Check out the cover of FABLES #102, the beginning of a 5-part story called “Super Group!”:

Look for them in February!

In CINDERELLA: From Fabletown With Love #5 Cindy and Aladdin head to an obscure Homeland to find out who’s behind the arms trade. There, Cindy must revert to her former days of cleaning house and…wearing clogs? Yes, this is a footwear catastrophe…until a blast from her past appears.

Check out the sneak peek below and pick up issue #5 this Wednesday!

I’d recommend the latest issue of SCALPED cuz nothing says “Happy Holidays” quite like a gritty crime comic about a meth-addicted, under-cover FBI agent with a heroin junkie for a girlfriend, a murdered mother, and a pretend job as an enforcer for the local Mob boss who would not hesitate to kill him if he found out the truth. God bless us all...everyone!” –Will Dennis

PREACHER: Book One. Put the Christ back into Christmas with this kick-ass comic. One of the greatest series of all time. Period. –Mark Doyle

Miserable during the holidays? Feeling like you’re trapped with your family members who won’t leave you alone? Imagine being stuck with a bunch of strangers in a sinister house. Share your pain with the five lost souls who make THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY their home with Volume 1: Room and Boredom. –Angela Rufino

I'd like to recommend FILTHY RICH for your favorite incarcerated relative. –David Hyde

On a budget? I'd like to recommend CINDERELLA: From Fabletown with Love issues 1 & 2 to give to all those fun, fearless females in your life who think Cindy is just a feeble girl who can't keep her shoes on. –Pamela Mullin