Fairest: Wide Awake

Fairest, vol. 1: Wide Awake by Bill Willingham, art by Phil Jimenez, 160 pages



Wide Awake is the first in Willingham's Fables spinoff, Fairest, which shines a spotlight on the female fables. As can probably be inferred from the title, Wide Awake centers on Briar Rose (AKA Sleeping Beauty), taking her on an adventure with Ali Baba, a bottle imp, and the Winter Queen while learning her true origins. I enjoyed the way Willingham told the tale, particularly the back-and-forth between Ali Baba and Jonah, the bottle imp, who inserts all kinds of modern references (Firefly!) that nobody else gets. Particularly fantastic though is Jimenez's artwork, which is just awesome. The detail is incredible.

One last thing: in the final section of this volume, Willingham hands over the reins to a different writer and artist to tell a short story of Beauty and the Beast. The 40s noir style of this story is awesome, though a big jarring and kind of cartoony after the detail of Jimenez's work in the rest of the volume. But the story is cool and once you get used to it, the artwork is too.