0 Tomorrow is the Beginning of (the 10 Chapter long) Happily Ever After for Willingham's "Fables"

Issue 141 - 1st of the Happily Ever After finale chapters. Cover by Nimit Malavia

Issue 141 of Fables is the last big turning point in Willingham's popular comic series, marking the beginning of The End (for real!) for the long-running, critically acclaimed, fairy-tales-like-you've-never-seen comic-cult favorite.

In true classic storybook-ending style, this story ends as it begins, with the sisterhood conflict of Snow White and Rose Red - but turned up to 11.

“HAPPILY EVER AFTER!” part 1. Good knight vs. bad knight. King Arthur vs. Morgan le Fay. Rose Red vs. Snow White. The two sisters are caught up in the roles Camelot has set for them, and now they’re ready for battle. Plus, don’t miss the backup story illustrated by P. Craig Russell!

I admit I'm not caught up yet, having yet to navigate my way through the various crossovers etc but I've kept a general eye on things and have been following the Fairest spin-off, which also culminates at Issue 150.

Note: Issue 150 will be 150 PAGES LONG! I'm kind of looking forward to that actually. Since it has to finish, I have fairly high hopes that this will finish well and Willingham will pull out all his stops to add the notes from his fairy tale research that he hasn't yet been able to use. *fingers crossed* And I'd like an annotated version of the comics with reference to all the research too please... (No I did not happen upon a genie and am making outrageous wishes, I'm just choosing to be extremely optimistic!)

This seem like a pretty significant point in time for alternate fairy tale pop-culture influence so I'm going to do what I can to personally follow the final ten issues. It's unlikely I will comment on them until the finale is said and done, if then. It's just one of those events that should be marked by people watching the influence of fairy tales in pop-culture (and vice versa).

A little bit from Willingham on the finale arc (note Flycatcher is "The Frog King" for those a little hazy on the many, many denizens of Fabletown. He's also a fan favorite, and included on my short list too):

"I'm not saying that everyone dies and everything's horrible. But as the story plays out, it becomes clear that that's it. The story comes to an end."

Some characters in Willingham's expansive Fables cast will have their final curtain calls in the main story line — others star in short backup stories in the last run of issues, beginning with Flycatcher in No. 141, and then moving to Sinbad, Cinderella, Prince Charming and others.

There will also be some skipping around in time, Willingham says. "The final story of Flycatcher for example takes place at some undisclosed time in the future, but apparently he's had time to have kids between now and then."

The article mentions how Willingham made good use of a Fables forum to keep track of all the questions of character fates, unresolved plot-lines and other fan puzzlers (smart!) and will be dealing with a lot of those danglers in the final arc as well. Hopefully that will be satisfying story-wise without being too "i" dotting and "t" crossing.

You can read much more about The End HERE (though it might seem a little confusing if you're not a decent way into the series).

I read vague possibilities of Fables one-off "specials" in between the lines of Bill Willingham's admission that it's not as easy to let go as he originally anticipated.

"Just doing this last story line," he says, "these pesky characters keep suggesting, well, if you've done this then here's something nice, or here's something that could happen to this character down the road."

Oh - and don't forget: the movie is still actively in development. Things are still looking very good for a Fables film.

Detail: Tomorrow is the Beginning of (the 10 Chapter long) Happily Ever After for Willingham's "Fables"

0 Aussies 'n' Fairy Tales Week: Debra Phillips, Painter of Stories

You may have seen her work recently in conjunction with the AFTS conference, but not known the name of the creative woman behind this new vision of Snow White. Her name is Debra Phillips and she tells stories. But not just with words. She also tells stories with paint.

While she is a writer and is currently involved with an academic study related to storytelling and fairy tales, she also creates stories using paint and often incorporating other media as well. Be it stitching, photography, old maps or her own brushstrokes, there is always a story woven into the work.

A Grimm View of Life series: Three Little Pigs

From Ms. Phillips:

When I paint I tell myself a story about the people in the scenes, the events leading up to the scenes and the qualities of each person within the painting. For me, a painting is a story. Although it is entire in itself, there is always a story before the image and a story after the image.  Decades ago when I painted the series of saints, I also wrote on the back a short story about the life of the saint (either imagined or real). 

A Grimm View of Life series: Goldilocks and porridge

What you seeare some of her intriguing paintings, exploring familiar fairy tales in a new ways, something, she says, is bring influenced by her current academic research and study, with an emphasis on the notion of time experienced in fairy tales and how they can transform to become a distinct narrative about an imagined future.

But that's not all she does.

A Grimm View of Life series: Snow White and rotten to the core

In the past, Ms. Phillips could often be found writing stories for friends by request, often with the purpose of commemorating a specific and special life event (birth, wedding etc). Over time, she began to include water colors, collages or photographs she had created. At some point she added stitching and the concept of her unique brand of hand crafted books was born.

Detail from a mixed-media collage

Story writing has overtaken my self and my life. There is always a tension between the desire to write and the desire to paint. Sometimes the paintings emerge from writing and sometimes the story comes from seeing a theme running through paintings or collage images. 

Fairy story themes are a constant thread running through all the stories. Some fairy stories are obvious and others are hidden in the other themes of the story. All my stories are about the human condition, especially its frailties and it’s complex relationships.

As you can see at the head of the post, Ms. Phillips had the honor of being the cover artist for the AFTS Inaugural Conference program this year. She also attended and, along with everyone else, has been reported as being both delighted and inspired by the papers and presentations of all kinds.Which can only mean one thing: we should be seeing more from Ms. Philips very soon.  

A Grimm View of Life series: Snow White & Rose Red have the wolf at their feet

In the meantime, she has a small website with a few examples of her work HERE, including a fascinating introduction to her current studies with fairytales. I look forward to seeing what Ms. Phillips does next.

Detail: Aussies 'n' Fairy Tales Week: Debra Phillips, Painter of Stories