Comic Book Recommendation of the Week

FABLES: 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL
By Bill Willingham, et al.

Fables is, without a doubt, the best Vertigo series going on right now. The new graphic novel is a collection of short stories told by Snow White over the course of 1,001 nights that give something of a backstory to the Fables universe. We don't get all 1,001 stories, but the few that we get are terrific, and beautifully illustrated (except for Mark Wheatley, who apparently drew his story entirely in Sharpie). This also contains the first sequential art by James Jean that I've ever seen, and it's just as gorgeous as his covers.

Also contributing are Charles Vess, Michael Kaluda, John Bolton, Mark Buckingham (painted, even!), Derek Kirk Kim (this guy's great. If you haven't seen his stuff, Google him. It's worth it), Tara McPherson (never heard of her before, but I'm going to search for her stuff now. She was my favorite artist in the book), and Jill Thompson, who is great as always.

Also picked up Desolation Jones (nice to have the book back, and this issue's very good. There's even a Philip K. Dick reference!), Other Side #1 (which I also recommend wholeheartedly. If you like the first hour of "Full Metal Jacket," you'll like this one), and the 50c preview of The Absolute Sandman. It's got the whole first issue of Sandman, recolored with modern Photoshop magic. It looks great, although I can't see myself dropping a hundred bucks for the full book, since I already have all these stories.