Fairest 4: Of Men and Mice

Comic Info

Fairest #22

Reprints Fairest #21-26 (February 2014-July 2014). Someone is targeting Cinderella, and Cinderella has some suspects. When she learns that her Fairy Godmother has escaped and that the attackers all seem to be mutated mice, Cinderella must uncover what the plot against her and others in Fablestown is…but the real danger might not be anyone they ever suspected!

Written by Marc Andreyko, Fairest Volume 4: Of Men and Mice is a DC Comics-Vertigo spin-off of the Bill Willingham Fables series. Following Fables Volume 3: The Return of the Maharaja, the collection features art by Shawn McManus.

I do love Fables. Not only do I think it is rather cleverly written, but I have always been interested in the myth and history surrounding fairytales and characters that are engrained in our communal consciousness. Cinderella obviously is a big character which a distinct and tracible origin…but she doesn’t necessarily fit here.

I have always felt like Fairest has had an identity crisis from its inception. The comic is supposed to focus on female Fables, but Fables was already rather female-centric with Snow White playing such a major role in the storyline. A female led Fables seemed rather redundant. It is this combined with the second problem which makes this collection a head-scratcher.

Fairest #23

Cinderella had spin-off series. Cinderella was the focal point of two Fables limited series (Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love and Cinderella: Fables Are Forever). It feels like this should have maybe just been another Cinderella limited series and I don’t know if it was originally intended to be or if it was an attempt to draw more attention to Fairest. While the story itself isn’t bad, it feels like Fairest could have been used better.

The story also has an odd tie to the Fables series as a whole. If you had no idea of what was happening in Fables, you’d have no real understanding of what is going on in the life of Snow White, Red Rose, or Fabletown. The big bad of the series is Ms. Douglas whose identity isn’t really explained here. It takes away from the ending of the storyline if you don’t understand who she is.

This collection of Fairest is less reader friendly than many of the other entries in the series. It feels more like an expansion of Fables instead of its own comic book and that is shame since I think more Fables is a good thing. Fairest 4: Of Men and Mice is the penultimate collection of the series followed by Fairest 5: The Clamour for the Glamour.

Related Links:

Fairest 1:  Wide Awake

Fairest 2:  The Hidden Kingdom

Fairest 3:  The Return of the Maharaja

Fairest 5:  The Clamour for Glamour

Fairest:  In All the Land