There is something great about the ability to pre-order items. You anticipate the release of something so much that you order it months and months before it’s been released. Time and life, however, lead you to inadvertently forget all about it. Then one day you pop home from work and are greeted with a wonderful little package making the entire day feel just a little like Christmas morning, really.
This was so Thursday afternoon, when I found a package from Amazon containing Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, a Fables spinoff and the first written without Bill Willingham. The story follows Cindy, who, if you’e familiar with Fables know, is a spy for Fabletown, although very few Fabletown citizens know that. Magical artifacts are being smuggled in from the homelands and she’s sent on the hunt for them. On her mission she meets Aladdin, who becomes a bit of a love interest for her, and we learn some of her back-story.
The artwork is well done here, following suit with the rest of the Fables franchise, but, and I hate to say this, I was a tad disappointed in the story. Cinderella is one of the more mysterious characters in the original Fables storyline, we learn so very little about her. While she’s tough and badass, here, she has moments in which she comes off as just a little vapid. It was enjoyable as a small exhibition of the spy racket, feeling at times very James Bond-ish in its unfolding, but I like to think there’s more to Cindy we’re not seeing here.
Sorry to read that the book appears to fall flat. There was quite a lot of promotion for it. Well, from what you say, it sounds like it was a nice enough little tale. I may still check it out.
You should, it’s not bad at all. Not quite up to par with the rest of the series, but still well worth the time.