Fables #107

A woman's face emerges from near-total darkness on Joao Ruas's hauntingly atmospheric cover for this September 2011 installment of Vertigo's beloved fairy-tale series — her features lit in warm gold, dark tendrils of thorns or veins creeping across her skin, wilting leaves gathered at the bottom of the frame. The title "Waking Beauty" promises a moody, mature reimagining of a familiar story, perfectly matched by this cover's dreamlike dread. Bill Willingham and Terry Moore make for a compelling creative pairing, and this issue is a fine example of Fables at its most evocative.