Fables #109

This November 2011 Vertigo issue brings together a striking tableau on Joao Ruas's cover: a towering pumpkin-headed figure with striped limbs dominates the composition, while a reclining woman, a lion emerging from a gnarled tree, and a prowling wolf gather around it in a dreamlike, earthy palette. The haunting, fairy-tale atmosphere perfectly suits "Cardinal Virtues," the second chapter of the "Inherit the Wind" arc from the creative team of Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and Steve Leialoha. Fables continues to weave its distinctive brand of storybook strangeness with assured craft and genuine imagination.