Fables #5

Fables was already staking out ambitious, mature storytelling territory at Vertigo in 2002, and this fifth issue carries a cover by James Jean that's quietly arresting: a dark-haired young woman in a black dress glances back over her shoulder with a guarded, searching expression, posed against a graffiti-tagged brick wall where the words "Fabletown Sux" are scrawled in loose spray paint. The painted style and the hint of a ghostly figure swirling in the background give the image an unsettling, fairy-tale-gone-urban atmosphere that suits Bill Willingham's world perfectly. With art by Lan Medina and inks by Steve Leialoha inside, this chapter — "The Famous Parlor Room Scene (Sans Parlor)" — promises the kind of sharp, knowing storytelling that made this series a standout from its earliest issues.