Fables #80

Vertigo's Fables reaches its 80th issue with a hauntingly beautiful James Jean cover that sets an unmistakably dark mood: a shadowy, looming figure grips a young woman's flowing hair from above while she curls inward, face buried in her hands, surrounded by swirling tendrils of light and a slashing red line that cuts across the composition like a wound. It's a stunning piece of cover art — moody, elegant, and quietly unsettling all at once. With Bill Willingham writing and Mark Buckingham on interiors, "The Darkest Hour" (Chapter Four of The Dark Ages) promises the kind of richly layered fairy-tale storytelling that has made this Vertigo series one of the most compelling long-runners of its era.