The Unwritten #50

The milestone fiftieth issue of Vertigo's The Unwritten kicks off "The Unwritten Fables," a five-part crossover with Bill Willingham's world, written here by Mike Carey and Willingham together. Yuko Shimizu's cover is a hauntingly beautiful tableau: a dark-haired woman in pale robes reaches toward a massive wolf whose jaws drip vivid crimson flowers, the whole scene framed by garlands of peonies and birds drifting through billowing clouds. It's a image that sits right at the border of fairy-tale enchantment and quiet menace — a fitting introduction to what promises to be a rich collision of two of Vertigo's most imaginative universes.