Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

The figures of fairy tale and folklore have been driven out of their Homelands by a mysterious Adversary. They now live in hiding among ordinary people in modern New York, in a concealed community called Fabletown.

Rose Red, the wild sister of Snow White, has an apartment that is found drenched in blood. Fabletown's sheriff has to work out what happened. He is Bigby, the reformed Big Bad Wolf, and he takes the case.

His suspects include Bluebeard, Rose's notorious would-be husband, and Jack, her charming boyfriend. Each has a reason to be near her, and the investigation moves through the community's secrets one name at a time.

This is a comic series opener that pairs a noir-style murder mystery with a fresh look at familiar storybook characters. Art is by Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha and Craig Hamilton. The volume collects issues #1 to 5 plus the prose story "A Wolf in the Fold", and it won the 2003 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story.

It is also the first volume of a long-running series. A single case here grows in later books into war, politics and the fate of the exiled Fables.