Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love [Paperback]

Chris Roberson (Author), Shawn McManus (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: August 10, 2010 | Series: Cinderella

When supernatural artifacts from the Homelands begin surfacing in the modern world, it falls to Cinderella, Fabletown's best kept (and best dressed) secret agent to stop the illegal trafficking. But can Cindy foil the dark plot before Fabletown and its hidden, exiled inhabitants are exposed once and for all? And how does her long lost Fairy Godmother factor into the equation?

Whether she's soaring through clouds, deep-sea diving, or cracking jaws, Cindy travels from Manhattan to Dubai and hooks up with a handsome, familiar accomplice who may be harboring secret motives of his own. Meanwhile, trouble brews back home in Fabletown when Cindy's overworked, underappreciated assistant decides to seize control of The Glass Slipper, Cindy's exclusive shoe boutique.

Editorial Reviews

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From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—In this spin-off of Bill Willingham's "Fables" series (Vertigo), Cinderella is a covert agent: her cover is a shoe store called The Glass Slipper. In her latest assignment, "Cindy" must work with handsome but infuriating Aladdin to find out who is sneaking weapons between Fableland and the outside world. Could it be Cinderella's fairy godmother? Roberson effectively integrates fairy-tale and nursery-rhyme characters into a complex, action-packed spy caper worthy of Alias or James Bond. The superhero-style illustrations are detailed and expressive. Some strong language and adult situations make this most appropriate for older teens.—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo; First Edition edition (August 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401227503
• ISBN-13: 978-1401227500
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 0.4 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #251,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times Bestselling author Chris Roberson is best known for his Eisner nominated ongoing comic book series iZombie, co-created with artist Mike Allred, and multiple Cinderella mini-series set in the world of Bill Willingham's Fables. He has written more than a dozen novels and numerous short stories, as well as many other comic projects including Superman, Stan Lee's Starborn, Elric: The Balance Lost, Memorial, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?: Dust to Dust. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award four times; twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer; and has won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History in both the Short Form and Novel categories. Chris lives with his wife and daughter in Portland, Oregon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fabletown's own James Bond. August 10, 2010

By Sean Curley

Format:Paperback

Bill Willingham's "Fables" franchise has become the big thing at the Vertigo publishing imprint, and in the last few years it has started to generate spinoffs, most notably the "Jack of Fables" ongoing series co-written by Willingham and Matthew Sturges. The latter series has increasingly become the primary responsibility of Sturges, with Willingham focusing on writing the main "Fables" title. The "Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love" miniseries nevertheless represents a significant milestone in the history of the franchise: the first property without Bill Willingham's name on it. Instead, we have writer Chris Roberson, a sci-fi writer and sometime collaborator of Willingham and Sturges' in the "Clockwork Storybook" writing group; the artist, Shawn McManus, has made some contribution to other "Fables" titles in the past. Spoilers follow.

Our protagonist is Cinderella, of course - everbody knows her story. Cindy underwent one of the most radical revisions of the major Fables characters, becoming a super-spy in the service of Fabletown, while operating under the cover of running a shoe store. It's not especially connected to her past backstory, which might make it seem a bit random, but Willingham in the past has been able to write a very plausible spy, and Roberson likewise proves up to the task. In this instance, Cindy is on the trail of a magical weapons shipment that has reportedly been sent into the Mundy world. In pursuit of her task, she travels to Dubai (the Las Vegas of the Middle East), and finds herself teamed up with none other than Aladdin, who is operating on behalf of the Arabian Fable world. The two form your typical spy movie duo, and proceed on the case. The result includes some follow-up on the "Arabian Nights (and Days)" story arc in the "Fables" title, as well as a reappearance by a certain important figure in Cinderella's past.

There's nothing truly revelatory here, to be sure. It's a well-told little jaunt in the tradition of James Bond, with a well-written female lead, and a few innovative uses of the franchise's fairy tale mythology; the sorts of things that one would expect from a "Fables" story. Cindy is a good lead character, and Aladdin is a fun addition. We also get a few scenes with the always-ominious Frau Totenkinder, everyone's favourite morally-ambiguous witch. The main complaint might be the comic-relief sideplot of Cindy's assistant Crispin, who is left in charge of the store while she's away (which is a lot) and ends up trying to sell a new line of magic shoes that predictably go awry. It's okay on its own terms, but it really has no relation to the main plot, seemingly existing to fill space.

Recommended for fans of the series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars On the Fables' secret service! August 10, 2010

By E. A Solinas HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

"My name is Cinderella. Cindy to my friends. Don't tell anyone, but I'm a spy..."

Bill Willingham's "Fables" series has always specialized in giving odd twists to traditional folk/fairy tale/fiction characters, and one of the more underused characters has always been Cinderella. And while Willingham didn't come up with "Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love," it's a fun gender-flipped spin on the James Bondian cliche.

After a deadly encounter atop Big Ben, Cindy flies home to Fabletown and her much-neglected shoe store (well, what else would she be running?). But then the new police chief Beast arrives to tell her of a new threat to the Fables and their secret town -- newcomers are apparently coming through the gates from the Homelands, and magical items are falling into Mundy hands. What's worse, nobody really knows whodunnit.

So of course, Cindy leaps headlong into the case, with a bit of help from Frau Totenkinder's magic-sensing ring -- and after a close call in a luxe hotel, she teams up with her Middle-Eastern counterpart Aladdin. Soon it's revealed that there's much more than smuggling and illegal immigration involved, sending them into the arctic world of Ultima Thule... and someone Cindy knows too well.

And while all this is going on in Dubai, Cindy's assistant Crispin is using her shop to turn himself into the newest fashion mogul in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the shoes have some... well, unpleasant side effects.

Magic carpets, genies, parachutes, shoemaking elves, Jenny Wren and some very obscure figures from the Arabian Nights. Most spy stories center on male figures (either in the Bourne or Bond mold), so it's fun to see a sexy, feminine woman getting to do the job, especially since we see Cindy's previous spy adventures through the centuries.

The one downside is that the whole Crispin debacle feels a bit tacked on, and isn't really connected to the main story. But the rest of the time, it's plenty of fun -- clever quips from Cindy ("I could never stomach slavery myself. As an institution, it reminded me too much of my former marriage"), the glitzy trip to Dubai, and a well-written twist near the end.

And it's fun to see Cindy busting through the fairy-tale cliche -- this version is smart, sassy, butt-kicking and rather cynical. And she has some good love-hate chemistry with Aladdin, a sexy bad-boy variant on the usual "Bond girl."

"Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love" is a fun, light spy story with a fairy-tale twist. And while the side story never quite caught me, the rest is quite nice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If the slipper fits... August 18, 2010

By ChibiNeko TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you've been following along with Fables, you know about Cinderella & how she serves as a spy for Fabletown in general. If you haven't been following along with the story, I really do suggest that you go back & read at least up until volume 7-8. While some readers new to the series might be able to follow along with the story, there's a few things in this volume that would be considered spoilers to readers only familiar with the first few volumes.

From Fabletown with Love follows Cinderella as she's sent to investigate reports of magical items landing in the hands of the mundy. What she discovers is a smuggling ring trafficking in magical weapons that leads her all the way back to the Homelands. Along the way she runs across the dashing Aladdin, a spy for his own Arabian Homeland. Together they must discover who exactly is behind this & stop them for good!

While I'll admit that this wasn't as strong as the regular Fables comics, this isn't bad for a spinoff. I loved seeing more of Cinderella's past as well as seeing her in full spy action. She doesn't have a huge amount of appearances in the main series so it was nice to see her getting the spotlight for once.

The only drawback is that we don't get as deep a look into Cindy's head as I'd like & I do wish we'd seen a bit of her doing her training. The part with Crispin (her help at the shoestore) is OK enough, but was easily the weakest part of the comic & it could have been removed entirely without it being missed overly much. Overall though, this is a fine addition to the series.

4.5/5