Review:
Cinderella, in the finest British tradition of dashing super-spies, moves with ease through the crustiest layers of modern society, both Fable and Mundy. With a titular nod to one of the earliest Bond films, this book easily sells her haute-society lifestyle. Little do any of her peers in the Bill Willingham-created Fables universe know of her real purpose - to find and retrieve any illicit magical artifacts before they can fall into the wrong hands.
In this adventure, she even encounters a sexy companion, Aladdin. His turn as a gender-flipped Bond Girl serves as both collaborator and dude-in-distress in need of rescuing. Together, they must find the source of the magical objects flooding the black market and put a stop to it.
From Dubai to the North Sea and finally the Fable-world Ultima Thule, they must dodge weapons of both the magical and Mundy varieties as well as shape-shifting monsters, harem girls and a not-so-friendly fairy godmother.
Writer Chris Roberson weaves a tightly plotted and fast-paced tale, befitting the super-spy genre. The comedic banter between Cindy and "Lamp Boy" Aladdin is delightful; her reflections on her past battles and training add depth, although they do become a touch repetitive. The result is a strong female lead character with a nicely balanced blend of brains, brawn, beauty and bewitching.
The biggest flaws in Roberson's spy tale are the "meanwhile back in Fabletown" interruptions. These moments, fundamentally intended for levity, fail to serve any real purpose in the overall story, nor do they contribute anything meaningful to the growth and development of these or other characters in the Fables universe. Given how well the Cinderella and Aladdin parts are written, there is no need to pull our attention away with these distracting asides.
Shawn McManus' visuals are soft and beautiful. He mixes clean lines and panels with exaggerated facial expressions to sometimes amusing effect, especially with the shapes of mouth and nose. The pages are sexy but discrete, with no nudity or on-panel sex scenes. Since the moments of violence are also tastefully done and far from the gore found in other Fables books, the "Mature" rating on the book is excessive; Teen would certainly be enough, and some more liberal cultures would classify it PG.
I give this fun, fast-paced, clever and beautiful book four capes.
Description:
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.
Collects: the complete 6-issue limited series
Authors: Chris Roberson
Artists: Shawn McManus
Published By: Vertigo
Published When: Aug. 10, 2010
Parental Rating: Mature
ISBN: 978-1401227500
Pages: 144 pages
