FABLES Find Their Way To TV -- Thanks To The BBC (America)

We haven't tuned in faithfully to BBC America since Absolutely Fabulous ended, but any anglophile (with a taste for fine comics fare) who has recently may now have bragging rights for witnessing first-hand a veritable moment in comics history.  Late last month, the network began airing an advertisement for Bill Willingham's Fables, one of Vertigo Comics' most popular, innovative, and longest running series. 

We've never seen nor heard of comics being advertised on television, much less in a campaign initiated by the network itself. Truly a comics' first, dabblers, and if you're familiar or have read Fables, we're certain you'll agree the BBC couldn't have picked a better book to broadcast.  If you don't know Fables, you should; in fact, Fables might very well be THE comic that gets you hooked on the medium itself.  

The series, which began in 2002 and is quickly approaching its landmark 100th issue, tells the real tale of Snow White, Little Boy Blue, Cinderella, Bigby, the Big Bad Wolf and many other characters from fairy tales and folklore who collectively refer to themselves not as human, but as 'Fables.'  At one time, the Fables lived in their magical Homelands far separated from humanity. But a war with The Adversary forced many of them to flee to the our world, the world of the 'Mundies,' and live clandestinely among us in a small New York City burrow called Fabletown.

If you're thinking Fables sounds too much like a Walt Disney cartoon, think again.  While a few of Willingham's characters -- like Babe the Blue Ox and the other non-human Fables that would be noticed in the City and live instead Upstate at 'The Farm'-- talk and are cute enough to be cast in a Mouse movie, Fables is more aligned with Aesop or the Brothers Grimm than anything Disney.

But enough from us. Check out BBC America's Fables spot and we'll meet ya down below.

Short, but damn it looks sexy! Could we be more right? If it's Disney at all (which it ain't), Fables is the one that got the triple-R stamp for loads of violence, sex, and mystery -- and that's from just the bit with the Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe. 

That said, ABC was actually interested in turning Fables into a series,  and in December 2008  ordered a pilot  from TV mega-director David Semel.  But not much has been said since that time, and we'll be interested to see what effect, if any, the BBC spot has on Fables' mass appeal.

Or, for that matter, if Fables' ad leads to more comics going commercial on TV -- a medium publishers have never before directly utilized to promote or sell their monthly magazines.  Unless, of course, you count cartoons or live action shows like Wonder Woman or The Incredible Hulk. We did say, directly.

By now, we'd bet all the goose's golden eggs that the uninitiated have gotten mighty curious by now and are dying to find out  what Fables is all  about. If that describes you, take BBC America's advice and go now to check out Fables' first issue. You can download and read it for free from the Vertigo Comics website- HERE.