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.

abbracadabbLINGO: Grant Morrison's FICTION SUIT

FICTION SUIT

- Deoxy

- Barbelith

- Barbelith 2 

- Barbelith 3

- Grant Morrison Homepage

Something About Superheroes: Five Compelling Portraits of THE BATMAN FAMILY - Part II

The Batman by DJ Cox [via]

Something about superheroes - and in particular, the Batman - is extraordinarily compelling to artists. It doesn't matter the age of the artist, or whether they're professionals or amateurs; similarly, they do so without regard to their chosen medium or preferred subject matter. They don't need to be fans or read comic books - indeed, many of them aren't, and don't.  Nevertheless, when they create, sometimes these artist create superheroes. 

Maybe it's the fact that superheroes were born of an illustrated medium, making them prime candidates for continuing artistic exploration. Just as the comic book's drawn pages tell a story,  the creations of the artist do as well -- one frame in place of many, static instead of sequential, but a story is framed and told nonetheless.  Yet unlike most comic book stories , where the single panels on a page collectively flow together to illustrate motion - action,  the creations of the artist focus instead on the story that can be found within the single moment - a frozen action, where a comic's words and sound effects are replaced by color, mood, and line. 

 

It's here, we think, that we're beginning to get closer to what that 'Something' about superheroes may be.  By capturing the superhero in the single moment, the artist's creation does not so much emphasize what their subject is doing, but rather what he is being.  Effectively, the super aspect of the character disappears, leaving only the hero to portray. Despite their costumes - and also because of them - there's something about superheroes  that suggests that they are us, and we are them. Many superheroes have the power of gods, but unlike history's abundant imagery of similar begins - for example, Jesus Christ or the Olympian Gods -- we find ourselves relating to their likenesses,  and their humanity.

 

Sunday night food for thought, dabblers. Keep your eyes peeled, because abbracadabbling will be exploring Something About Superheroes a whole lot more as the comicsblog continues...

 

Last month's Five Fantastic Portraits of the Batman Family blog received tons of great responses, and when our dabblers talk, we listen and respond in kind.  Covering The Caped Crusader  returns with our second set of Batman family portraits, and they're some of the most compelling we've ever seen.  We're especially loving the sweet black-and white re-imagining of Batgirl by comics artist Pia Guerra. Guerra's one of the few women illustrators in the business, and although some might have said the odds were against her, she won two Eisner Awards while working with superstar writer Brian K. Vaughan on Vertigo's Y: The Last Man - one of the very best comic series of the last decade, hands down. 

 

Without further ado...

If You Meet Batman by Lubomir Arsov [via]

Pia Guerra's Batgirl [via]

Joker by Fernando Lucas [via]

Batgirl (rough) by 89g [via]

Lovin' Lapham's 'LIARS'

Young Liars by Dave Lapham 

(Vertigo Comics, 2008) [via]

Vertigo Comics DAYTRIPPER by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon -- Now @ Present Magic Comics Shop

 

The hard-working folks at the Present Magic Comics Shop - aka abbracadabbling's eBay alter ego - just listed Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba's new Vertigo series, Daytripper, on seven-day auction. We hear they've offered a fantastic 'Buy Now' option, too. Why don't you show 'em you support their efforts - and our's - by paying the Present Magic Comics Shop a visit tonight - you may just meet the comic of your dreams.!

You'll find Daytripper Issues 1 thru 3 - all new and 'near mint-y' - HERE. (And read all about the brothers Ba and Moon and their surreal new limited series on Vertigo's homepage HERE.)

A Graphic Collection: Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN

[via]

Winter One-derland Comics Blog Giveaway! American McGee's GRIMM #1- We're All About Being Number One!!

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!  Did our delightful dabblers do well at Christmas?? We hope so -- there's no better time than the Holidays to fill a fanboy's longbox with crisp, new comics. Our resident fanboys - and fan-girls - certainly did well by Santa. So well that we decided to take a detour from  Friday's Winter One-derland. But as we promised, today's Comics Giveaway is a chance for everyone to do even better than they would have last Friday.  We're not lying -- the  I WONDER? questions  scheduled for Friday were zingers, let us tell you!  Who wrote those frakkers, anyway? Seriously, you dabblers oughta be breathing sighs of relief -- and since we have not just one but TWO Number One Comics to Giveaway today, lets turn those sighs into screams of delight and get on with the show...!

First time dabblers may not know that Winter One-derland is the Giveaway you've been hearing about.  Every Monday and Friday from now through Friday, January 1st - New Year's Day - we'll be giving away one entirely Brand New, completely Near-Mint copy of a premium  Number One issue from a recent comic book series!  You see, abbracadabbling's Mission is to get a comic book into all of our reader's hands, because we know that reading comics is magical.  And besides that, it's prevents forest fires. 

All you've got to do to win today's TWO featured Number One Comics  is send us an e-mail. Of course, your email has to contain a correct answer to our  featured I WONDER? The questions we ask won't be easy, but no matter what your level of superhero know-how may be, a little elbow grease, ingenuity, and good browser will be the absolute most work you'll have to do to find the right answer.  Once you've solved I WONDER? and you're convinced your answer is what we're looking for, just email it in.   And the first dabbler who gets their right answer to us WINS the Number One Comic Book on the blog that day, or of their choice if we've got more than one of 'em.  Be sure  to include your mailing address so we can get you your winning comic book to you.  All expenses paid by your favorite comicsblog, natch! 

That's it.  That's all there is to it. And since none of us is getting any younger, on with today's Winter One-derland!!

I WONDER? (December 28th)

Our double I WONDER? challenges today are proudly proffered in honor of  none other than Stan Lee, himself. We're giving you a chance to prove how well you know Stan The Man, and win one of two sweet Number One comics for your troubles! Now, for those dabblers who may not be as well-acquainted with Mr. Lee as they''d like, here's your opportunity to learn a little bit more about the guy who gave our imaginations great power and great responsibility. 

 

Already know the answer to that one, yeah? You smart guys, you! (That's what The Dabbler's great-uncle, a capo in the Chicago mob, used to say. Ah, memories of Christmas past...!) When you get your answer, put it into an email and send it off to us at the address you'll find at the bottom of tonight's blog. First dabbler's mail we receive with the correct answer to our Stan Lee I WONDER? will win the first issue of IDW Publishing's limited four-issue series, American McGee's GRIMM! Based on the popular video game of the same name, GRIMM is written by Dwight Macpherson and illustrated by Grant Bond! The issue we'll be sending to the intrepid abbracadabbler with the correct answer is guaranteed to be in Near-Mint Condition, and will be the Cover A edition of this fun and freaky IDW comic book.

BONUS STAN LEE 

I WONDER?(December 28th)

(Helpful Hint: Wise dabblers look closely at comics panels)

Lotta fill-in-the-blanks with that bad boy!  But once you find the answer to the first empty space, all the others should almost write themselves. The winning dabbler of the Stan Lee BONUS challenge will soon be receiving the NUMBER ONE issue of  Vertigo Comics currently ongoing hit series, Unknown Soldier #1.   This highly-acclaimed title has been applauded by The New York Times, and we're hoping that you're next in line.  It's top-quality Vertigo, written by Joshua Dysart and features the artwork of Alberto Ponticelli. 

Before we wander away from tonight's trip through Winter One-derland we want to send our best to the great people of Vertigo Comics as well as Chris Ryall and his crew at IDW Publishing. Thanks for the comics, folks! Also, let's take just a moment to send even more good wishes to Stan Lee. Happy 87th, Mr. Lee! 

Send your well-researched I WONDER? to us here:

And lest we forget, abbracadabbling's journey through the Winter One-derland is nearly over. Our final Comics Giveaway of the Season happens this Friday, January 1st 2010.  Time flies when you're giving away free comics, and we've saved the best 'til last. See you then!!