Fairest: The Hidden Kingdom

Fairest [vol. 2]: The Hidden Kingdom by Bill Willingham and Lauren Beukes, 160 pages

This is the second volume in Willingham's Fables spin-off, Fairest. This series focuses on the women of Fables, giving some of their background (not the original stories, mind you; these stories all happen after "happily ever after"). This volume in particular centers on Rapunzel, who fled the Adversary and ended up in the Hidden Kingdom, a mystical world filled with Japanese fables. A mysterious origami message finds Rapunzel in Fabletown, drawing her back to Tokyo and into a world she'd left behind hundreds of years earlier.

I won't lie: this was a weird book. The appearance of Japanese fables was both intriguing and a bit disconcerting, as I'm not familiar with them at all (well, at least not outside of the occasional Miyazaki movie). I liked the change of scenery, and I'd love to hear more stories of some of these fables. My one complaint was the appearance of animate bezoars, which was a bit stomach-churning for my taste, and seemed like an odd way to spin Rapunzel's story; there are so many ways this could have gone, most of which would be less gross. Aside from that, however, this was a good volume, and a great way to bring in some fables that aren't well-known in Western culture.