Top 5 Ladies That Kick Butt
by Chris Roberson, author of CINDERELLA: From Fabletown With Love

Bill Willingham’s take on Cinderella in the pages of FABLES transformed her from a fairy tale princess into a superspy who kicks butt and takes names. This reimagined Cinderella proudly took her place in the pantheon of femme fatales and lady spies who have high-kicked their way through pop culture. And who were some of the kick-butt ladies who came before? Here’s a few of my personal favorites, all of whom were influences when I sat down to write Cinderella’s first solo miniseries, CINDERELLA: From Fabletown With Love.

Irma Vep – This gal was the original femme fatale. Portrayed by music-hall performer Musidora in Louis Feuillade’s 1915 French silent film serial Les Vampires, Irma Vep was a member of a secret society of thieves and villains called “Les Vampires,” and she slinked around on rooftops in form-fitting catsuits. She set the standard for all of the butt-kicking ladies who followed in her footsteps.

Emma Peel – Diana Rigg wasn’t the first female companion to Patrick Macnee’s John Steed on the long-running UK television series The Avengers, and she wasn’t the last, but she was for my money definitely the best. No shrinking violet or damsel-in-distress, Rigg’s Emma Peel was a champion fencer, a martial artist, and was quick with a quip.

Wai Lin – The 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies is far from perfect, but that doesn’t stop Michelle Yeoh from being 100% awesome in it. As James Bond’s opposite number from the Chinese People’s External Security Force, Yeoh’s Wai Lin is if anything even more of a dashing badass than Bond himself. It’s been more than a decade since, and I’m still waiting for Michelle Yeoh in a Wai Lin solo vehicle—From Beijing With Love, anyone?

Sydney Bristow– Speaking of “far from perfect,” the last couple of seasons of J.J. Abrams’ Alias left a sour taste in the mouths of a lot of viewers, myself included. The resolution of the Rambaldi subplot that had been threaded through the show since its first season was a disappointment, among other sins. But the fact that the last seasons didn’t meet up with the high standards set by the earlier seasons shouldn’t detract from those first couple of seasons, in which former college student Sydney Bristow, played with panache by Jennifer Garner, kicked butt from one side of the planet to the other, through a dizzying array of costume changes, wigs, and cover identities.

Black Widow – Cinderella is far from the first female superspy to grace the pages of a comic book. I don’t know if Black Widow was the first, but after Cinderella she might be my next favorite. A few years ago Richard K. Morgan did a couple of stellar miniseries with the character, and this very week my old pal (and Clockwork Storybook stablemate) Paul Cornell has just started a new one, Black Widow: Deadly Origin. And if the first issue is any indication, it promises to be a fun ride.

WIRED and CBR feature interviews with G. Willow Wilson about Vol. 2 of AIR featuring Amelia Earhart and LARGE HEARTED BOY posts her air themed music playlist.

BOING BOING calls JACK OF FABLES Vol. 6 “gripping and thought-provoking; philosophically substantial and sparklingly funny.” Check out the full review.

NEWSARAMA features an interview with Chris Roberson about CINDERELLA: From Fabletown with Love.

And Jason Aaron talks SCALPED at CBR and IGN reviews issue #32.

You’ve seen these pages from CINDERELLA: From Fabletown with Love in black & white. Now, check them out in color!

Some amazing images from CINDERELLA: From Fabletown with Love by Chris Roberson and artist Shawn McManus with covers by Chrissie Zullo were revealed at the FABLES panel at the San Diego Comic Convention, and now you’re able to see them for the first time here.

Cover of #1

From issue #2

From issue #3

I’ve read the first issue and have to say, for those of you who’ve been wanting more of Cindy since her undercover work to the cloud kingdom and her trip to Ushuaia, Argentina to pick up a “package” are in for quite an adventure. And as for visuals, well, the opening of issue #1 contains a 2 page spread of Big Ben and Cindy in a cocktail dress and heels that’s stunning!

And here’s the cover of #2

Do you know who the mysterious man is? Are they both undercover spies?

Highlights from the past week:

MARKETPLACE/American Public Media spoke with Josh Dysart about his Eisner Award Nominated series UNKNOWN SOLDIER. Listen and then watch the video.

CBR covered both the Vertigo Ongoing Series/Crime Panel and the Vertigo Panel from San Diego Comic Con.

IGN covered the FABLES panel and all of the exciting announcements from San Diego Comic Con.

While the exclusive one-sheet handed out at the FABLES panel that foreshadows future FABLES events can be seen on IGN, Robot 6/CBR, and COMICS ALLIANCE.

And CBR spoke with Chris Roberson and Mike Allred about their new series I, ZOMBIE.

As always, THE FABLES FORUM was a full of fun and fan interaction as Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, Matthew Sturges, Steve Leialoha, Lee Loughridge, Shawn McManus, Andrew Pepoy, Chris Roberson, Chrissie Zullo and Todd Klein discussed all things FABLES.

The major announcement today is that Bigby Wolf will be the protagonist of his very own ogn. Fables: Werewolves in the Heartland an original graphic novel written by Bill Willingham with art by Jim Fern. Bigby Wolf takes center stage in an action packed story full of sex, violence, intrigue and daring escapes, as he sets out on a quest across the US to find a new location for Fabletown.

And for those in attendance a special one sheet Fables story written by Willingham with art by Mark Buckingham was handed out.

What? You wish you could read that story?

Well, for the first time EVER you can.

As Willingham himself puts it,”In the past two years we’ve handed out one-page Fables comics at the San Diego show that were basically throwaway gag pages. For the first time we decided to go the other way and do a serious, very dramatic Fables story, one that has far-reaching consequences for the series to follow. This one-page comic hints at what the second hundred issues of Fables will all be about.”

Here it is. ENJOY!

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the show or if you missed any of the DC COMICS panels, or, you just want to relive the experience again, you can find photos, podcasts from the panels, and other information, here.

Two Graphic Novels were announced at today’s panel:

From Mat Johnson, award winning novelist and author of the highly acclaimed Vertigo graphic novel INCOGNEGRO, and artist Simon Gane comes DARK RAIN, an uncompromising portrait of the life and death of the American city. Johnson uses the setting of New Orleans and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina intertwined with a suspenseful bank heist to explore social issues with a page-turning plot.

Sam, a 20-something living in Seattle, wakes up one morning to a world where things are out of control—the stock market has crashed, there’s a bird-flu epidemic in Asia and radioactive material has gone missing in Russia. Next, Sam wakes up and the world is fine. REVOLVER, written and illustrated by Eisner Award nominated Matt Kindt, is a tale of two realities and how they both test Sam’s limits until he makes a move that changes his path forever.

And Vertigo rolled out more details on I, ZOMBIE the upcoming new series that was originally announced here on Graphic Content last week:

Written by Chris Roberson and with art by Michael Allred, I, ZOMBIE is the story of Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a week she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her memories, but in the process she becomes consumed with the thoughts and personality of the dead person until she eats the next one. With a posse of vampires who play paintball, a smitten weredog, a swinging 60s ghost and a sexy but demented mummy, Gwen ‘zombie girl detective’ sets out to fulfill the dead person’s last request, solve a crime, or right a wrong.

And here are the covers to the new 6 issue mini-series JOE THE BARBARIAN (sorry, I mistakenly wrote 3 issue last week) and CINDERELLA: From Fabletown With Love:

For those of you who couldn’t make it to the show or if you missed any of the DC COMICS panels, or, you just want to relive the experience again, you can find photos, podcasts from the panels, and other information, here.

In 2010 Vertigo will release I, ZOMBIE, a new ongoing series by co-creators, writer Chris Roberson (author of this Fall’s CINDERELLA and occasional contributor to HOM and JACK OF FABLES) and New York Times bestselling artist Mike Allred.

I, ZOMBIE is the story of Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan, zombie girl detective. Think graveyards, ghosts, vampires and werewolves with a twist.

More on this new series will be discussed at San Diego Comic Con 2009.

Well, he can’t stay away from JACK OF FABLES forever can he? #36, “Jack ‘n’ Apes” features an untold tale of Jack’s past drawn by artist Tony Akins and written by guest-scripter and novelist Chris Roberson (who is also writing this Fall’s highly anticipated mini-series CINDERELLA: From Fabletown With Love—about a woman with a secret identity who loves shoes as much as I do) with cover by Brian Bolland. Catch a glimpse below.