Fables by Bill Willingham on WSJ

Fables by Bill Willingham makes a short appearance this week on the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog: "Fables" Brings Fairy Tales in Modern Era. Those in the know, know that Willingham's Fables and spin-off Jack of Fables have been around for several years now.

I especially enjoyed this answer from Willingham in the article:

Have any writers ever said they wanted to kick themselves for not thinking of this idea sooner?

To correct one thing, I didn’t think of it first. People have been doing this all along — some with more success than others. There was a made-for-TV miniseries called “The 10th Kingdom” a few years back and almost within days of submitting my “Fables” proposal to [DC Comics], I saw a trailer for the first “Shrek” movie, which had every idea I’ve ever had. But yeah, people have come up to me, saying, “Oh, what an amazing idea, I wish I had thought of it,” to which my response is, “The characters are available — do your version.”

However, Willingham has a new Fables universe prose novel--not graphic novel--coming out in October which he is promoting on WSJ and at the upcoming Comic*Con in San Diego. The novel is Peter and Max and Willingham pre-announced it last year on the SurLaLune Discussion boards, too.

Here's the novel description from the publisher:

A new stand-alone FABLES NOVEL from award-winning and wildly acclaimed author, Bill Willingham.

This story stars Peter Piper and his incorrigible brother Max in a tale about jealousy, betrayal and revenge. Set in two distinct time periods, prepare to travel back to medieval times and learn the tragic back-story of the Piper family, a medieval-era family of traveling minstrels. Then, jump into the present to follow a tale of espionage as Peter Piper slowly hunts down his evil brother for a heinous crime, pitting Peter's talents as a master thief against Max's dark magical powers.

Based on the long-running and award-winning comic book series FABLES, PETER AND MAX is its own tale. Readers don't have to be familiar with the comics to fully enjoy and understand this book.

I have images and links for all the graphic novel compilations from of the two series available here: Graphic Novels on SurLaLune. There's an average of two releases each for the two titles each year. I'm happy the series is going strong and has grown in popularity.