Fables bring characters and creatures from legends to modern-day New York City. The inspiration for this story is drawn from fairy tales, legends, myths, and fictions of all kinds. Some are very well-known and familiar characters, such as Snow White and Rose Red, and some are more obscure and, to many readers, will be more mysterious for their obscurity. The author and illustrator do a good job of making the characters lively and believable and the setting darkly beautiful. Even portions of the book that are sad or contain violence have a graceful loveliness as a result of the artist’s skill. This graphic novel’s mix of suspense, dark humor, witty adventure, and romance delivers a fantasy world that will leave readers ready for the next issue and their next escape to Fabletown.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  6 religious exclamations; 15 mild obscenities; 1 religious profanity; 8 derogatory names; 2 scatological words; 4 anatomical terms; 10 f-word derivatives.  Note: One use of the British “bloody”, not tallied.

Violence/Gore:  Characters threaten each other verbally or with weapons a few times;report of a character killing monsters; a few reports of a serial killing; a few reports of bloody battles with deaths in the past; report of an animal killed; report of characters enslaved or killed; a few reports of torture; a report of executions; report of an assassination; report of a house destroyed; characters spar with swords, and one is minorly injured;characters are killed and eaten by a monster; the same crime scene covered in blood is shown a few times; characters are killed by a monster, with blood and dismemberment described.

Sex/Nudity:  Adult characters cuddle, kiss, and dance with each other a few times; characters flirt verbally; female characters are naked, with their private parts barely covered by foliage or other artfully-placed bits of scenery; a naked baby-like creature has male genitals; a minor talks crudely about sex; a man comments on a woman’s low-cut neckline; a character jokes about another character’s lack of a sex life; a mention of “bedding” a woman; a fewreports of adult couples sleeping together; a few instances of a man and woman naked in bed (with nudity covered by sheets); it is implied that a woman had a “tawdry adventure” with several men; report of a man dancing naked; a man and woman have sex, and it is illustrated in a few frames and very clear what is going on, but their privates are obscured by bedsheets.

Mature Subject Matter:

Murder; suicide (mention); slavery (mention); theft.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Adults drink a toast with what is assumed to be alcoholic drinks; adults smoke cigarettes and pipes; an animal smokes a cigarette.