steve Leialoha

Q: What makes a good silent issue? -- @XavierFiles A: Listen: I don't know if you meant for me to interpret this question as, "Can you talk about GI Joe #21 for a couple thousand words," but I do think we all knew that was exactly what was going to happen.

Under normal circumstances, I don't think that even I could recommend a $20 hardcover collection of one (1) 22-page comic book. Fortunately for me -- and unfortunately for my wallet -- "Silent Interlude" is a comic that has nothing to do with normal circumstances. Originally released back in 1984 as G.I. Joe #21, the story is pretty uncontested as one of the all-time classics of modern comics, a "silent" story told with no dialogue, where Snake-Eyes infiltrated Destro's castle on a deadly mission to rescue Scarlett, who was busy breaking out at the same time. It's a pivotal moment for the series, setting up connection between Storm Shadow and Snake-Eyes that would become one of the driving forces of the franchise, but more than that, it's a really great comic, and this week's IDW's putting it out in a special hardcover, along with Larry Hama's original breakdowns.

When it started back in 2002, the premise of Bill Willingham's Vertigo series Fables seemed to be pretty simple: characters from fairy tales inhabiting a modern world. Nearly 12 years and 140 issues later, it's clear that isn't 100 percent accurate. The series has evolved to be as much about creating new fairy tales as it is about the modern-day area of New York City known as Fabletown, and it became as much about the characters' pasts as it was about their presents. That's more than evident in the opening pages of Fables #141, the issue that kicks off the 10-part, series-ending "Happily Ever After," by Willingham, Mark Buckingham (the artist who drew the bulk of the series), Andrew Pepoy, Steve Leialoha and Lee Loughridge. A new piece of lore sets up the inevitable conflict that will see the series through to its conclusion. It's an elegant piece of storytelling, and the rest of the issue is similarly understated in a way that builds toward a climax, but doesn't reveal too much. It's all table setting, but it's one very nicely set table.

Many ComicsAlliance readers will be glad to know that Vertigo is launching an all-new ongoing series set in the enduringly popular and consistently excellent Fables saga created by Bill Willingham. Called Fairest, the book will star Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White and, in Willingham's words, anyone who could be interpreted as "fairest in the land...