Fables gets Hard Cover Treatment

[Bill Willingham]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since I missed the boat giving you folks the first word on the Fables TV pilot, and possible series to follow, let me try to make up for that by being the first to tell you here, long before you'll see it anyplace else, that Fables will indeed be coming out in hardcover.

The format is what the DC people call the "deluxe" treatment, which is the same format that the Y - the Last Man books are getting. These deluxe hardcovers will come out about once a year, until they are caught up with the current Fables trades.

The first Fables deluxe hardback will come out on or around September of '09, in time for the holidays. It will combine issues 1 - 10, basically the first two collections, Legends in Exile and Animal Farm. No word yet on who will be doing the new covers. The extras that were in the two collections will also be included in the deluxe edition, plus maybe a bit more as well.

You can look at the Y deluxe hardback for a good example of the printing and paper quality and such.

And unlike the Fables TV pilot, I have been and will be very much involved with these deluxe editions.

[Eduardo Blake]

Not much to say but

YEY! :)

[Peter Shea]

Ladies and Gentlemen,


The format is what the DC people call the "deluxe" treatment, which is the same format that the Y - the Last Man books are getting... You can look at the Y deluxe hardback for a good example of the printing and paper quality and such.
.

Will they have real Corinthian leather??? ;)

[Donald Hargnett]

Will they have real Corinthian leather??? ;)

nah, Corinthian is in Sandman.

Good news, though.

[Bill Willingham]

Will they have real Corinthian leather?

We're toying with the idea of binding them in real wolf skin -- or maybe lamb skin from lambs that were killed by wild wolves. We're still kicking around ideas. I am of course lying like a (non-flying) rug.

[Charles Reed]

Good news, indeed. Thanks for giving us the heads up!

Any hint about the extras? I tend to really love introductions, either by "guests" (as was done for the Sandman and Hellboy collections), or by someone more closely associated with the book (writer, artist, editor).

Was the decision to green-light the hardcovers influenced by the announcement of the TV pilot? They might be coming out at about the same time.

Hmm. Now I just need to figure out if I want to keep buying the TPBs in the meantime, or just re-read my floppies until the eventual hardcover comes out. Let's see, if a hardcover is to come out about once a year and cover approximately 10 issues, we might get something like this:

Sep 2009 -- Deluxe Fables V1 (1-10) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #88
Sep 2010 -- Deluxe Fables V2 (11-18 + 22 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #100
Sep 2011 -- Delexe Fables V3 (19-21 + 23-29 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #112
Sep 2012 -- Deluxe Fables V4 (30-41 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #124
Sep 2013 -- Deluxe Fables V5 (42-50 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #136
Sep 2014 -- Deluxe Fables V6 (50-59 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #148
Sep 2015 -- Deluxe Fables V7 (60-69 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #160
Sep 2016 -- Deluxe Fables V8 (70-81 ?) -- Current issue will be approximately Fables #172
.
.
.

Wow, that's catching up more slowly than I was initially thinking. In fact, it's not catching up at all. It's getting further and further behind. In order to do any "catching up" the hardcovers will have to collect more than 12 issues (assuming Fables continues coming out monthly).

I don't know if I'm going to want wait for the hardcover. But at the same time, I would love to have the series in hardcovers. What a dilema.

Charles

[Ian Westhoff]

Great news! I will definitely buy these, then use my soft cover trades for loaners when people want to try the book out.

Glad for the extras to be included, and I look forward to hearing what the new content will be.

Will these be sort of remastered? Making sure the colors are nice and vibrant, or are they still in good shape since coloring is a bit more advanced than back in the day?

[Charles Reed]

Will these be sort of remastered? Making sure the colors are nice and vibrant, or are they still in good shape since coloring is a bit more advanced than back in the day?

Or like maybe fixing that one panel in Animal Farm where it looks like Snow White is wearing a cupless bra?

8-)

[Bill Willingham]

Or like maybe fixing that one panel in Animal Farm where it looks like Snow White is wearing a cupless bra?

Yes, I would very much like to get that fixed.

[Mark Buckingham]

Great news!

Will these be sort of remastered? Making sure the colors are nice and vibrant, or are they still in good shape since coloring is a bit more advanced than back in the day?

Simply printing on a better quality paper will hugely enhance the look of the books... we may fix the odd mistake but I doubt it will be necessary to re color.
If you ever see any of the european editions you'll see for yourself the huge difference it makes.
Lee's colors explode off the page in the Spanish editionns.
I can't wait :)

Bucky
x

[Ian Westhoff]

Sounds good, can't wait till this trade is in my hands.

[Mark Buckingham]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since I missed the boat giving you folks the first word on the Fables TV pilot, and possible series to follow, let me try to make up for that by being the first to tell you here, long before you'll see it anyplace else, that Fables will indeed be coming out in hardcover.

The format is what the DC people call the "deluxe" treatment, which is the same format that the Y - the Last Man books are getting. These deluxe hardcovers will come out about once a year, until they are caught up with the current Fables trades.

The first Fables deluxe hardback will come out on or around September of '09, in time for the holidays. It will combine issues 1 - 10, basically the first two collections, Legends in Exile and Animal Farm. No word yet on who will be doing the new covers. The extras that were in the two collections will also be included in the deluxe edition, plus maybe a bit more as well.

You can look at the Y deluxe hardback for a good example of the printing and paper quality and such.

And unlike the Fables TV pilot, I have been and will be very much involved with these deluxe editions.

Bill,
I'm very excited to hear this is now officially happening. I really hope we can find space for extras like character designs, un uesd art, and extracts from your scripts etc.
Bucky
x

[Ian Westhoff]

Unused art and story excerpts would be a great set of extras.

[muteddragon]

I want to see more scripts. Esp. parts when Bill threatens Bucky.

[Héctor Gómez]

I don't know if this it's a good new or a bad new.

Good new: New edition for fables in a really pretty hardcover style.
Bad new: I want this edition, too, but that will be too much for my economy and room's space.

[Peter Shea]

Unused art and story excerpts would be a great set of extras.

How about a running commentary from the characters themselves? :)

BIGBY WOLF: "The girl they got to be my Alaskan lover was a lovely young woman--I hear she is up for a role in the next "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" graphic novel."

[Charles Reed]

Unused art and story excerpts would be a great set of extras.

How about a running commentary from the characters themselves? :)

BIGBY WOLF: "The girl they got to be my Alaskan lover was a lovely young woman--I hear she is up for a role in the next "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" graphic novel."

Ummmm . . . I'd have to vote no on that.

;-)

[Ian Westhoff]

what of the Original graphic Novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall? Will this too be collected in the Deluxe format? Also, will the Jack of Fables books be done as well?

[Brandon Cook]

I have the deluxe editions of Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina. They're pretty solid and pretty, well, pretty to boot. While I rarely prefer hardcovers despite the fact that they're more durable, I've been a sucker time and time again for the Absolute volumes. These books aren't that big, and don't differ as significantly in quality, but they do appeal to the collector's spirit.

Are the Fables deluxe editions really going to be on an annual release? I know Y: The Last Man's first volume came out in October and the next will be released in March, so it's effectively on a bi-annual schedule. On the other hand, Ex Machina's first volume was released in July and the next in line still hasn't appeared for pre-order on Amazon. Maybe they're slowing down the release rate for ongoing series? I don't really see why it matters particularly, as these books don't have competing hardcover releases and go straight to paperback.

In any occasion, it will give me something to look forward to every year.

[Germán Ramirez]

So that means no Absolute? It'll be good to read Fables on higher quality paper that's the only thing I've whined about with the series.