45.12: Wide Awake (Fairest Volume 1, issues 1-7), by Bill Willingham and Phil Jimenez (2012 trade paperback)

In 2012, the comic series Fables (reviewed here and here) did a 6-issue story arc featuring Cinderella (review here). Likely based on its popularity, and (I'd hazard) the increasing number of female comics readers, the women of Fables are going it alone. Well, mostly alone.

The first story arc of Fairest features Briar Rose, with male hero Ali Baba, a bottle imp, the Snow Queen, and a cool collection of powerful women deities. The initial premise was actually established in issue 107 of the Fables series (in trade 16), but you don't need to read it to make sense of the story. After all, most of us know Briar Rose and her story from tales of childhood. If not, here's you chance to catch up now and get in on the ground floor of what promises to be a great new series.