Fables #99

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Inaki Miranda

For a while now, the many characters of Fables have been dealing with the incursion of Mr. Dark into Fabletown.  He's been a shadowy figure, working behind the scenes to influence the story, but very little has been revealed about him.

That has changed with this issue, which focuses on him and his plans.  The issue is narrated by Ozma's cat, which has been observing the Dark One for some time now, as he continues to build his castle in Manhattan, and gathers his 'witherlings' to do his bidding.  Mr. Dark is visited by the North Wind, who delivers to him news of Frau Totenkinder's (I forget her new name) challenge to a duel.

The two powerful creatures walk around the city and talk for a while, which has negative consequences for everyone they pass.  This issue does a great job of building up suspense and laying the groundwork for next month's massive one hundredth anniversary issue.  I haven't been this excited to read the next issue of Fables since the war with the Adversary.

This issue is drawn by Miranda, who is a very talented artist.  His cityscapes are wonderful, as is his zombiefied (I mean witherlinged) remake of James Jean's cover to issue seventy-six.  Fabulous stuff.