1001 Nights of Snowfall

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Cover of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall Art by James Jean
Date	October 18, 2006 (hardcover) March 5, 2008 (softcover)
Main characters	Snow White
Publisher	Vertigo
Creative team
Writers	Bill Willingham
Artists	Charles Vess Brian Bolland John Bolton Michael Wm. Kaluta James Jean Tara McPherson Derek Kirk Kim Esao Andrews Mark Buckingham Mark Wheatley Jill Thompson

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series Fables written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.

In the story Snow White has been sent to negotiate with the Arabian fables. The sultan, considering it an insult that a woman was sent to negotiate, holds her hostage. Snow White tells him a story every night to keep him from beheading her.

This tale is set in the 19th century, in the early days of Fabletown, when Snow White was sent as an envoy to the lands of the Arabian Fables. But the Arabian Fables are actually offended that a woman would be sent to negotiate. When she catches the eye of the sultan, Snow finds herself filling the unenviable role of Scheherazade, the teller of the original One Thousand and One Arabian Nights tales.

Snow has to amuse the Sultan with tales of wonder and imagination every night - for a thousand and one nights - to keep her head off the chopping block. We see the stories as Snow tells them in a framing sequence similar to the original. Running the gamut from horror to dark intrigue to mercurial coming-of-age, it reveals the secret histories of familiar characters through a series of compelling and visually illustrative tales.

The ten stories, in order:

Penciled by Michael Wm. Kaluta, inked and painted by Charles Vess. It's the framing story, text with illustrations, like a lavishly illustrated old time storybook. Nineteen pages, seven of which are full splash pages. It is of particular historical note in that it contains the first and to date only appearance of the original planned Adversary, Peter Pan.

Painted by John Bolton. The longest story in the collection, at 32 or 33 pages, it illustrates the first few days of Snow White and Prince Charming's married life. It also reveals the unpleasant circumstances behind Snow White's problem with dwarves, providing a somewhat darker twist on the original fairytale. Much is seen of Charming's skill with a blade. This story also further explains where Snow and Charming's marriage may have gone wrong.

...
Wikipedia