Fables is fun. This is the prequel volume, that gives some origin stories, all framed by the Snow White doing Scheherazade and surviving the Sultan by telling these tales herself every night.
It feels like a more accessible Sandman, though perhaps it has gone too far, as it is a little obvious about its references. I have to admit, when I am writing this, I haven't read the following volumes, and I imagine the format would be different, the story arcs larger and complex, the stories hopefully more subtle. That isn't to say I didn't like this - I did, and I will certainly be reading more.
The twists of familiar tales is fun, but I hope it progresses further and develops new ones, or crosses them in original ways - Angela Carter and others since, have done better re-interpretations of fairy tales, so the Fables series (I have eleven volumes at least to catch up with) hopefully plays its own games.
Overall, the art is excellent, with the framing story being short bursts of text with large Charles Vess illustrations, that contrast nicely with the smaller panels of the main stories, and are different enough in his usual excellent style to lift her story out from the mix, as it needs to. The Snow White back-story, how she fared after marrying the Prince, and what the seven dwarfs were
Really about, is excellent, and well illustrated - beautifully enough to feel like a fable, but also realistically enough to bring out the dark edge in the story. Reynard the fox is a light story, drawn lightly too, and gives what seems to be the origin of the Animal Farm element in future volumes. The Frog Prince story is harsh but perhaps too simple, though good looking.
It's easy to love the Big Bad Wolf having been the runt of the litter, and making the smart decision to get bigger by careful increments, and his father-concerns are a Native American myth injection also, though the art lets it down a little. The Witch's Story is a very good amalgam and twisting of quite a few stories, including its own, with alternate within it for the backstory, and I hope to see more of this vein. Lastly, the Old King Cole story is a great setting up of the later Fables setting, and twists in an original way the character.
I liked this very much, look forward to more, and hope the fables take on more cultures with more obscure stories that will feel original to most, while rewarding those in the know.