Add to favoritesIt all started when I looked at my complete collection of Fables TPBs (including all of the OGNs and spinoffs) and realizing that I was losing faith in the long term durability of the paperbacks. I thought it would be a simple binding project to create hardcovers consisting of 2-4 TPBs each. However, things changed in the binding world and as prices rose, it did not seem as economically feasible to bind the entire series. I started looking at the deluxe editions, except there were three drawbacks:
1. The deluxe editions did not include the Fairest or Cinderella series.
2. I did not like some of the mapping of the deluxe editions. (Mainly, I prefer a hard volume break after Fables #75 and have #82 lead directly into the Great Fables Crossover. Also, the Werewolves OGN was in the wrong place.)
3. Certain volumes were quite pricey on the secondary market.
After a bit of research, I came up with a workable map that could require as few as 4 custom bound editions. At one point, I was trying to develop a map where some of my custom volumes could replace the deluxe editions and the volume numbering would still match up, but I couldn’t justify some of the costs there.
Here I present my modular map, which provides several options for binding and collecting. The approximate cost of binding as I was developing the map was $50 per volume. If I felt that I could obtain the corresponding deluxe editions for less than that cost, I would opt for those instead of binding.
Act I – Fables #1-51
These issues were originally collected in 8 TPBs or 6 deluxe editions.
Fables Custom Volume 1 – collecting TPBs 1-4
Fables #1-18
Fables: The Last Castle
Fables #19-21, 23-27
Fables Custom Volume 2 – collecting TPBs 5-8
Fables #22, 28-51
I did not include Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall OGN, because that was the one book I already had in hardcover, but it is included in Deluxe Edition 4. I opted for deluxe editions here, believing I could obtain the first six volumes for under $100 total.
Fables #22 was originally reprinted in TPB 5 (with #28-33) which is why it is mapped in the second custom volume. But it was included in Deluxe Edition 3, while the rest of TPB 5 was included in Deluxe Edition 4. Just something to keep in mind if mixing and matching the deluxe and custom volumes here.
Act II – Fables #52-#100 & Jack of Fables #1-50
This act also includes the first Cinderella mini-series, as well as the Literals mini-series that was part of the Great Fables Crossover. The Fables issues were collected in TPB volumes 9-15 or deluxe edition volumes 7-11. The entire Jack of Fables was collected in 9 TPBs or 3 deluxe editions. Since the deluxe editions mapped out exactly how I would have bound them, I knew from the beginning that I was getting those.
Jack of Fables volume 1 – collecting Jack of Fables TPBs 1-3
Jack of Fables #1-16
Fables Custom Volume 3 – collecting TPBs 9-11
Fables #52-75
This is one of my required custom volumes, largely due to my preference to have a hard volume break after Fables #75, which does not happen in the deluxe editions. Also, the corresponding deluxe editions are prohibitively expensive. The high price of Deluxe Edition 7 was one of the reasons I abandoned my plan to map the custom volumes to fit neatly into the deluxe numbering.
Jack of Fables volume 2 – collecting Jack of Fables TPBs 4-6
Jack of Fables #17-32
Fables Custom Volume 4 – collecting TPBs 12-13
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1-6
Fables #76-81
backup stories from Fables #78-82
Fables #82
Fables #83 – The Great Fables Crossover part 1
Jack of Fables #33 - The Great Fables Crossover part 2
The Literals #1 - The Great Fables Crossover part 3
Fables #84 - The Great Fables Crossover part 4
Jack of Fables #34 - The Great Fables Crossover part 5
The Literals #2 - The Great Fables Crossover part 6
Fables #85 - The Great Fables Crossover part 7
Jack of Fables #35 - The Great Fables Crossover part 8
The Literals #3 - The Great Fables Crossover part 9
This is another required custom volume due to my dislike of the deluxe edition mapping. Deluxe Edition 9 collects Fables #70-82, while Deluxe Edition 10 collects the crossover along with Werewolves in the Heartland which actually belongs after Fables #100. Also, the Cinderella mini-series were never collected in deluxe editions. The TPB places the backup stories from #78-82 after #82, although they take place before that issue. This is the only place in the entire map where I am rearranging anything from the TPBs.
Jack of Fables volume 2 – collecting Jack of Fables TPBs 7-9
Jack of Fables #36-50
Some argue that the final issue or arc of Jack of Fables takes place much later, but I prefer to treat it like a flashforward. Fables did a lot of projecting forward and backwards to fill in the blanks, including the arc that lead into the spinoff.
Fables Custom Volume 5 – collecting TPBs 14-15
Fables #86-100
I bought Deluxe Edition 11 on sale for this volume.
Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland OGN
This story takes place after Fables #100 and could easily slide into the volume before or after it. Some reading orders put the second Cinderella mini-series around this time, so it could be bound with this OGN. For me, it’s much more cost effective to slide Cinderella over into the Fairest volumes and find the hardcover version of the OGN to slide between deluxe editions.
Act III – Fables #101-150 & Fairest #1-33
This act includes the second Cinderella mini-series as well as the Fairest in All the Land OGN. The Fables issues were collected in TPB volumes 16-22 or deluxe editions volumes 13-15. The Fairest issues were collected in 5 TPBs, but not in deluxe format.
Due to the placement of volume breaks and/or cost analysis, I am opting for deluxe editions for the rest of the Fables series. However, the Fairest volumes have to be custom bound.
Fables Custom Volume 6/Deluxe Edition 12 – collecting TPBs 16-17
Fables #101-113
Fairest Custom Volume 1 – collecting Fairest TPBs 1-2
Cinderella: Fables are Forever #1-6
Fairest #1-14
The Cinderella mini-series is documented to slightly overlap with Fables #100 but there’s also a scene shared with Fables #113. Due to character appearances, Fairest #1-6 has to take place sometime between Fables #107 and #125 but is not locked into a specific timeframe. The arc in Fairest #8-13 is a flashback prior to Fables #1 but is designed to be read later with more knowledge of the series.
Fables Custom Volume 7/Deluxe Edition 13 - collecting TPBs 18-19
Fables #114-129
Fairest in All the Land OGN
There are some clues within the story that indicate that it takes place around this time.
Fables Custom Volume 8/Deluxe Edition 14 - collecting TPB 20
Fables #130-140
My original custom map had Fables #114-140 all in one volume, but I decided that I could probably get Deluxe Editions 13-14 for under $50. The decision to slot the Fairest OGN in between came after that decision.
Fairest Custom Volume 2 – collecting Fairest TPBs 3-5
Fairest #15-33
The arc in Fairest #15-20 does not give much context, so it could be moved around if needed. Fairest #21-26 consisted of the third Cinderella mini-series which was clearly marked as taking place after Fables #137. The arc in Fairest #27-32 overlaps and parallels the beginning of the final Fables arc. Finally, Fairest #33 is a prelude to the Fairest OGN but is written in a way that expects you to have read the OGN already.
Fables Custom Volume 9/Deluxe Edition 15 - collecting TPBs 21-22
Fables #141-150
Unfortunately, Deluxe Edition 15 is one of the pricier volumes out there. Volume 22 (a.k.a. #150) has an interior double gatefold spread that always makes me hesitant to bind.
In the final tally, there were 4 custom volumes that I was required to bind – two for the main series covering #52-85, and two for Fairest. I was able to get Deluxe Edition 11 for free in a sale. Then I set a goal to get Deluxe Editions 1-6 and 12-14 for under $200 total, which is what I estimated the cost of binding 4 volumes to be. (At the time, I still had Fables #114-140 mapped in one volume.) That left volume 15. The less I have to pay for the other 9 deluxe editions, the larger the budget for Deluxe Edition 15 can be.
Act IV – Fables #151-162
Fables Deluxe Edition 16
Fables #151-162
I pre-ordered this hardcover as soon as it was available to order.
Alternate mapping
Here are some of my thoughts on trying to map some custom volumes to still match up with the numbers of the later deluxe editions. This map does not take availability of the books into account.
Fables Deluxe Edition 1-7
Fables Custom 8
Fables #60-63, 65-75
This volume combines TPBs 10-11, but leaves out Fables #64, which was included in Deluxe Edition 7.
Fables Custom 9
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1-6
Fables #76-81
backup stories from Fables #78-82
Fables #82
Fables #83 – The Great Fables Crossover part 1
Jack of Fables #33 - The Great Fables Crossover part 2
The Literals #1 - The Great Fables Crossover part 3
Fables #84 - The Great Fables Crossover part 4
Jack of Fables #34 - The Great Fables Crossover part 5
The Literals #2 - The Great Fables Crossover part 6
Fables #85 - The Great Fables Crossover part 7
Jack of Fables #35 - The Great Fables Crossover part 8
The Literals #3 - The Great Fables Crossover part 9
Fables Custom 10
Fables #86-100
This volume is the exact same as Deluxe Edition 11, and was one of the hardest parts to map around, especially after I had obtained that volume.
Fables Custom 11
Cinderella: Fables are Forever #1-6
Werewolves in the Heartland OGN
Fables Deluxe Edition 12-15
No need to change the mapping here. The Fairest custom volumes could have still gone between deluxe editions.
Another alternative would have only required three volumes to be custom mapped.
Fables Deluxe Edition 1-8
Fables Custom 9
Fables #70-75
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love #1-6
Fables Custom 10
Fables #76-85 plus full crossover
Fables Deluxe Edition 11-15