ABC To Tell DC Comics' Fables

The Hollywood Reporter reports that ABC is putting together a pilot for a show based on the DC Comics series, "Fables." Published through DC's Vertigo imprint, the series is written by Bill Willingham and tells the story of a comunity of characters from fairy tales and folk stories living secretly among humans in New York after being exiled from their homelands by a shadowy and powerful Adversary. The first script for the hour-long drama will be written by Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner, who brought us the impressively-cast but short-lived "Six Degrees." David Semel, who also directed pilots for Heroes, Life, and The Cleaner, is slated to helm the first episode of Fables. No details yet on how faithful of an adaptation it would be, though Zicherman and Metzner did say that the Big Bad Wolf and Snow White would play large roles in the story, mirroring their involvement in the comic book series.

I'm excited about this. Fables is a series that is close to my heart, and the premise alone could make for an exciting and enduring television series. But Wilingham's story is a remarkable one, following in the tradition of limited-run series like Alan Moore's "Watchmen" and Neil Gaiman's "Sandman". I really hope they don't use Heroes as a model for the show; the characters and story are simply too good for that. Six Degrees was a show that had good intentions but ultimately failed in the execution of an interesting but tricky premise, so while I'm not sold on that show's creators bringing Fables to life, I'm also not ready to dismiss them yet. I don't know if Fables can translate to a weekly TV show, but here's to hoping they find a way to do it. Anyone who's a comic book fan should definitely check out this seminal series.