James Jean - Fables #45 Cover (DC/Vertigo, 2006)

Fables #45, with its James Jean-drawn cover, featured the fourth and concluding installment of the Arabian Nights (and Days) storyline, titled "Act of War".

D'Jinn: "Behold. The Baghdad of this tawdry world's a drear and dusty thing."

The cover to Fables #44 featured the Baghdad of our world, with U.S. Army troops and an armored tank patrolling the streets while an Iraqi mother and her children go about their business.

Sinbad: "And now, great king, let me introduce you to the true Baghdad."

The cover to Fables #45 featured the same cover scene from issue #44 except portrayed as the "true" Baghdad, the fabled, storybook version of the city. James beautifully depicted the glorious city with its minarets and vaulting palaces and pleasuredomes and its fantastic people and creatures.

I was thrilled to pick this one up back in 2010 - it's one of my favorite covers from the series!