Bill Willingham, writer of the long running DC/Vertigo comic Fables has announced that the series will be wrapping up with issue #150, which barring delays should come out in early 2015.

Willingham said in the announcement that not only would he be bringing Fables to an end, but would also be retiring from a great deal of his comics work. Going along with this, Willingham said that the companion series Fairest will also be wrapping up around the same time Fables comes to an end.

Willingham gave more answers in an interview with Newsarama that you can read here, saying that readers may be able to expect a return to the Fables world at some point in the future for special projects, much like what Neil Gaiman has done with The Sandman. You should check out that interview for plenty of hints about what will happen as the series reaches its conclusion.

It’s hard to underestimate the effect that Fables has had, particularly when you look at the success that ABC has had with Once Upon A Time and its spinoff series, as well as what NBC has done with their show Grimm. You can see the roots of both series in Fables, with the mix of classic characters and a modern setting, especially when you know that it nearly became a TV series itself at both NBC and ABC. There is still work going on to bring the Fables world to the big screen, with a live action film currently being developed by Harry Potter producer David Heyman.

Fables is currently one of the series to go the longest without being relaunched or renumbered and has been spun off into two other series, a novel, several miniseries, three original graphic novels, and even a recently launched video game.

Jack of Fables ran for 50 issues from 2006 to 2011. Fairest launched in 2012 and is currently up to issue #20. The Literals was a three issue miniseries that tied into “The Great Fables Crossover.” There have been two six-issue miniseries focusing on Cinderella and her work as a spy for Fabletown. Peter and Max: A Fables Novel came out in 2009 and focused on the lives of Peter Piper and the Pied Piper, who in the Fables’ world are brothers with a contentious relationship. 1001 Nights of Snowfall, Wolves of the Heartland and Fairest in All the Land are all stand-alone graphic novels that have been set in the Fables Universe, with Fairest in All the Land set to release in late November, 2013. The Wolf Among Us is a episodic video game from Telltale Games (The Walking Dead video game), and the first episode came out in mid-October 2013.

While it is sad to see Fables come to an end, it’s good to see that Willingham and his collaborators, mainly artist Mark Buckingham, can wrap the series up on his own terms. Fables was a rare success story for a new property in the comics world and helped to bring a new audience to comics and no one likes to see a good series come to an end.

Here’s to a great run and more future success.

[Source: webpage” target=”_blank”>Bill Willingham]