Origin and Creation
Cinderella derives from a folk tale with many different variants, though the first story published was in 1697.
Disney
Cinderella lived a peaceful, rich life with her widowed stepfather. He was a kind and devoted gentleman whom Cinderella loved dearly. However, Cinderella’s father believed that she needed a mother, so he remarried. Soon however, Cinderella’s father died, leaving Cinderella in her stepmother’s care. Cinderella soon came to realize that her new family was jealous of her charm and beauty, and before long Cinderella was forced to become a servant in her own home, being made to do all the household chores and wait on her grim stepmother and vain stepsisters hand and foot.
Her stepmother grew more and more coldhearted every day. She only cared for her own daughters. But through it all, Cinderella still believed her dreams would come true someday. Her only friends were the animals of the house, apart from Lucifer the cat, who was the evil stepmother’s pet. In her attic bedroom, she was awakened each day by the little birds’ sweet songs.
Meanwhile at the royal palace, the King was worried about his son, the Prince, drifting farther and farther away from him. He wanted him to get married so he could have grandchildren some day. The King then decided to arrange a ball in the Prince’s honor that night. They would invite every eligible maiden in the land, so surely the Prince would choose one to marry.
Later that morning the royal messenger arrived at Cinderella’s place. Cinderella answered the door and was handed an urgent letter from the palace. Cinderella’s stepmother grabbed the letter off her and read it out loud. When they learned there was to be a ball in the Prince’s honor and all eligible young women were invited, Drizella and Anastasia became very excited.
Cinderella realized that she too was invited and also grew hopeful. But her stepsisters laughed at the idea of Cinderella attending the ball. The evil stepmother allowed her to attend on the condition that she would get all her work done and also find something suitable to wear.
Searching for the right gown to wear, Cinderella came across one which had belonged to her mother. It was a little old fashioned, but Cinderella knew that with some help and a little work, it could look wonderful. Her thoughts were interrupted by her stepsisters calling out to her. She knew that the dress would have to wait. However, Cinderella’s mice friends felt sorry for her and knew that she would never get her dress done in time for the ball. They all decided to pitch in and help. Gus and Jaq the mice found a pretty pink sash and a shiny string of blue beads which Cinderella’s frivolous stepsisters had thrown away. Soon, with a needle and thread, the simple dress was transformed into a beautiful gown.
Evening had now arrived, and the ball was starting. Alas, it was too late for Cinderella. Her stepmother and stepsisters had kept her busy right up until it was time for them to leave for the ball. Then she realized her bird and mice friends opening her closet doors, revealing the dress they had fixed for her. Overwhelmed, she thanked her friends for all their hard work, dressed quickly and ran downstairs to join her stepsisters.
When Anastasia and Drizella saw Cinderella’s new dress and also noticed their discarded beads and sash, they tore the dress apart furiously, ruining it for good. Heartbroken, Cinderella ran into the garden in tears. She had lost all hope in her dreams. All of a sudden, a strange glow appeared. It formed the shape of a woman, which turned out to be Cinderella’s fairy godmother. The fairy godmother transformed a garden pumpkin into a beautiful coach, Gus, Jaq and two other mice into four white horses, Major the horse became the coachman and Bruno the dog became the footman. Finally, the fairy godmother changed Cinderella’s rags into an elegant ballgown, complete with two delicate glass slippers. Before Cinderella left, her fairy godmother warned her the magic would not last past the twelfth stroke of midnight. Cinderella thanked her and went off to the ball.
As Cinderella entered the ballroom, she struck the prince’s eye. Immediately enchanted, he quickly brushed past Anastasia and Drizella to greet ger. A waltz began to play, and Cinderella and the Prince whirled about the ballroom. Time flew by and before Cinderella knew it, she heard a clock chime. Remembering the fairy’s warning, Cinderella ran away without even saying goodbye. Neither the Prince nor the Grand Duke could catch her. On the way, Cinderella lost one of her glass slippers.
The next day, news spread that the Prince was searching for the mysterious young woman who had lost her glass slipper the night before. By royal decree, the girl whose foot fit the shoe would marry the prince. Anastasia and Drizella were both determined to be the Prince’s bride. Cinderella was overwhelmed by the news. Observing her, Cinderella’s stepmother put together that Cinderella was in fact the prince’s mysterious love, so she locked Cinderella in her room just as the Grand Duke arrived.
Seeing what happened, Gus and Jaq stole back the key from the stepmother’s dress pocket. They eventually got it up to Cinderella’s room and slid the key under the door. Meanwhile, Anastasia and Drizella were desperately trying to fit their huge feet into the delicate glass slipper. But they would just not fit. The Duke said that if there were no other ladies in the household, he would be on his way now. Just at that moment, Cinderella called out from the top of the stairs for the Duke to wait.
Cinderella’s stepmother demanded that she not be allowed to try on the glass slipper, but the Duke ignored her. As the footman approached Cinderella, the wicked stepmother tripped with her cane, thus shattering the glass slipper. But Cinderella reached into her pocket and presented the other glass slipper, which fit her perfectly.
Cinderella and the Prince were soon after married. At last, Cinderella’s dreams came true.
Vertigo
Cinderella is Prince Charming’s third ex-wife. She divorced him due to his infidelity, and she came to the Mundane world as part of the last group to leave the Homelands. How she began working for Bigby Wolf as a spy is unknown. Cinderella was recruited as his off-the-books agent shortly after her arrival in the mundane world, approximately two centuries prior to the present-day setting of the comics. Missions shown have included seducing Ichabod Crane in Paris to get him to reveal that he was willing to turn traitor and provide valuable intelligence to the Adversary. She served as an envoy to giants of the Cloud Kingdoms, aiming to forge an alliance with them, a mission that ultimately put her in debt to Frau Totenkinder, but that also cleared the way for Bigby Wolf’s covert insertion into the Homelands depicted in Happily Ever After, a mission where Cinderella served as his briefing officer. She also participated in the interrogation of the wooden soldiers captured after the Battle of Fabletown, and later helped with the interrogation of Baba Yaga.
Cinderella considers herself to be the finest secret agent who has ever lived, on the grounds that, being immortal, she has had multiple human lifespans to perfect her craft and, uniquely among Fables, has had access not only to the magical resources of the Fables, but also all the technologies and techniques perfected by the mundane population. Her public persona is loud, brash and carefree, with most of her fellow Fables dismissing her as a shallow and largely irresponsible playgirl. On a mission, however, Cinderella is calm, calculating and frequently ruthless, displaying no qualms about killing when required. Due to her experiences with her ex-husband, she does show distrust and disdain for men who appear royal or of higher class.
In Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love, she discovers (due to Frau Totenkinder’s interference) that her Fairy Godmother is alive. Also that she was once the one for Briar Rose, along with her sisters who were mysteriously killed off by their enemy. So to get back at her (Frau), the Fairy Godmother intervened in her schemes such as bringing Rapunzel’s Prince to her tower. She also discovers that now her Fairy Godmother is the one behind the black-marketing trade of magics and weapons and that she had taken over the kingdom of UltimaThrule as her own; due to midnight being so long away as in months.
Cinderella tries at first to hear her old Godmother out, but sees she hasn’t changed her ways. She yells at her for wanting to marry her off and that she should have known better to marry her off to Prince Charming, knowing how he ruined his marriage to Briar Rose. After a long battle, with the help of Dickory, she defeats her Fairy Godmother. But she’s unable to kill her, so she leaves her to the people of UltimaThrule to decide her fate. She also soon returns home to Fabletown to find her store being mobbed by protestors.
Crispin apparently tried using the elves to make magic shoes for the women of Fabletown, but his plan backfired. Cindy ultimately got them to a compromise and got rid of the shoes. She also made Crispin pay for the shoes with his check and give the women foot massages. She also got to enjoy a “happily-ever-after-for-the-moment” with Aladdin, who helped her with solving the case of the magic-contraband.
Zenescope
The Grimm Fairy Tales version is similar to the Disney version with a few notable differences. First the character makes a bargain with the fairy godmother in return for her soul. Also she wishes her step mother and step sisters to be killed. She ends up with the prince at the end as usual though. Her modern version, Cindy , later begins to work for the Dark One .
Other versions
In Girls’ Romances #147 from 1970 a similar story is told dealing with the concept of Cinderella (and referencing Cinderella.) Some of the same story details are kept while others are glossed over. In this case it is when the sister stands up to her sisters that a suitor finds her to be worthy of his attention.
In Betty and Veronica Double Digest #184 a version of the story is told with the typical characters from Riverdale taking the place of the traditional characters.