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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Books Funnybook Review: The Unwritten, Volume 1

Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 2:25 PM

I'm often hard on Vertigo Comics for publishing books that hold way too strictly to the Alan Moore/Neil Gaiman model. It seems as though most of their series (like House of Mysteries) feel like cut-rate Gaiman rip-offs, which is to say they're poorly told stories about poorly told stories. And everything else is a grim and gritty take on comics that feels like a bad Alan Moore rip-off. The best comics Vertigo has produced in the days since Gaiman and Moore (Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Y the Last Man) don't look like any other Vertigo book.

So that's why I was nervous about The Unwritten. I generally like Mike Carey's writing, but a comic book about the son of a Harry Potter-popular author who gets swept into the story his father created sounded like the worst kind of Vertigo pitch to me. So I'm surprised to say that I really enjoyed the first volume of The Unwritten.

Tommy Taylor makes a living going to sci-fi conventions, talking about his dad, the creator of the Tommy Taylor boy wizard series of young adult novels. At one convention, he's confronted by a reporter who thinks he's a fraud—his identity seems to have been created quite recently. Soon after, Taylor is attacked by the villain from one of the books. It's not a Last Action Hero-style "the stories are coming to life!" snoozefest, either: The last chapter in this volume is a complex, wordy digression about Mark Twain, Rudyard Kipling, and Oscar Wilde that is only vaguely tied to the main story. It becomes clear almost immediately that this is a comic book for book-lovers and fans of literature.

The story doesn't progress very far in volume one—it only collects the first five issues of the series—but for ten bucks, you'll want to check out The Unwritten if you enjoyed Sandman. Not because it in any way apes Sandman in form or in content, but because, like Sandman, it's a highly literate story with mystery, heart, and depth. Pick it up the next time you're at your local comics shop.

Comments (8) RSS

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100 Bullets? Best Vertigo series ever.

Posted by Chicago Fan on February 4, 2010 at 4:01 PM

You know, I'm just now reading the Sandman Mystery Theater series and I'm kind of loving it. But I'm glad to hear an endorsement of this one. I wasn't sure what to think of it. Now I'll pick it up.

Posted by Michael Wells on February 4, 2010 at 6:12 PM

Although, Paul - the Air series? That I don't get...

Posted by Michael Wells on February 4, 2010 at 6:13 PM

Although, Paul - the Air series? That I don't get...

Posted by Michael Wells on February 4, 2010 at 6:13 PM

I love this comic. Made me cry on more than one occasion. I wish it moved a little faster though. Mike Carey is great regardless.

Posted by Jigae on February 4, 2010 at 9:11 PM

Has anyone picked up the first issue of Joe the Barbarian? It's kind of great...

Posted by Michael Wells on February 4, 2010 at 11:59 PM

Though I did not cry, I do love this book.

I can't seem to be able to stay on top of my purchasing habits though and have missed the last few issues. Why don't they just publish graphic novels now? Almost all of my favorites cut out at the 'gettin' good' point in issue form anyway. I will say that the cover art alone (the name of the artist escapes me though I'm familiar with her work) was work buying the issues of this title ... for as long as I could remember to anyway.

This comic is wonderful, interesting, well written and drawn while making good work of allowing its story to properly ebb and flow amongst slightly exaggerated but still interesting characters.

Don't go the way of Crossing Midnight or any other book I've enjoyed in the last two years,The Unwritten.

Posted by funkathrusta on February 5, 2010 at 1:13 AM

Glad to see Unwritten get a second chance, even if it didn’t quite win everyone over. Comparing it to Air was interesting because I tried the first trade based on the FBB love and was thoroughly underwhelmed. Does the second trade get better or were you guys hooked on Air with volume 1? Maybe I’ll have to give it a re-read. Also, on the topic of Vertigo essays, is anyone reading Madame Xanadu? I’ve picked up the first two trades and have been pleasantly surprised.

Posted by Joss on April 15, 2010 at 8:37 AM