This is a guest post from Josh Stasinos. It was originally posted on Night Flight Comics.
With the volume of comics coming out by the pile, when a good read comes my way I think it’s important to give it a little added beacon of light in which to guide your discerning wallets and time. The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twiceis an original hardcover graphic novel published by Vertigo, and a solid standalone prequel to The Unwritten comic book series.
The Unwritten HC has the scope of a film, which is what you want in a good graphic novel. A good solid session of entertainment. This book has the added bonus of actually being two stories intertwined as one: The first is of a writer named Wilson Taylor who is becoming more villainous by hurting and manipulating those around him to ensure success, fame, riches, and power; The second about an orphaned boy named Tommy Taylor who wants to become a wizard just like his parents were and his friends are—much like Harry Potter. But unlike Harry Potter this book is written for an adult reader with a more sophisticated use of language, and all the while commenting on the nature, difficulty, and history of storytelling.
Wilson Taylor decides to name his unborn child Tommy Taylor, while constructing the Tommy Taylor novels. It is through these two Tommys that he messes with the public conscience and explores the relationship between fiction and human consciousness. In fact, the very title to the book is the title of the first Tommy Taylor novel, and the origin story for Tommy, his friends Sue and Peter, his parents demise, and their foe. Carey has a way of unfolding the Tommy story in a familiar way that reads with ease, but with a fresh intelligence and charm. And together the two stories create an even bigger world: the world of stories and how they affect the world.
The Unwritten does exist as an ongoing comic book series that has been collected in into seven volumes of trade paperbacks so far. Not only do I think you don’t have to have read any of the previously 50+ issues of The Unwritten to read this book, I think I would have enjoyed the story even more if I hadn’t been reading the series because it would have had me guessing and surprised more frequently.
Peter Gross, who was Carey’s collaborator for the Lucifer series, does layouts for the book, and several other comic book artists draw or paint over his rough pencils. I could see this as off-putting for some, as the art styles are varied and change often, giving the book the appearance of an anthology to browsers. But ultimately the visuals do their job, sometimes with a beauty and precision of the experienced comic book artist, and other times well enough to know just exactly what’s going on.
I think that DC’s Vertigo imprint strives to be the HBO of comics: edgy, well written, and for an adult intellect and appreciation. I think The Unwritten succeeds in being all of these things. But like some HBO series, it requires a little patience, and a little faith to give the story time to unravel.
The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice HC
Vertigo, 160 pages, $22.99, September 24, 2013