The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Vol. 1)

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Vol. 1) written by Mike Carey and Peter Gross consists of issues 1 through 5 of The Unwritten.

The Unwritten is a new series published by Vertigo. Vertigo is my favorite comic publisher*. Mike Carey has also written a comic book I liked a lot (Hellblazer: All His Engines), so between that and that issue 1 was $1, I had to give this series a try. I read the first issue a long time ago (about six months ago) and liked enough to decide to buy the trade paperback when it would come out (I usually prefer trades over issues). After reading the trade, I have to say, I love it and I can't wait to read more.

The Unwritten starts with Tommy Taylor, the son of a famous writer who wrote a series of books about a kid magician called Tommy Taylor. The author named the character of his books after his son. The books are a huge hit in the world, much like Harry Potter and after the thirteenth book the author went missing. Nobody knows where he is.

The first issue introduces the characters smoothly and it leads us to question whether fiction became reality (is Tommy Taylor, the Tommy Taylor from the books?) Throughout the story we get more questions. The comic is fun, interesting and full of questions I want answered. Exactly the kind of comic I love.

The art in this comic is terrific. Most panels have a very detailed background and Peter Gross is able to make the comic feel very different when drawing excerpts from the Tommy Taylor books compared to when drawing "real life". I love the style, he makes a world feel real and it works in an intuitive level. Without explanation, it is very clear from the beginning that what is happening is supposed to happen in a book and not in real life.

The fifth issue is interesting in that it leaves the main story on the side and tells us the story of Kipling (the writer) and how he is related to the villains. The villains in this book seem to believe in the power of the written word so they try to use writers. A very good issue that builds the atmosphere of the comic, while straying from the main story a lot. This is something that comics can do quite well that movies can't. TV shows could do this too if they wanted.

I highly recommend this series. It is fantastic.


*Technically Vertigo is not a publisher but an imprint of the publisher DC Comics