So I Read The Unwritten: The Unwritten Fables

Or a 250 word (or less) review of The Unwritten Vol. 9
by Mike Carey, Bill Willingham, Peter Gross, Mark Buckingham, Steve Leiahola, Inaki Miranda, Russ Braun, Dean Ormston, Chris Chuckry, Todd Klein; Vertigo Comics

This review is on part of an ongoing series. For a *SPOILER* free review of the first issues go here. But, this comic has like, nothing to do with the series proper, so you should be fine to read the review.

Once upon a time I read a pretty big chunk of Fables, something like the first 7 trade paperbacks. I found them endlessly charming, filled with adventure and romance and just enough tragedy. I remember this time fondly and have always meant to get back to the series. But, man, judging from The Unwritten Fables, Fables proper has gotten fucking bonkers. The Unwritten Fables is a crossover comic between The Unwritten and Fables, two comics that have no real overlap. In the comic, Tom Taylor, the maybe-a-fictional-boy-wizard hero of The Unwritten is waylaid by the fables of Fables and drafted into their war against Mister Dark, AKA the Bogeyman. Tom Taylor is transformed into his boy-wizard-self and, along with the desperate surviving Fables, mounts a last, cataclysmic stand against their all-powerful foe. And this comic sucked. If you read this blog, you know I try to be nuanced in my criticism, but this comic is a creative failure.  It fails as an Unwritten story since the story doesn’t advance the series plot. It better have failed as a Fables story, or been a what-if for that series, because it's fucking bonkers. It fails as a crossover because the comic lacks all the smart nuance of the Unwritten and the charm of Fables. I cannot imagine picking this comic up, as a fan of either series, and being tempted to try the other title. The art was frequently terrible and rushed.  This chapter feels like a betrayal of long-term Unwritten readers.

Word count: 250

Post by Michael Bround

Previously:

The Unwritten: Volumes 1-5

The Unwritten: Volume 6  

The Unwritten: Volume 7

The Unwritten: Volume 8

So I Read The Unwritten: Orpheus In The Underworlds

A 250 word (or less) review of The Unwritten: Volume 8
Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Dean Ormston, Chris Chuckry; Vertigo Comics

This review contains *SPOILERS* for previous chapters of The Unwritten. Click here for a clean review of earlier collections.

The Unwritten is the ongoing saga of Tom Taylor, the grown up inspiration/embodiment of a beloved childhood fictional wizard, who used the literal magic of stories to unseat the cabal who had been controlling the world by manipulating fiction. Orpheus in the Underworlds picks up after this in a time when Leviathan, the living embodiment of human imagination, is gravely wounded and the barrier between the real and fictional worlds is breaking down. The focus of The Unwritten: Volume 8 is the story of Tom harnessing the power of story to travel to the Underworld so that he can rescue Lizzy Hexam, his fallen comrade and lover, and bring her back to the world of the living. It's a chapter that reunifies many of the ongoing plot threads and advances the story of a surprising number of Unwritten characters. Orpheus in the Underworlds really feels like the Unwritten is gearing up for another epic long haul. That said, this chapter, with its return-from-the-dead subject matter also plays a risky game: part of what I like most about the Unwritten is the stakes... and bringing characters back from the dead hurts this aspect of the series. I am also dubious of the crossover (kind of?) with Fables hinted at: crossovers are not what I want from The Unwritten. Orpheus in the Underworlds has a lot to like and shows a lot of promise moving forward, but also makes me worry that maybe the series has overshot its organic ending...

Word count: 248

Previously:

The Unwritten: Volumes 1-5

The Unwritten: Volume 6  

The Unwritten: Volume 7

So I Read The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor And The War Of Words

A 250 word (or less) review of the sixth trade of The Unwritten

By Mike Carey, Peter Gross, MK Perker, Dean Ormston, Vince Locke, Michael MW Kaluta, 

Gary Erskine, Rick Geary, Bryan Talbot, and Gabriel Hernandez Walta; Vertigo Comics

(This review contains mild *SPOILERS*. To read a *SPOILER* free review of The Unwritten: go here.)

The Unwritten is a comic about how stories shape human societies and the struggle to control this power through literature. Specifically the comic series focuses on Tom Taylor, the real life inspiration for a Harry Potter-esque boy wizard, and his fight to destroy a Cabal who have been manipulating the publishing industry for centuries. Tommy Taylor And The War Of Words tells the story of Tom Taylor taking the fight directly to the cabal and represents the climax of many of the comic’s ongoing storylines. The core story is action-packed and the explanations and resolutions provided in this collection are overall quite satisfying. Carey and Gross also tell the origin stories of many of The Unwritten’s villains and supporting characters interspersed between main chapters. Much like the main chapters, these origins are well written and really pay off ideas established elsewhere in the series. To keep the dramatic main plot ticking away while still telling elaborate origin stories, Carey and Gross resorted to double publishing The Unwritten during the time span collected in Tommy Taylor And The War Of Worlds. This publishing strategy necessitated fill-in and finishing artists for Peter Gross. The resulting art is still very nice and overall manages to closely match Gross’ style but occasionally enters this uncanny valley territory of looking ever-so-slightly off… it’s a little like a peripheral vision distraction. Still, Tommy Taylor And The War Of Words is a great comic in a great series. I have no idea what comes next.

Word count: 248

Previously:

So I Read The Unwritten: 1-5