Unwritten

Unwritten 1-9

Here we go with another Mike Carey series.  As with my reread of Lucifer, I remember pretty much nothing about this series.  I also remember thinking it was pretty good the first time around.  But past me stopped buying Unwritten after 24 issues, so something must have gone off the rails.  Let’s find out what I was thinking!

The premise for this series is bonkers.  Wilson Taylor is the author of the Tommy Taylor books.  Substitute Tommy Taylor for Harry Potter, and you’ll have an idea of what they’re about.  Wilson used his son Tom as the inspiration for his title character. After writing fourteen Tommy Taylor novels, Wilson disappeared, leaving the real life Tom alone in the world with a ton of unresolved daddy issues.  Tom makes a living on the convention circuit, living off the fame his father created for him, resenting it the entire time.

Things get strange when a graduate student named Lizzie Hexam reveals to the world that Tom might not really be Wilson’s son.  The resulting backlash in the court of public opinion sendsTom off on a journey of self-discovery, accompanied by a major dose of weird shit.  

Calling out some of the neater stuff:

Lizzie Hexam goes on to play a major role in the title as one of Tom’s sidekicks.  She’s working at the behest of Wilson, and it appears as if she’s the actual Lizzie Hexam from Charles Dickens’ novel, somehow brought to life.  I love the manner in which she communicates with Wilson, through the medium of books:

So cool. And in a more extreme method:

In the second story arc, we’re introduced to two siblings who’ve taken their fandom of Tommy Taylor to an unhealthy level.  They take it just a little bit to seriously, and believe in it just a little too much. Sure, aspects of the novel have begun manifesting themselves in the real world, but these kids aren’t going to be casting spells with their wands.  They don’t learn their lesson until it’s too late, and the mixture of desperation, hope, and realization on their faces is absolutely heartwrenching. Peter Gross nails that panel.

So fucking cruel.