''The Unwritten'' is an American
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
written by
Mike Carey with art by
Peter Gross. Published by the
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
imprint of
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
, the book follows Tom Taylor, who was the inspiration for a series of hugely successful children's fantasy novels in the vein of
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
. The series deals with themes related to fame, celebrity, and the relationship between fiction and human consciousness.
Inspiration
Mike Carey, in an interview with Nicholas Yanes from scifipulse.net, claimed that "the most important reference point is the autobiography of
Christopher Milne
Christopher Milne (born 24 May 1950) is an Australian actor and award-winning writer who has scripted numerous episodes of ''Prisoner'' and ''Neighbours'', as well as appearing on the shows as a performer. He also originated the character of ...
– who is famous as the Christopher Robin of the Winnie the Pooh books. Milne grew up feeling that his father had stolen his childhood from him, turned a profit from it and then given it back to him in a form he couldn't use. Our Tom is very much in that situation when we first meet him, although we take his identity crisis a fair bit further than that".
Collected editions
The series is being collected into
trade paperbacks
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...
:
Additionally, Vertigo released in September 2013 an original graphic novel called ''The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sank Twice'' (hardcover, ), a standalone story about the origin of Tommy Taylor and his powers.
The story of Tommy Taylor continues in the 12 issue series (also titled Volume 2) of ''The Unwritten: Apocalypse'', started in January 2014 (compiled in collected Volumes 10 and 11).
''The Unwritten'' is also being released in deluxe hardcover editions.
Reception
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the first three issues 8.5, 9.0 and 9.0 out of 10 respectively.
References
External links
Solicitation for ''The Unwritten'' #1*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unwritten
Fantasy comics
Comics by Mike Carey (writer)