The Unknown #20

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

I find myself going back and forth with this book a lot.  I really like the concept and some of the ideas behind this title, but I have not fully embraced it yet.  Then, an issue like this one comes along, which is very nicely balanced, and I start to wonder why I don't hold this book in higher esteem.  Also though, the issues like this one serve to reveal why some of the other issues don't work so well.

Gross is working on a big canvas with this book, one that encompasses just about all of the history of the written word, and he has a lot to keep straight.  In this month's installment, Tom gets it on with Lizzie, and then goes to Mobyfest, where he ends up inside Melville's famous novel.  This alerts the Cabal to his presence, and they send in the creepy marionette guy we met last issue (I love the trick Gross pulls off on his pages).  Also, Savoy continues with his transformation, and a previously dead character makes an appearance.

The plotting and dialogue in this issue is particularly tight, and I liked the way that Vince Locke only provided inks on the pages that are set within Moby Dick - it gives them a different feel from the rest of the comic, and makes it easier to tell where we are visually, without disrupting the flow of the book.