The Unwritten #33.5

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

I thought that each of these .5 issues, which are being used to fill in the history of The Cabal, the organization that has been controlling the world's literature and making life difficult for Tom Taylor in the whole number issues of the series, was going to feature artists that are not normally associated with this book.  The first .5 issue had a handful of artists attached to it, but the subsequent ones have mostly just featured art by Peter Gross. 

Now, I'm not complaining.  I've been a fan of Peter Gross since he was drawing Books of Magic years ago, and I especially like him with Vince Locke inking (giving his work a touch of a Guy Davis feel), but I was looking forward to seeing some other artists.  Plus, drawing two issues a month must not be easy on the guy...

Anyway, this issue doesn't feature The Cabal or its members, but instead tells us a story about a soldier and a young girl who plays with puppets.  It is set in Silesia in 1740, a couple of years before most of the land is taken over by Germans.  The soldier, who is billeted at the house of a prominent Prussian family, has the last name of Rausch.  That, and the sight of the girl playing with her marionettes explains just who the girl is, at least to long-time readers of this series.

The soldier takes an interest in the solemn little girl, especially after he discovers that things in that house are not right.  To begin with, strange events begin to happen, such as the self-dismemberment done by the cook.  Also, the girl's father is a monster, as the soldier discovers.

In addition to providing us with a little of Madame Rausch's history, we get a slight glimpse of her connection to The Cabal, or at least to the whale-fish (Leviathan?) that wants to hear her stories.

Carey and Gross continue to do an excellent job with this series.  I'm not sure how much longer the .5 issues are expected to last, or really, how long the series is set to run for, now that Tom is in direct confrontation with the Cabal, but this book has never been more enjoyable.

A History of Violence

Written by John Wagner
Art by Vince Locke

It's pretty much impossible for a comics fan to have read everything.  I saw this recent Vertigo Crime reprinting of the old Paradox Press title A History of Violenceand was more than a little surprised to realize I'd never read it before (nor had I seen the moviedirected by David Cronenberg, despite the fact that I went through a huge Cronenberg phase back in my university days).  I figured it was time to address this - for the book at least, if not the movie.

This is a pretty decent book.  I was a big fan of John Wagner's work on Batman (written with Alan Grant), and have long recognized Vince Locke as having an important place in edgy, intelligent comics.

The book opens in some small town, where a couple of petty crooks decide to hold up Tom McKenna's diner, not expecting McKenna to fight back.  When it's all over, McKenna finds himself a local hero, with his story even making national news.  And this leads to some problems, since McKenna has been living under an assumed name for twenty years, and has been hiding from the mob.

It's not long before a trio of mob enforcers come sniffing around, and McKenna has to confront his past, and tell his wife and children about how he used to live his life.  The family drama stuff is handled very nicely, and it's easy to see why this book was chosen for film adaptation; it has all the pacing of a good Hollywood thriller.

Locke's work is nice, but much looser than I would have expected.  Much of the book looks like Guy Davis penciled it without an inker.  This approach works for most of it, but there are a few scenes where things could have been a little clearer.

The Unwritten #30

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, with Vince Locke

'On to Genesis', the story arc that has explored Wilson Taylor's time working for The Cabal, and his connection to the Golden Age of comics concludes with this issue, and it's another good example of just how strong this comic has become.

When the comic opens, Tom Taylor comes under attack from The Tinker, the comic book hero created by Miriam, Wilson's lover in the 1930s, and the woman he betrayed.  The Tinker is like Tom - a fictional character that somehow has a real life in the real world.  He's really Milton, Tom's half-brother.  They fight for a bit, Frankenstein's monster and the flying cat show up, and everyone has a little cat.  Basically, this issue follows the standard procedure for superhero team-ups.

I like how Tom is maturing throughout the run of this series, and is becoming a much more likeable character.  At the end of this issue, he learns something that causes him to have to step up his game in dealing with The Cabal, which then leads to the next big storyline.

I really like how Peter Gross draws The Tinker in a style that suggests the Golden Age, but is consistent with the look and feel of this comic.  Extra recognition is owed to the letterer, Todd Klein, for using an old-school font for The Tinker's speech.  Cool stuff.

The Unwritten #29

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

The covers of this comic are always nice, but during this latest arc, 'On To Genesis', they have been particularly good.  Last month, cover artist Yuko Shimizu gave us an homage to the Golden Age, and this month designs a wonderful pulp cover that matches what's going on in the story while perfectly evoking the era in which it takes place.

This whole arc has been running very smoothly, as Tom continues to track his father's involvement in the Cabal, and the slowed growth of comics as an art form almost immediately upon the creation of the superhero genre.  It's been clear from the start of the series that Wilson Taylor was never a very good person, and it's interesting to see what choices and events led him to becoming the man he is.

There's a great surprise at the end of the issue, which has me looking forward to next month's chapter.

The Unwritten #28

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

I'm pretty much a month late on this because it somehow got missed at my comic store, which was shorted on their order.

There are some very cool things happening in The Unwritten right now.  As Tom continues to read his father's journals, we are given a lengthy flashback to Taylor Sr.'s time in New York, when he worked for the Cabal.  He's been sent to investigate a Golden Age comic strip called the Tinker.  The cartoonist of this series is a woman writing under a pseudonym, and they quickly fall for each other, forcing Taylor to disobey his orders to kill her.

What's interesting is the substance of their relationship, and the ideas that it is built around.  Miriam Walzer, the artist, is as interested as Taylor in the way in which stories can help construct reality, and they discuss a number of philosophical ideas, which she then incorporates into her strip (I love the Orpheus and Eurydice stuff).

As has become common on this book, the flashback pages are inked by Vince Locke, creating a noticeable difference between the past and present sequences, while maintaining a consistent look to the book.  I found myself when Locke inked Guy Davis on Sandman Mystery Theater back in the day (I really need to read those again - they were great).

The Unwritten #27

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross with Vince Locke

A new arc of The Unwritten, On To Genesis, starts with this issue, and the book starts to explore some new themes.  Tom has been going through his father's journals, which suggest that he was working for Pullmann, the Cabal's chief assassin, back in New York in the 1930s, which doesn't make sense to any of Tom's group.  The journals frequently make mention of an early comic book hero, The Tinker, who predates Superman and who has more than a few similarities to Tommy Taylor, the Harry Potter like fictional character around whom this series is built.

Tom's investigation leads him to the realization that he can conjure images from the past as he reads their description aloud, and we see young Wilson Taylor as he argues with Pullmann that comics are the future of literature, and for the importance of junk culture.  Personally, I don't want to see this series become too concerned with the Golden Age.  I liked that The Unwritten was so aware of literary history, and I feel that enough comics have explored their comic book roots.

Vince Locke has returned to provide finishes for Peter Gross's scenes that take place in the 30s.  I like when he works on the book, as it helps to differentiate flashbacks from the present, while still keeping a consistent look for the comic.  Plus, the man is a great inker.

The Unwritten #23

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Paul Gross and Vince Locke

As the five-part 'Leviathan' arc ends, Tom has a much better handle on things, even if I, as a reader, am a little confused.  Riffing off the whole whale thing, Tom starts to think of Hobbes's Leviathan, a book he's never read before, but we learn in a flashback, has had recited to him while floating in a sensory deprivation tank.

This arc was originally about Tom hunting for the source of all stories, which his father had demarcated with a picture of a whale on his map, and that's more or less where Tom ends up - the source of things.  I should really read that scene over again, as I think some of the nuances slipped past me, as I started wondering whether or not Tom was speaking directly to the reader, or to Mike Carey (I started expecting a Grant Morrison/Animal Man thing).

This issue doesn't check in with any of the supporting cast of this book, allowing the focus to stay squarely on the group in the whale (an amusing bunch).  I wonder if the subplots became the victim of losing two story pages each month...

The Unwritten #22

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

When we last saw Tom, he was stuck in the novel Moby Dick, and had somehow managed to freeze the story around him.  This issue, after yet another cryptic conversation with the Frankenstein monster, he learns how to move between stories with his magic door knob.  You see, the problem before was that he was using the knob on the Pequod, which has only ever been in one story, instead of the sea, which has been in many.

This leads Tom on a bit of a nautical journey, and in short order, we see him travel to Sinbad's story in the Arabian Knights, and we meet Baron Munchhausen.  It seems that stories can become interconnected, and it is possible for Tom to move between them, although it's not known how that can lead him home.

While this is all going on, his two friends are still in the clutches of that weird puppet master guy, who is used to deliver a few hints as to where the series is going, and what certain characters will say when we get there.

I'm more interested in this book than ever, as I like the way that Carey is dropping Tom into and out of different classic novels.  The addition of Vince Locke to ink the 'novel pages' is brilliant, and has injected new life into the book's appearance.

The Unwritten #21

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, with Vince Locke

'Leviathan', the Moby Dick-inspired latest story arc continues with this issue, as Tom finds himself trapped in Melville's enormous novel, and his friends in the real world meet the creepy puppeteer that's been poking around the title for a few issues.

By far the most interesting parts of this comic are the ones set in the novel (the decision to have Vince Locke do the finishes for those pages was a very wise one - it signals to the reader where we are, and looks great).  Tom does not understand why Captain Ahab appears to be his father, and his attempt to confront him on that matter doesn't go well, although it does lead to an interesting conversation with Frankenstein's monster in the hold of the Pequod.

The best issues of Unwritten have been the ones that are most concerned with famous stories, and I think that's why this one is working well for me.  Tom is beginning to figure out some of the abilities he wields, although he still does not understand his purpose.

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.

The Unwritten #19

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross with Vincent Locke

With the last arc finished, and the interlude issue out of the way, Tom and his friends seem to be in the position of having to refocus and move the comic in a new direction.  They are 'walking the map', whatever that means, as Tom continues to follow the path that his father, Wilson, had left for him.

This brings Tom to Massachusetts, specifically to Herman Mellville's home, for reasons that have yet to make themselves clear.  Tom bones up on his Moby Dick, while Lizzie makes a surprising move, and Savoy figures out why he hasn't been feeling well.

Meanwhile, Pullmann, the Cabal's assassin and black ops operative, has a strange and portentous conversation with a Gepetto-like character.  I'm not sure where this section is supposed to lead, but it seems that, with Callander dead, there needs to be a new public face of the Cabal.

I like this series a lot, but I sometimes can't help feeling that Carey is just taking us around in circles some of the time, as much of this issue seems familiar.  I got a kick out of seeing Vincent Locke doing the inks on a few pages - he's an artist I've always admired but whom we haven't really heard from in ages.