Written by Mike Carey
Illustrated by Peter Gross and Vince LockeCut off from his friends and trapped in a novel with a tragic ending, Tom confronts Captain Ahab, tries his hand at grand theft narrative, and meets a monster. But this isn’t any kind of monster he was expecting!
The Unwritten is on a real hot streak, and with this current arc kicking into high gear, expectations are reaching a whole new level. Can Team Unwritten meet them with issue #21?
Find out after the jump.
“The Unwritten” is a very challenging book but an intelligently designed book. When reading it, you are given two things mostly: questions and things that expand those questions to greater depths. To date, the answers have been few and far between, but like “Lost,” the answers aren’t really the important. The journey is.
And the journey has been masterfully told, as Mike Carey and Peter Gross tell their story at an elegant and thoughtful pace. Each story beat is given its own space, letting them breathe and take on their own life in readers minds. Moments like the sunset in the opener, Lizzie and Savoy’s vampire discussion, the Villa Diodati flashback, and most importantly, the incredible ending, are powerful parts that are only escalated in greatness thanks to the execution and pacing of this team.
Throw in the terrifying villain Carey and Gross have been building up in recent issues and have now fully rolled out, and you’ve got a book that is firing on all cylinders from a written and plotting standpoint.
Gross’ art is excellent as well, but I’ve been concerned by the amount of issus that have had other artists’ laying finishes over his pencils. While in this issue, Vince Locke gives the Moby Dick sections a nice, sketchy overtone, the earlier arcs were arguably stronger visually. Still, it’s a joy to look at, and it’s a fun book to look around the corners to pick up details that may amplify the story in some way (I found myself rather enamored by Tom’s pajamas in the flashback sequence).
Artistically, I’d be remiss in my duties as a Yuko Shimizu fanboy to not say that I once again loved her cover. She’s a phenomenal talent, and someone who is providing some of the most unheralded work in the industry.
This is a clever and hyper intelligent book, and something that is on the highest of tiers for comics in general, not just Vertigo books. This is another really nice entry into this series, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
