The Unwritten #1 – 18

Cover via Amazon

Imagine if your mum was JK Rowling, only she was your dad and she called you Harold Potter (although I don’t know why she wouldn’t call you Harold Rowling), and then she disappeared and everyone in the world kept mistaking you for Harry Potter to the point where you couldn’t stand it anymore because you obviously aren’t a fictional character, unless, you know, weird stuff starts happening and maybe you are.

Well, if you can imagine that and you like the sound of it, then why not read The Unwritten?  I bought the first 18 issues from Comixology as part of the Vertigo sale a few weeks ago, based largely on good reviews and an interesting premise.  Fortunately, it’s much better than the poor, yet basically accurate, description I’ve just given of it

Tom Taylor makes a living appearing at book signings and conventions as the “real life” Tommy Taylor – the hero of a more successful version of Harry Potter written by his father.  Tom hates being associated with Tommy but doesn’t have the wherewithal to make a living any other way – his father having disappeared a decade earlier – so he just about grins and bears it.  That is until claims about his parentage and a kidnapping by a deranged fan see him become embroiled in a series of increasingly bizarre encounters.

The focus of the story is not actually whether Tom is really Tommy (even when it looks possible that he might be) but about the nature of how stories affect the nature of reality, and the shadowy organisation that seeks to use stories to bend history’s course to its will.

The Unwritten is written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Peter Gross (who covered similarish territory on Books of Magic).  I’ve not really read much of Carey’s other work, but I’ve rapidly become a fan.  Reading these comics (also collected in 3 paperbacks) reminded me just how much I love the form.  You couldn’t quite imagine this story working as well in any other medium.  Issue 17, for example, was a fully-functioning “choose your own adventure” story which helped to perfectly illustrate one of the main character’s fractured personality.  It was an ambitious move that could only be pulled off by a writer at the top of their game.

I don’t want to say too much about the plot for fear of spoiling it, but The Unwritten is highly recommended.