Graphic Novel Review: The Unwritten 1 — Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity by Mike Carey and Peter Gross

The life of Tom Taylor is falling apart. He’s a failing actor, failing musician, failing novelist. As his slick, slightly devilish and way too knowledgeable personal manager points out, “Nothing seems to stick.” Tom is also the son of an extremely famous novelist, the writer of the successful book series featuring the fictional boy wizard Tommy Taylor (obviously inspired by the real Tom as a child), much like Harry Potter, only way more successful.

The fact that our real Tom is completely identified by the millions of fans worldwide with the fictional Tommy doesn’t help at all in Tom’s growing crisis of identity. Attending the annual fantasy convention, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans could get downright humiliating for Tom, considering he’s just riding his father’s success; but as pointed out — again, by his personal manager, “It’s steady money.”

Tom’s famous father disappeared over a decade ago, never to be seen again. To make things even weirder, a series of strange events accumulate in the annual fantasy convention. These involve the appearance of a crazy fan pretending to be the evil vampire Count Ambrosio from the books and a young student named Lizzie Hexam who publicly exposes new disturbing information concerning Tom’s very existence: Tom's bogus social security number, false childhood photos and Bosnian immigrants who claim to be Tom’s real parents.

As circumstances roll downhill from confusing to dangerous — from fans worldwide believing Tom is indeed magical Tommy, to kidnappings, murders and all sorts of supernatural craziness — Tom decides to enroll in his own private investigation to shed new light on his origins, and also try to separate — or is it integrate?  — fantasy from reality.

The Unwritten is the new ongoing comic series by Mike Carey, who seems to take special liking to the genre of supernatural mystery, leaking into contemporary daily life, usually set in London. Carey is a real master of the written word — he creates believable dialog, While intelligent and sophisticated, he never overdoes sarcasm or drama. He always maintains a graceful simplicity, even when using up-to-date foul language.

Article Author: Eilonvi

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