The Unwritten
The Unwritten is an American comic book ongoing series written by Mike Carey[1] with art by Peter Gross.[2] Published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics,[3][4][5][6] the book follows Tom Taylor, who was the inspiration for a series of hugely successful children's fantasy novels in the vein of Harry Potter. The series deals with themes related to fame, celebrity, and the relationship between fiction and human consciousness.
| The Unwritten | |
|---|---|
 Cover to The Unwritten #1 by Yuko Shimizu. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Vertigo |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Contemporary fantasy |
| Publication date | October 2009 – January 2015 |
| No. of issues | 71 (#1–54, #31.5–35.5, Apocalypse #1–12) |
| Main character(s) | Tom Taylor |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Mike Carey |
| Artist(s) | Peter Gross Yuko Shimizu (covers) |
| Letterer(s) | Todd Klein |
| Colorist(s) | Chris Chuckry Jeanne McGee |
| Editor(s) | Pornsak Pichetshote |
| Collected editions | |
| Volume 1 | ISBN 1-4012-2565-9 |
| Volume 2 | ISBN 1-4012-2873-9 |
| Volume 3 | ISBN 1-4012-3046-6 |
| Volume 4 | ISBN 1-4012-3292-2 |
| Volume 5 | ISBN 1-7811-6050-3 |
| Volume 6 | ISBN 1-4012-3560-3 |
| Volume 7 | ISBN 1-4012-3806-8 |
| Volume 8 | ISBN 1-4012-4301-0 |
| Volume 9 | ISBN 1-4012-4694-X |
| Volume 10 | ISBN 1-4012-5055-6 |
| Volume 11 | ISBN 1-4012-5348-2 |
Inspiration
Mike Carey, in an interview with Nicholas Yanes from scifipulse.net, claimed that "the most important reference point is the autobiography of Christopher Milne – who is famous as the Christopher Robin of the Winnie the Pooh books. Milne grew up feeling that his father had stolen his childhood from him, turned a profit from it and then given it back to him in a form he couldn’t use. Our Tom is very much in that situation when we first meet him, although we take his identity crisis a fair bit further than that."[7]
Collected editions
The series is being collected into trade paperbacks:
| Title | ISBN | Release Date | Collected Material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity | ISBN 1-4012-2565-9 | January 12, 2010 | The Unwritten #1–5 – 144 pages |
| Volume 2: Inside Man | ISBN 1-4012-2873-9 | August 11, 2010 | The Unwritten #6–12 – 168 pages |
| Volume 3: Dead Man's Knock | ISBN 1-4012-3046-6 | March 29, 2011 | The Unwritten #13–18 – 160 pages |
| Volume 4: Leviathan | ISBN 1-4012-3292-2 | October 25, 2011 | The Unwritten #19–24 – 144 pages |
| Volume 5: On to Genesis | ISBN 1-78116-050-3 | January 27, 2012 | The Unwritten #25–30 – 160 pages |
| Volume 6: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words | ISBN 1-4012-3560-3 | October 17, 2012 | The Unwritten #31–35.5 – 240 pages |
| Volume 7: The Wound | ISBN 1-4012-3806-8 | March 26, 2013 | The Unwritten #36–41 – 144 pages |
| Volume 8: Orpheus in the Underworlds | ISBN 1-4012-4301-0 | February 4, 2014 | The Unwritten #42–49 – 176 pages |
| Volume 9: The Unwritten Fables | ISBN 1-4012-4694-X | July 29, 2014 | The Unwritten #50–54, crossover with Fables – 144 pages |
| Volume 10: War Stories | ISBN 1-4012-5055-6 | October 14, 2014 | The Unwritten: Apocalypse #1–5 – 128 pages |
| Volume 11: Apocalypse | ISBN 1-4012-5348-2 | May 25, 2015 | The Unwritten: Apocalypse #6–12 – 176 pages |
Additionally, Vertigo released in September 2013 an original graphic novel called The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship that Sank Twice (hardcover, ISBN 1-4012-2976-X), a standalone story about the origin of Tommy Taylor and his powers.
The story of Tommy Taylor continues in the 12 issue series (also titled Volume 2) of The Unwritten: Apocalypse, started in January 2014 (compiled in collected Volumes 10 and 11).
The Unwritten is also being released in deluxe hardcover editions.
| # | Title | ISBN | Release date | Collected material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Unwritten: The Deluxe Edition Book One | ISBN 1-4012-6543-X | December 14, 2016 | #1–12 |
| 2 | The Unwritten: The Deluxe Edition Book Two | ISBN 1-4012-7506-0 | December 27, 2017 | #13–24 |
References
- Ekstrom, Steve (March 26, 2009). "Life as Fiction? Mike Carey on Vertigo's 'The Unwritten'". Newsarama. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Arrant, Chris (May 18, 2009). "Peter Gross: The Art Side of 'The Unwritten'". Newsarama. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Arrant, Chris (February 27, 2009). "PMike Carey & Peter Gross on Vertigo's 'The Unwritten'". Newsarama. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Renaud, Jeffrey (March 29, 2009). "UNWRITTEN: Mike Carey & Peter Gross". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Renaud, Jeffrey (March 31, 2009). "UNWRITTEN: Mike Carey & Peter Gross II". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Hautain, Frederik (May 13, 2009). "Unwritten Ties Between Reality and Fiction". Broken Frontier. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
- Yanes, Nicholas. "Comics Interview: UK Writer Mike Carey on His Career to Date". Scifi Pulse. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2016.CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- "The Unwritten". IGN. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
External links
- Solicitation for The Unwritten #1
- The Unwritten at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)