Hey, That's My Cape!: 'The Unwritten'

Posted at 9:30 AM Jan 13, 2010

By Jill Pantozzi

​[Dolls, meet Jill. She's the gal behind Has Boobs, Read Comics, and also has boobs, has written for us before. She's back!]

Welcome to a new feature here on Heartless Doll we're calling "Hey, That's My Cape!" No, we won't be discussing the pros and cons of poncho fashion (as lengthy as those lists may be), we're talking comic books. After coming up with the title, I find it amusing that the first thing I'm writing about doesn't involve superheroes at all but an intense trip through the jungles of literary history.

From Vertigo Comics, The Unwritten appeared on almost everyone's lists for best new comics of 2009, and I'd have to agree. I don't take in too much non-superhero fare in my weekly trip to the local comic shop, but Mike Carey and Peter Gross' tale pulled me in immediately. I'd seen a preview of the first issue in another Vertigo book, and although it looked like a blatant rip-off of Harry Potter, it had the kind of twist I couldn't ignore. Something else I couldn't ignore? The one-dollar price tag. Sold!


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I'd say The Unwritten is based in our world, but things get a little murky as the series goes on. In the comic, Tommy Taylor is a worldwide-known fictional character from a 13-book series about wizardry. In the books, all named "Tommy Taylor and the...", he's got two best friends, Peter Price and Sue Sparrow, and an evil nemesis named Count Ambrosio. The books were written by a man named Wilson Taylor whose son, Tom Taylor, was the inspiration for the series. 20-some-odd years later, Wilson is missing, and Tom is a poor drunk stuck signing autographs at London conventions. It's at one of these cons a graduate student named Lizzie Hexam questions Tom's identity. It leads to a massive backlash against Tom and the book series. Some see him as a fraud, while others see the unfolding events as proof that Tom Taylor is a messiah and the real deal.

All of that would be enough for a grossly engaging comic book series, but Carey doesn't stop there. News reports, eyewitness accounts and message board chats are scattered throughout the story creating a world as diverse and obsessed as our own. Also injected into the story are legitimate literary references and characters. A whole issue is dedicated to Jungle Book author Rudyard Kipling. A little odd at first, but Carey weaves the scribe's real career and life story into his own. For a very long time now, there's been a powerful organization pushing their hidden agenda through the success of various authors (Oscar Wilde also makes a guest appearance) and they can literally make or break you. Now, they're after Tom.

The first five issues of The Unwritten have been collected into graphic novel format, also known as trade paperbacks (TPB) to us geeks, and issue #9 hits stores today. Vertigo very graciously provides the first issue of most of their books for free download on their website. You can check out The Unwritten #1 here. I recommend picking up the book to anyone who enjoys boy wizards or hates boy wizards and bibliophiles who are looking to stretch the boundaries of their English-Lit Major brains.