The Unwritten #24

October 17, 2011

Title: Stairway to Heaven

Writer: Mike Carey
Layout: Peter Gross
Finishes: Al Davison
Colorist: Chris Chucky
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover Artist: Yuko Shimizu
Editor: Pornsak Richetshote
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

One of the cool things Mike Carey and Peter Gross are doing with The Unwritten is popping in between longer story arcs to develop the story of Pauly Bruckner, a human who has been transformed into a fluffy white rabbit out of a children’s book and is being forced to journey through the world of stories. In this issue, Pauly finds his way on a seemingly infinite stairwell, where an entire civilization of anthropomorphic animals is climbing upwards through eternity in what seems to be a mad journey towards the top. Pauly, sensing an opportunity, attempts to wrest control of the nation of animals and use it to help achieve his own end – making it back to a familiar world and exacting his revenge on Tom Taylor. Pauly’s story is becoming increasingly brutal and horrific as the series goes along, The things he does to this peaceful civilization are truly appalling, and it makes us really start to root for (what we hope will be) his eventual comeuppance. Contrasting a shocking story is wonderful artwork by Al Davison, over the layouts by regular artist Peter Gross. Davison is really good at crafting characters that look they could have fallen out of any children’s storybook. The same goes for Pauly, in fact, which makes his horrible facial expressions far, far more effective. As much as I enjoy this series as a matter of course, I think this may be one of the best single issues.

Rating: 9/10

The Unwritten #16

September 6, 2010

Title: Dead Man’s Knock: Conversations

Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Peter Gross
Colorist: Chris Chuckry
Letterer: Todd Klein
Cover: Yuko Shimizu
Editor: Pornsak Pichetshote
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo

It’s the eve of the release of the fourteenth Tommy Taylor novel, the one that the public doesn’t know wasn’t really written by Wilson Taylor after all. “Our” Tom Taylor, meanwhile, has finally tracked down his missing father, and is demanding answers. As he gets them, in a way, Lizzie is thrown into an exploration of her own past.

Co-creator Peter Gross recently said that The Unwritten is nearing the end of the “first act” of the longer story he and Mike Carey plan to tell. You certainly get that sensation reading this book. The end is a pretty big surprise, even given everything that’s happened so far, and it doesn’t seem like Lizzie ever will, or can, be the same person she was. Everything has that sense of buildup, of simmering towards a gargantuan conclusion, or at least a plateau from which the next stage of this title will be launched. These characters are interesting, but the world that Carey and Gross have created is entirely engrossing. This is a comic book truly unlike any other that I’ve ever read, and that’s very difficult to do.

Gross displays an uncanny versatility in this book, shifting from the usual style of the “real world” sequences to the world Lizzie is trapped in, which takes on an appearance a bit like a woodcutting, against which she stands in stark contrast. (And props to colorist Chris Chuckry as well, for being able to show that contrast while still keeping the colors fairly muted in this sequence.)

Truly, this is one of Vertigo’s finest titles, and it’s must reading for anyone who loves books, with or without pictures.

Rating: 9/10