The Unwritten: Volume 05 (2012)

On to Genesis (2012)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrator: Peter Gross | Page Count: 144

"There was a woman I loved, once. And she died. I have no idea when that happened. If it ever did."

Tom Taylor has uncovered a small part of his past and is beginning to understand the nature and power of 'the source'. But there's a second, more personal question still unanswered: who or what actually is Tom Taylor?

The concatenation of mysterious events that have led him to where he is now, in NY, hunted by the Cabal, stretches back further than he ever thought (or feared).

In order to progress further, Tom, with help from his two travelling companions, must learn more about his father, the author Wilson Taylor, a man for whom Tom has very mixed feelings. They say the best way to truly understand a man is to walk in his shoes, an action that for Wilson's son isn't an impossible thing to do literally.

But unearthing an individual’s past — especially when it’s someone who went to great lengths to keep his private life secretive — isn't an immediate process, nor an exact science; the book recognises that, so there's some running around, speculative conversations and deductive reasoning at play, all of which slows the narrative down. It's not boring, but it's not as fast-paced as what came before.

The sojourns into the past are played out on the page, relived in real time, coloured in lighter, less moody tones, like a movie of old (versus a modern one), with a slight analogous palette that wordlessly characterises the time period. There's a Noir slant to the storytelling then, too, performing the same function for the protagonists' state of mind.

A second thematic device runs alongside, which is that of comic books, specifically the medium's Golden Age, when men had superpowers and women needed saving. The two have very little in common on the surface, but author Mike Carey creates a situation in which both are relevant.

And yet, as enjoyable as its clever devices are, On to Genesis feels a little drawn-out at times.

The book collects together The Unwritten, issues 25-30.

Individual covers. Click for FULL size: