The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice (2013)

Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice (2013)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrator: Peter Gross | Page Count: 160

"You mustn't touch the box."

A standalone comic book prequel to The Unwritten that functions as a dual origin story for scheming fantasy author Wilson Taylor's two special projects: the Tommy Taylor™ novels and Wilson's actual son Tom Taylor.

The Tommy side of things makes up the bulk of the work and is like reading a standard fantasy comic book. The Tom side of things is slotted in-between the other. One of them is passable, but both have their problems.

Firstly, the 'boy-wizard at wizard school' story is as dull as it sounds. In the original The Unwritten series the Tommy character was as bland as Hollywood - it was solely the juxtaposition with Tom that gave him anything of value. That juxtaposition is in its infancy herein, which means Tommy has almost nothing interesting to say.

The contrivances that author Wilson Taylor has for his son's cognitive development are more noteworthy, but Wilson's words are presented mostly as lengthy journal entries in a difficult to read cursive font. The use of such fonts isn't a new thing for the series, it was used in the very first volume of the collected editions, but the problems that I had with it then are the same ones that I have with it now: it has a counterproductive effect on the narrative flow and it's not an exaggeration to state that I absolutely hated it.

In the end, TT and the Ship That Sank Twice has an advantaged boy-wizard story that I feel is boring, and a 'real-world' manipulative father story that has the majority of its potential ruined by a well-meaning but inefficacious stylistic choice. It doesn't help that the important parts of what's presented had already been revealed in a more dramatic manner in the series proper.

Thankfully, the story isn't an essential part of Tom Taylor's journey and you can enjoy The Unwritten by reading its original eleven volumes only, should you choose to do so.

The most successful aspect of the book for me is the artwork; it's uneven and patchy at times, but when it's good it's more pleasing and textured than the parallel story-lines themselves.

And because I don't do it nearly often enough, here's a shout out to the often unsung helpers, listed finishers Kurt Huggins, Al Davison, Russ Braun, Shawn McManus, Dean Ormston, and Gary Erskine; and colourists Zelda Devon, Al Davison (again), Chris Chuckry, Eva de la Cruz, and Jeanne McGee, all of whom added their skills to Peter Gross' original pencil lines.

And a special Fuck You! to the comic store employee that put the sticky 'removable' bar code on the book's inside cover, the only part of the publication that isn't coated paper. It made a hell of a mess coming off. Smart move, Einstein. Please advance to the front of the asshole queue.