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The Unwritten. Is it unread?

Printhead

13:40 / 29.06.10

I'm enjoying it thoroughly, and have a hope that someone else out there likes it as much as I do.

It started with a fanfare of publicity:- as good as or better than Lucifer being the gist of it, and with the understanding, which I shared, the Lucifer was good.

I enjoy the juxtaposition of Pottering about with strange acts of violence, and it's desire to education.

I'm a little distracted by the 5th issue being a different narrative, but love these better on subsequent readings, particularly the Kipling / Twain issue, and I have a sense these are going somewhere, and will lock together as the work develops.

It has the feel of something which is still developing, and I have expectations of a future which will be lost if no one is reading it. So am I alone in this?

DavidXBrunt

05:27 / 30.06.10

You are not alone.

I've been buying The Unwritten since just after it started, when the positive reviews of ish one hit the press. I'm a smidge behind you because I buy my comics mail order and they skipped issue 9. I have the subsequant issues but keep forgetting to ask them to send that one. However I'm intending to re-read the early issues in the next few days and will post a few specific thoughts on them after I've refreshed my memory.

It's one of the few titles that both I and my partner read. Partly because she had the chance to jump in from issue one but also because the concept really appealed to her and the writing was good enough to keep her interest.

rakehell

14:12 / 01.07.10

Really enjoying it as well. One of the only recent Vertigo books (I haven't read that many, I have to admit) that does a lot of the good things the early V books did, but in a new way - unlike Greek St, which is the first Milligan book I've given up on. (I have to single out Sweet Tooth as another Vertigo winner.)

I like the slow burn of it, that it's not afraid of being a bit confusing and deliberately obfuscatory. Reading a book and wondering WTF is going on can be frustrating or entertaining and this book is written well enough and reveals just enough for my guesswork to be enjoyable - and often rewarding when the truth is revealed.

I've only read up to issue 8 and this thread remiinds me to go and read the most recent issues lying in the pile.

Printhead

08:23 / 02.07.10

I am doubly reassured.

I'm also not up with the latest issues, and wait for the 5 issue cycle to come round.

There are 4 issue runs of main sequence story with every 5th issue being an exploration of the literary geography that underpins the whole thing; thus issue ten explores the Childe Rolande story, which is set in the Spanish-French borders, in which the detention centre Tim is (mis)located in is.

This worries me a bit. It seems to be the sort of project that might die early because it is best read in bigger than monthly chunks. Because it is good, and that goodness includes some very high brow literary stuff as well as witty violence, "Post modern slasher fic played mainly for laughs" being one of my favourite lines.

Sublime Pathos

19:25 / 28.11.10

Been with this series from issue 1 and currently at 17. It's still going strong and I'm looking forward to see where it goes. I enjoy the concept, I enjoy the characters, I enjoy the artists Mike Carey has on board.

I did get into this comic because of Lucifer. I had read the entire series and tout it up there with Sandman and Hellblazer. My only problem in making a comparison between this work and Mike's work on Lucifer and Hellblazer is story pacing and density. The Unwritten is paced out more like you would find an arc in Fables rather than the smaller contained arcs of Lucifer, Sandman, and of course Hellblazer with it's constantly shifting authors. Not that this detracts from the work, it just puts it in a different category from Lucifer.

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