“Unwritten v. 3: Dead Man’s Knock” by Mike Carey
The third graphic-novel collection of DC’s Vertigo series Unwritten v. 3: Dead Man’s Knock by written by Mike Carey and illustrated by Peter Gross, continues the adventures of Tom Taylor, whose father’s books about a Harry Potter-ish boy named “Tommy Taylor” have brought him more trouble than he’d imagined possible. Accused of murder, believed dead, and on the run from a mysterious, story-obsessed cabal, Tom is accompanied by a reporter and a woman named Lizzie Hexam. In this volume we learn more about the cabal, and Tom’s father and mother. One chapter was a (too?) self-consciously clever choose-your-own-adventure tale about Lizzie’s past. This is heady stuff on the magic of stories and their influence. If you’re a fan of stories about stories, like the comic-book series Fables and Sandman, or Jasper Fforde’s novels, I think you’ll like this series. My only complaint is that I have to wait another six months or so for the next collection. I’m hoping all this mystery will eventually pay off, but for now, I’m hooked.
June 12th, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Thank you for reviewing this and Fables this week. I liked the first volume of Unwritten enough to purchase the second, but as my library system isn’t purchasing the series, I was undecided on whether I wanted to make the commitment to the series. They do stock Fables, but it’s just making the time to revisit the series and catch up and maybe read Jack of Fables. Is it necessary to read Jack to understand the later part of Fables?
June 13th, 2011 at 6:44 am
Kerry, I don’t read Jack, and I’m still enjoying the heck out of Fables. I found Jack’s book to be like the character–sexist, boorish and not as funny as he thinks he is, so I stopped reading early on. You could try requesting the library to purchase Unwritten volumes again, citing the many good reviews.