The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Ship That Sank Twice
This may be a stand-alone graphic novel, but it’s an indispensable read for anyone who has been following the series so far. Two stories are being told in this volume: One involves Winston Taylor relating the genesis of the first “Tommy Taylor” novel through his journals. The other is the actual story of the book itself. Now, whenever there’s a “great work” at the heart of any story the worst thing the author can do is to actually show it to the reader. Better to let your audience assume the importance of it than to break that suspension of disbelief than show it and have them come to the realization that it’s not all that great. That being said, writer Mike Carey actually pulls off the very difficult trick of realizing the fictional “Tommy Taylor’s” first adventure in a way that makes its success in the story quite plausible.
Granted, it’s not a tale that’s going to supplant “Harry Potter” anytime soon. There are plenty of familiar archetypes, tropes and swipes at work in the character’s origin. The fictional Tommy’s parents sacrificed their lives to not only save the life of their son, but to sink their ship The Demeter and its cargo that wound up being equal parts magical wonder and unspeakable horror. After being saved by a whale, named Leviathan (natch), Tommy is brought to one Shadrach Tulkingthorn, head of the Tulkingthorn Magic Academy, and raised amongst the kitchen staff in ignorance of his heritage. Though without the “spark” to power magic, Tommy nonetheless learns the ways of wizards and becomes close friends with two who do: Sue Sparrow and Peter Price. It isn’t until the “conclave” of wizards decide to raise The Demeter, against Tulkingthorn’s objections, that the reason why the ship had to be sunk as well as the terrible thing Tommy’s parents did to him become known.
You could easily play a drinking game and get completely plastered by the time the book was half over spotting all of the things that Carey has borrowed from Rowling’s series and other fantasy titles. Yet the writer does put some new twists on these things as well. Making Tommy a powerless hero at first is novel, and while we all know that he won’t stay that way his road to getting his spark has some unexpected twists to it. Carey also demonstrates a firm grasp on the old idea of having trivial things from earlier in the story playing key roles much later in the narrative. The protagonist and his friends are also eminently likeable, and that only serves to further involve the reader in the story along with Carey’s witty script.
Though the story here doesn’t appear to have any direct relation to Tom Taylor’s struggle in “The Unwritten” proper, the climax suggests that it may all be a metaphor for what Wilson Taylor is ultimately striving for. His story here serves to break up the narrative of “The Ship That Sank Twice” into a kind of “good parts” version. It’s not as distracting as you’d think as the narrative flows smoothly around these one-to-two-page interludes and getting through the large amounts of text in Wilson’s journal entries winds up building a kind of anticipation to find out what happens next in the fictional story.
Wilson has been established as a real bastard in the pages of “The Unwritten” and his portrayal here isn’t going to get anyone to change their opinion of him. The man’s forceful negotiation of his book deal, the sheer amount of media manipulation he engages in, and his treatment of Tom’s mother Sue in particular serve only to further establish his reputation as a reprehensible human being. Yet there’s a sequence at the beginning of the book, a funny little montage that show his early failed attempts at creating a fantasy masterpiece where he lays out his creative process and stumbles upon the opening lines to his novel. It’s a calculated bit of creative alchemy, but there’s a bit of magic in the way we see it unfold from that sentence into the story proper on the next page.
Yet even though the man is a bastard in many regards, it’s his interaction with Tom that engenders him a measure of sympathy from me at any rate. There’s a moment where he winds up spending more time with his son than he anticipated and wonders about how much of himself is in his son and if he’ll ever forgive him for what he’s doing. We get a bit of retrospective foreshadowing later on where Wilson has a dream of his death and his inability to explain any of this to his son. It’s here that we’re reminded that as these are the man’s journals, we’re experiencing them in much the same way that Tom does. It’s an interesting metafictional touch, that proves disorienting in a remarkable way.
Though he has the monthly title to contend with, Peter Gross also provides the layouts for the art in this graphic novel along with some of the finishes. It’s not said what he was directly responsible for, but all indications point to him handling most of Wilson’s journal entries. Kurt Huggins is the “chief finisher” in this volume (his name is on the cover after all), and for a good portion of the book it looks fantastic. The “Tommy Taylor” sequences have a great feel of high fantasy about them, while the designs for its otherworldly aspects look great on the page.
This remains true for around two-thirds of the volume and then things start going off the rails. Huggins’ linework becomes thinner and appears more rushed before it becomes apparent that other artists had to be brought in to finish this off. The best thing I can say about this situation is that it’s not a trainwreck on the level that “Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland” was. That’s because most of the artists they brought in were quite decent and the story would’ve still been quite readable if they had been able to do it all in their styles. As it is, you’re left feeling that DC felt the need to rush this out to meet its shipping date by any means necessary.
It’s too bad because “The Ship That Sank Twice” deserved better than to be chucked out the door at the last minute. Though new readers won’t know what to make of Wilson’s sequences, “Tommy’s” story is accessible enough to be enjoyed by all. As for existing fans of “The Unwritten,” I can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t want this in their collection. Not only for the insight it provides into Wilson’s character and history, but to actually see one of the stories at the heart of the title put onto the page and turn out better than you’d expect too. Though the series is in a transitional phase right now, with the relaunch coming in January, this volume should prove reassuring in the sense that it shows Carey to have a firm grasp on its history and direction no matter what the situation.