The Unwritten vol. 2: Inside Man

This second volume of the adventures of Tom Taylor, who may be the real-life incarnation of the wildly popular fantasy literature character Tommy Taylor, finds him in a French prison awaiting trial for the mass murder he was framed for at the end of volume one.  In said prison he encounters the usual colorful cast of inmates as well as a blogger journalist, a warden with two kids who REALLY love Tommy’s stories, and Frankenstein himself.  Trust me it all makes sense when you read it, and that’s an impressive achievement for a book with so nebulous a focus as exploring how fiction affects us and vice versa. 

While some things aren’t as clear as I’d like at this point (such as why Tom’s enemies want him dead and what their goals are, anyway) they don’t detract so much from the story at hand because writer Mike Carey does a great job of defining his cast and making them into well-rounded characters.  Furthermore, when his ideas do connect you can’t help but come away impressed at how he managed to convey them.  He’s also aided immensely by artist Peter Gross who displays supreme confidence whether he’s drawing a prison riot or a ghostly incarnation of Nazi Germany.  Or even a foul-mouthed rabbit running riot through what are essentially faux-Beatrix Potter stories.  That last story is key because as weird or as brainy as this series can get, it shows that the creators know when a little irreverence can be applied to good effect.