“Stories are the only thing worth dying for.”
Welcome to The Unwritten and the magical world of Tommy Taylor, who is definitely not a total ripoff of that other orphan boy-turned-wizard savior you’re probably thinking of. In this first episode, Mike and Alex discuss Volumes 1 and 2 (issues 1-12) of Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ examination of stories and storytelling and our relationship to them, both in the power they have over us and the power we give to them. They dive deep into the storytelling mechanics of the comic and Alex spends an inordinate amount of time talking about lettering (which is super important in comics and too often overlooked; show some respect!). They also talk about how a book can be so very clear to the reader as that what’s it’s doing and yet remain utterly confusing as the what is happening. But stick with it; it all makes sense in the end.
As per usual for these longer series, we won’t be spoiling anything in this episode beyond what is presented in the first two volumes (Mike was only about halfway through the series at the time of recording so he couldn’t spoil much even if he wanted to). Then go pick up The Unwritten Volumes 3 and 4 and join us here next week as we continue to fall deeper into this meta-fiction rabbit hole.