Comic Review: The Unwritten, Volume 5 – On To Genesis

This week I’m continuing with Volume 5 of The Unwritten.

Title: The Unwritten, Volume 5 – On to Genesis
Written & Illustrated by Mike Carey & Peter Gross
Published by DC Comics under the Vertigo Label
Publication Date: January 17th, 2012

Available from Amazon.com

The Premise

While in New York to check out the auction of Wilson Taylor’s estate, Tom & Company discover the first superhero comic, and its connection to Wilson, Tom, and in turn, Tommy Taylor

High Points

This volume is the series “This s*** just got real” moment. This also provides a bunch of information on the Cabal, how they operate, and how they have achieved their goals in the past.

Low Points

I can’t help but think that for being the real power behind the Cabal, Pullman’s actions in this volume are a complete and total liability. Pullman is a blunt instrument, and he’s good at doing that, he never shows the nuance needed to keep an organization like this going (and secret) for as long as it has. One would think that a Tommy Taylor would have sprung up far earlier.

Content Notes

Contains nudity and some violence.

Scores

Originality: The concepts we learned about the setting last volume tie in nicely with this one. 4/6

Story: The story of The Tinker, and his creator, is very interesting and well written. 5/6

Artwork: The artwork takes a step up here, by combining 3 different art styles – the standard art for the modern portions of the narrative, one for the portion in the 1930s, and a third for The Tinker. 6/6

Characterization: We get some development for Wilson (and for Pillman),a nd the creator of The Tinker is also written very well. 5/6

Emotional Response: The last portion of this volume has the biggest “holy crap” moment in the series thus far. 6/6

Flow: 6/6

Overall: This is the best volume of the series thus far. 6/6

In total, The Unwritten – Volume 5 gets 38/42.

One reply

  1. RE: Low Points

    Secret cabals, in fiction and, frankly, in the more extreme conspiracy theories, frequently fail the believability test on these grounds alone. For another graphic novel example, consider Strangers in Paradise, an excellent series that started going seriously off the rails the further it ran with over-the-top conspiracies run by people who couldn’t keep a surprise birthday party secret.

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