The Unwritten Vol. 1 *UPDATE*
April 11, 2010 | Trades
Christopher Robin Milne really had good reason to loathe his father.
As the lone human featured in A.A. Milne’s 1926 classic, Winnie-the-Pooh, and its 1928 follow-up, The House at Pooh Corner, alongside the titular teddy bear and a slew of other timeless characters, Christopher Robin was thrust into a spotlight that he, by all accounts, grew less and less fond of as he grew up. The unceasing attention and occasional taunts from classmates and the public at large were an unwelcome byproduct of having a fictional character based on a real person.
Now imagine his exquisite hell if he’d lived in the information age.
This is the life of Tom Taylor, protagonist of The Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity (Vertigo, $12.99, 144 pages), a man whose father, Wilson, wrote the most successful series of fantasy novels in history, featuring a boy wizard named Tommy Taylor.
Having spent his first 20-plus years basking in the warm glow of fame, Tom finds himself shunning its scalding spotlight after allegations surface that he isn’t actually the son of the famous author, who disappeared shortly after releasing his final Tommy Taylor book.
Tom could, in fact, be the son of Serbian-English immigrants, “loaned” to Wilson Taylor for promotion of his books and never returned. Or perhaps he’s something more shocking.
After Tom survives an attack by a crazed fan, some among the legions of Tommy Taylor fans begin to suspect there may be a strong connection, perhaps even a magical one, between the real man and his fictional namesake.
The ensuing quest for the truth, courtesy writer Mike Carey and artist Peter Gross, the talented tandem behind Vertigo’s acclaimed series, Lucifer, is inspired and thoroughly compelling. These first few steps on a journey that connects the world of fiction with reality are comic book gold that shouldn’t be missed.
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