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UNWRITTEN #1


Price: $1.00
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 6.6%

Reviews

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changingshades05/15/09YesRead Review
odare7705/14/09YesRead Review
cyberauron05/14/09NoRead Review
TehDave05/14/09YesRead Review
Templar05/14/09YesRead Review
TheNextChampion05/13/09NoRead Review
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Avg Rating: 4.3
 
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Comments

  1. Avatar photo Andrew says:
    May 11, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    Oooh! The preview for this looked pretty compelling and at $1.00 I am excited to jump on this.

  2. Avatar photo ckl says:
    May 11, 2009 at 6:02 pm

    Mike Carey was speaking about this at the Bristol Comic Con this weekend, and they handed out an ash-can which looks good – heavily influenced by the Harry potter phenomenon, although he promises it’ll take in a much wider range of literature.

    Worth a look, I reckon! 

  3. Avatar photo Slockhart says:
    May 11, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    Hmmm, I have no idea what the description is trying to say, but its 40 pages for a buck!

  4. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    May 11, 2009 at 6:18 pm

    At first I skipped the preview for this.  Then I read it and was pretty interested.  $1 for 40 pages solidifed the fact that I would give it a shot.

  5. Avatar photo Aquaman says:
    May 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm

    isent this suppose to be vertigos next big thing?

  6. Avatar photo kwisdumb says:
    May 11, 2009 at 7:25 pm

    The previews looked fantastic, and I’m super excited for this. Hopefully it’s great and truly is Vertigo’s "next big thing" as the premise seems like it could go quite a few places.

  7. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 11, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    If my shop gets this; I’ll get it a try. Hey it’s a $1, all first issues (no matter what company) should be a dollar.

  8. RyanHoyt says:
    May 11, 2009 at 7:49 pm

    Never heard of this til now, but it sounds AWESOME!

  9. Rustyautoparts says:
    May 11, 2009 at 9:02 pm

    Yea, I caught wind of this while I was browsing around a week or so ago. I read the preview, and I would pay full price for this. I really hope it is the next big thing. God knows I need another monthly title to pay for 😉

  10. Avatar photo leigh says:
    May 11, 2009 at 10:33 pm

    while I hated the stupid preview being in the end of 100 Bullets(it diminished the ending but giving the illusion that there were more story pages to come). I did actually like the look of this book

  11. Avatar photo Chris Rohling says:
    May 11, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    I think the concept is intriguing and the 1 dollar pice tag is cheap enough for me to see if the excecution is good enough.

  12. Avatar photo WinTheWonderboy says:
    May 11, 2009 at 10:50 pm

    The concept is just so wonderfully perfect! I forgot to ad it to my pull-list. I hope my LCS doesn’t sell out, I wont be able to get my books till saturday. 

  13. Avatar photo balsalm says:
    May 11, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    I read the preview in the final issue of 100 Bullets, it was nice. You can’t beat that price.

  14. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 11, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    Why cant new series or #1’s always have a $1 price tag? Think of how many new readers could come in if they see that price.

  15. edward says:
    May 12, 2009 at 12:09 am

    @Aquaman: i’m sure they hope every new title is the next big deal. i’m looking forward to the Greek Street series far more than this. Peter Milligan > Mike Carey.

    does vertigo really need to publish another book about the weird existtentional nature of storytelling? haven’t they done that already with Sandman and Fables?

    do something new Vertigo, found the next Y-the last man or Scalped. stop going back to the meta-physical well.

    having said that, yeah, i’ll buy this

  16. Avatar photo evil09 says:
    May 12, 2009 at 1:59 am

    I’ll buy this comic book due that the this saga is getting so awesomely famous.

  17. Avatar photo WadeWilson says:
    May 12, 2009 at 5:27 am

    This doesn’t sound like something I’d be into, but 40 pages for a dollar? They can try to win me over.

  18. Avatar photo JumpingJupiter says:
    May 12, 2009 at 5:38 am

    My goodness that’s a huge sollicit!

  19. Avatar photo JonCrites says:
    May 12, 2009 at 9:54 am

    This is the first Vertigo book I have ever got on with the first issue. It says it is the first part of a four part story, will it be an ongoing after that?

  20. Avatar photo deadspace says:
    May 12, 2009 at 10:36 am

    Yeah it’s ongoing.

  21. Avatar photo roadcrew1 says:
    May 12, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    I will be purchasing this book based on an interview in Comic Book News of all places.  I had read the solicit when it was first put out and was like "Maybe I’ll try the trade if the iFanbase talks it up."  Then after the interview, I couldn’t wait for this book. 

  22. Avatar photo CGPO says:
    May 12, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    I’ll check this out, even though it will more likely be two bucks or at best a buck fifty up here. 😛

     @edward – I hear you, it seems Vertigo is trying to recapture some old early 90’s glory or something by the number of horror-fantasy books they seem to be putting out (not just the Fables series, but Madame Xanadu and even now this and Greek Street).   But still, if it’s good, then who cares.  It’s when they start putting out one bad fantasy comic after the other that we should get worried.

  23. edward says:
    May 12, 2009 at 5:26 pm

    @CGPO: i agree if it’s good than who cares.

    However, these stories about fictional characters coming to life and exploring the nature of storytelling just seem self-serving. a way for the author to make little digs at other’s characters and pat themselves on the back for "getting" it, understanding the structure of storytelling…. and Vertigo keeps doing it

     

    anyway, i’m down. Vertigo is still leaps and bounds ahead of most publishers

  24. Avatar photo CGPO says:
    May 12, 2009 at 7:09 pm

    @edward – "anyway, i’m down. Vertigo is still leaps and bounds ahead of most publishers"

    Agreed, they’re easily my favorite publisher.  I’ve always seen Fables kind of as Sandman-lite, and sad that Vertigo is kind of milking its popularity (spin-offs, going on after the main story-line ends, and has anyone noticed you pay more for a Fables and Jack trade then any other Vertigo trade with the same number of issues?).  And this has of course led them to produce more fantasy-esque stuff as I listed above.  It would be nice that they put out some more stuff outside that box, like Scalped and Unknown Soldier.  And I’m sure they will.  Also, I really don’t want to see Willingham and Sturges writing anymore books.  Seriously Vertigo, they write enough stuff. 😛 

  25. Avatar photo ShonenRafa77 says:
    May 12, 2009 at 7:53 pm

    Oy, that description IS totally long, but I’m actually really, really excited about this. Aside from a few issues of SANDMAN, the first FABLES trade, and the first HC volume of Y, I’ve never read much Vertigo. In fact, this’ll be the first time I buy a single issue of an ongoing Vertigo title; I sure hope it’s awesome!!!

  26. Avatar photo skeets says:
    May 12, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    I was a big fan of Crossing Midnight, here’s hoping Carey gets to stick with this for a while. There’s no excuse for not picking this issue up.

  27. Anonymous says:
    May 13, 2009 at 12:47 pm

    I thought the first issue was pretty good. I will be picking up the second issue for sure.

  28. Avatar photo s1lentslayer says:
    May 13, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    Well my store didn’t have this. Oh well.

  29. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 13, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    Considering I gave this a 3…..it’s weird that it’s rated 7…

    This was okay. I didnt find anything special on it. It rips off, I mean a homage to Harry Potter

  30. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:
    May 13, 2009 at 3:18 pm

    If you dismiss this as a Harry Potter ripoff or homage, you’re missing the point entirely. Not calling it perfect, but that’s not what it’s doing.  

  31. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 13, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    @Paul: Well then I clearly missed the point. Cause all I saw was a knock off of Harry Potter and Fables.

  32. Avatar photo Aquaman says:
    May 13, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    did not have in my shop!! No comicfortress! whhyyyyyyyy??

     

  33. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:
    May 13, 2009 at 3:57 pm

    They directly address the fact that the story-within-the-story is a knockoff of Harry Potter, which is a trend within YA publishing in the real world. This parody is only one aspect of the story. The Fables comparison is tenuous. There are countless books about superheroes or mercenaries. No reason there can’t be another book that explores fictional characters come to life. Especially when the concept and execution are entirely different.  

  34. Avatar photo magnum240 says:
    May 13, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    @TNC I don’t think they’re trying to fool anybody with the Harry Potter similarities.  At least they’re not trying to hide the springboard for their idea, that would be sad.  Otherwise I agree with you, good but not great.  Good enough that i’ll pick up the first trade for sure. 

  35. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 13, 2009 at 4:08 pm

    Even if they do address the fact this is a knockoff of Harry Potter; the original story here just isnt interesting enough for me. No real deep look into the chracters, and the action that is in the book is drawn out and written poorly. I still would want to try this would in trade eventually. But in my eyes it was a poor first issue….which is rare for a Vertigo book.

    Even still the art (except for the fighting bits) were pretty good. Given that this was talking heads most of the issue.

  36. Avatar photo cutty says:
    May 13, 2009 at 6:31 pm

    I’ll give Vertigo a lot of credit here.  I picked it up just because of the pricetag, and now I’m most likely in for at least the first arc.

    They’re doing the same thing with Greek Street in June.  What a great business model

  37. edward says:
    May 13, 2009 at 6:32 pm

    you know, it’s also a play on the fact that A. A. Milne based the character of Christopher Robins on his actual son in the Winny the Pooh books. Agruing that this is a simple derivative rip off of Harry Potter is pretty myopic.

    @Paul: i realise that there are numerous Superhero books in the comics market but a feel like sighting Orsan Welles’ story about the scorpion and the bear – that’s just the nature of things. However, does it not seem like the folks at Vertigo are recycling the Fictional character becoming self-aware concept? Animal Man, Fables, Sandman and i’m sure there are other titles i’m not aware of. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just a thing

  38. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:
    May 13, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    I think it goes with the territory of cognitive science and god science being hot button issues in today’s culture. I just look at meta fiction as another branch of science fiction (literature or the communal concept of literature is another frontier like outer space or alternate dimensions). You can do it well or you can do it poorly. Personally, I think it’s interesting stuff. I don’t know if this particular story was something that could have been done previously because the magnitude of the cult around Harry Potter is pretty rare. 

    As for it being a "pat on the back"….All writing is a pat on the back. I’d hope that writers think they’re clever and that they have some kind of insight worth sharing. Otherwise they’re wasting my time as a reader. If you look at thins kind of story as another kind of speculative fiction or fantasy, it’s just saying "Did you ever think of this?" Which is kind of cocky, but a lot of the time it’s kind of worth asking.   

  39. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 13, 2009 at 7:45 pm

    I just think it’s weird Vertigo is doing two comics with almost the same premise. Except that Fables is about classic myths/stories going into the real world. While this comic takes a look at a certain type of story that’s merging with the real world.

    But then again I guess you could say all superhero books are kinda the same thing. You just need interesting characters and stories to make them unqiue.

  40. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:
    May 13, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    A fable and a "classic myth" are two different things.  

    Your second graph is right on.  

  41. Avatar photo TheNextChampion says:
    May 13, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    @Paul: Doesnt Fables have both Grimm Fairy Tales and classic mythological character in them? That’s what I was getting at.

  42. Avatar photo drakedangerz says:
    May 13, 2009 at 11:48 pm

    I enjoyed it.  $1 well spent.  I’ll give the next issue a shot

  43. Avatar photo jerichobp says:
    May 14, 2009 at 1:31 am

    Well, this was pretty good, even if I was a little taken out by the main guy going along with everything that was happening to him at the end so easily. But I’ll definitely be getting issue #2

    @edward

    Just to comment on your saying this is about a fictional character becomming self-aware, I know it’s too early to tell, but my impression was that it wasn’t just a fictional character becomming aware of himself in his fictional setting (a la Animal Man), but a fictional character becomming so believed in that he somehow becomes corporeal in the real world. In which case, I guess the Sandman comparison is pretty apt. Then again, I might be dead wrong about the concept.

  44. Avatar photo kwisdumb says:
    May 14, 2009 at 3:03 am

    This was really, really great. 4 or 5 stars all the way, I’m leaning 5 right now.

    Can’t wait to see where it goes.

  45. Avatar photo ScorpionMasada says:
    May 14, 2009 at 10:34 am

    Shakespeare was doing the metatheatrical thing long before Sandman and Fables.

    What a bunch of hacks.

    I’ve read Sandman and Fables and this story did not feel the same.

  46. Rustyautoparts says:
    May 14, 2009 at 10:57 am

    I’m in love with this book.

  47. Avatar photo ShonenRafa77 says:
    May 14, 2009 at 11:46 am

    I started reading this DEAD-TIRED last night after a long day and it actually managed to pull me out of how tired I was and had me riveted.

    I LOVED IT!!! 

     Can’t wait to see where it goes next! l:D

  48. Avatar photo CGPO says:
    May 14, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    I quite liked it.  Anyone complaining about the whole Harry Potter thing is just looking for something to complain about.  I think it’s fitting as this title would be a great vehicle for Carey to look at the whole Potter phenomenon and the idea of something being believed in so much that it becomes real.  It reminded me of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, which is about a horror writer whose books sell more that The Bible and thus his books start becoming reality as more people believe in those.  So really, you could complain that this is a rip-off of Carpenter’s movie, which I’m sure has also been done before, rather than using the Harry Potter excuse.  The Harry Potter-esque character is merely there for us to relate to, seeing as those books have sold so many and the boy in spectacles is also a common character (it even states that, citing Neil Gaiman’s Books of Magic and even Gaiman will say he took that type of character from somewhere else).  It isn’t so much where Carey gets his ideas from, but where he goes with them and this looks quite promising.  I’m definitely in.

  49. Avatar photo bobdoad says:
    May 14, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    dug it. dug it a lot.

  50. edward says:
    May 15, 2009 at 6:00 am

    what the fuck does a peace symbol turned on it’s side mean?

  51. Avatar photo Urthona says:
    May 16, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    Art was very uninspired.  And the villain?!!  C’mon, that was ridiculous.  Dropped.  Painful.

  52. Avatar photo Crippler says:
    June 4, 2009 at 2:06 pm

    This was simply amazing.  I’m really glad my LCS re-ordered issue #1.  I picked it up this week and was blown away.  It really has nothing to do Harry Potter and everything to do with the meta-narrative that society creates to explain the world.  That particular topic gives me a mental stiffy.  I cannot wait to see where this book goes. 

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