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The Unwritten
The Unwritten, Vol. 9: The Unwritten Fables
The worlds of Fables and The Unwritten collide in the epic comic event by Mike Carey and Bill Willingham!
Tommy Taylor is thrust into the world of Vertigo's hit series Fables! But a dark and terrible foe has seized the fairy-tale homelands and our world. In desperation, the witches of Fabletown gather to summon the greatest mage the worlds have ever seen. But they are in for an unpleasant surprise.
Collecting: The Unwritten 50-55
Tommy Taylor is thrust into the world of Vertigo's hit series Fables! But a dark and terrible foe has seized the fairy-tale homelands and our world. In desperation, the witches of Fabletown gather to summon the greatest mage the worlds have ever seen. But they are in for an unpleasant surprise.
Collecting: The Unwritten 50-55
144 pages, Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
11 people are currently reading
953 people want to read
About the author
Mike Carey
1,267 books2,970 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
Mike Carey was born in Liverpool in 1959. He worked as a teacher for fifteen years, before starting to write comics. When he started to receive regular commissions from DC Comics, he gave up the day job.
Since then, he has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics, writing storylines for some of the world's most iconic characters, including X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, LUCIFER and HELLBLAZER. His original screenplay FROST FLOWERS is currently being filmed. Mike has also adapted Neil Gaiman's acclaimed NEVERWHERE into comics.
Somehow, Mike finds time amongst all of this to live with his wife and children in North London. You can read his blog at www.mikecarey.net.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 222 reviews
May 17, 2023
Oh no they didn't? Yes! No way? Yes way. Welcome to the The Unwritten / Fables crossover! I read the comic books The Unwritten 50-54. Even with Fables creators Bill Willingham and Mark Buckingham co creating it's underwhelming, don't get me wrong it's OK, but I kind of wanted more from such a crossover... right? 6 out of 12, Three Stars.
2017 and 2015 read
2017 and 2015 read
May 22, 2017
I don't know very much about Bill Willingham's Fable world, so I have no idea if this is part of an ongoing story that was happening in his title, or if this was just a What If kind of deal. Either way, it was (for me) cool.
The entire thing takes place in the Fables' setting and not Tom's world, so if you're like me, you're gonna miss a lot of inside jokes. Well, I'm assuming you will, but since I have no idea who the hell any of those characters are, I'm just stabbing at clowns in the dark with that statement.
Anyway. Shit happens and Tom turns into Tommy. <--boy wizard extraordinaire!
Ok, I don't know who the creepy vampire guy was, but he was an awesome villain! Plus, there was this whole storywithinastorywithinastory thing happening that was a bit mind-boggling when you stop to think about it.
Then again, I'm easily boggled, so maybe it was just me?
Now about that ending...
One minute I'm trying to figure out who all these characters are in relation to what's happening with Tom/Tommy's battle against the freaky vampire with the receding hairline, and the next thing I know {somebody spoilery's} eating children and {somebody spoilery's} blowing a magical horn and then...!
What the fuck was that?!
Obviously, I will need to read on...
The entire thing takes place in the Fables' setting and not Tom's world, so if you're like me, you're gonna miss a lot of inside jokes. Well, I'm assuming you will, but since I have no idea who the hell any of those characters are, I'm just stabbing at clowns in the dark with that statement.
Anyway. Shit happens and Tom turns into Tommy. <--boy wizard extraordinaire!
Ok, I don't know who the creepy vampire guy was, but he was an awesome villain! Plus, there was this whole storywithinastorywithinastory thing happening that was a bit mind-boggling when you stop to think about it.
Then again, I'm easily boggled, so maybe it was just me?
Now about that ending...
One minute I'm trying to figure out who all these characters are in relation to what's happening with Tom/Tommy's battle against the freaky vampire with the receding hairline, and the next thing I know {somebody spoilery's} eating children and {somebody spoilery's} blowing a magical horn and then...!
What the fuck was that?!
Obviously, I will need to read on...
June 16, 2015
(Avast, ye scurvy scalawags…here there be spoilers.)
My brain hurts.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it’s not the first time brain pain has resulted from reading The Unwritten (and yes, it sounds weird every time I type that phrase; (alert—self-deprecating author “joke” forthcoming) someday, I’m going to write The Unread, though one might argue I’ve already done that with The Camelot Shadow: A Novel—hey-oh!). I’m not going to bother with an extensive plot summary because, if you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with The Unwritten and, if you’re not, you’re not going to want to jump in on Vol. 9 (though I suppose you could be a Fables devotee/completist, in which case I’d still recommend you read The Unwritten from the get-go to have the context for this volume).
I made a comment as I was reading that this volume read more like a Fables tale than an Unwritten story, but I take that back…it was very much an Unwritten story, even though most of the characters were Fables characters and the action took place in the Fables world. Which, of course, means it was equal parts brilliant and maddening.
If you’ve read my reviews of previous volumes of The Unwritten, you’ll know that I think the concept is brilliant, but the execution doesn’t always live up to the high concept. In this volume, that high concept rose to dizzying heights. Let’s see if I can make sense of that. Tom Taylor, in an effort to find Leviathan and help heal the rift caused by Pullman harpooning the gargantuan meta-beastie, lands in the Fables world, a world where all of the characters we tell stories about in our world (that is, the world in which I live as I type this) exist in a sort of magical pocket reality within our own reality. He was summoned there by the magic users amongst the Fables, led by Frau Totenkinder (more like Frown Totenkinder with that permanent sourpuss...can I get another “hey-oh!”?), as they cast a spell intended to bring them a powerful wizard to aid them in their hopeless fight against Mister Dark.
Didn’t I say no plot summary? Fine, I’m a recalcitrant asshat. Bear with me for another moment.
Totenkinder realizes that Tom can’t help them…and so she works some hocus pocus to transform Tom into Tommy Taylor, boy wizard, and flanks him with his besties, Sue and Peter. The precocious trio join the Fables in the fight against Dark, though to little avail—he proceeds to maim, mutilate, and massacre our heroes, even going so far as to sic a revenant Boy Blue on them. (I confess that I was NOT thrilled with that development…Boy Blue is one of my all-time favorite comic characters, and, like Stinky, I vow that this besmirchment of his hallowed name shall not stand!)
I won’t spoil the ending, but, suffice it to say, this really functions more like an Elseworlds or What If?-type story…it doesn’t have any impact on the Fables universe, and the Big Guy Up Above, Mike Carey, and Mike Carey’s hairstylist are the only ones who know what this portends for the next chapter of The Unwritten.
Why, then, does my brain hurt? Because now Leviathan connects all stories across ALL worlds. It’s not just the classics in the public domain; it’s also the worlds-within-worlds-within-worlds created by someone like Bill Willingham, who expanded upon fables from our world—which may or may not be consistent with the fables of Tom Taylor’s world—and wove together a tapestry of interconnected worlds and realms where the fables themselves were but bit players, entire universes stretching beyond our own…and that’s just the work of one man. And now that Tom Taylor finds himself wandering through those worlds, what’s next? Does he stumble upon Frank Miller’s Superman/Batman throwdown in The Dark Knight, or perhaps meet Christian Bale’s Batman in Batman Begins? Perhaps he does a do-si-do with Kevin Bacon in the world of Footloose. Or, maybe he just cops a feel on Miss Piggy (who doesn’t love bacon?) while getting a nooner from Betty, Veronica, Ginger, and Mary Anne all at the same time.
The point is, literally ANYTHING is possible going forward (well, subject to all due licensing restrictions and appropriate permissions being obtained by the Vertigo legal staff).
And that’s why my brain hurts. I have no earthly idea where this is going, and I love it.
Bring it on, Carey and Gross…just let me pop some ibuprofen first.
My brain hurts.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it’s not the first time brain pain has resulted from reading The Unwritten (and yes, it sounds weird every time I type that phrase; (alert—self-deprecating author “joke” forthcoming) someday, I’m going to write The Unread, though one might argue I’ve already done that with The Camelot Shadow: A Novel—hey-oh!). I’m not going to bother with an extensive plot summary because, if you’re reading this, you’re probably already familiar with The Unwritten and, if you’re not, you’re not going to want to jump in on Vol. 9 (though I suppose you could be a Fables devotee/completist, in which case I’d still recommend you read The Unwritten from the get-go to have the context for this volume).
I made a comment as I was reading that this volume read more like a Fables tale than an Unwritten story, but I take that back…it was very much an Unwritten story, even though most of the characters were Fables characters and the action took place in the Fables world. Which, of course, means it was equal parts brilliant and maddening.
If you’ve read my reviews of previous volumes of The Unwritten, you’ll know that I think the concept is brilliant, but the execution doesn’t always live up to the high concept. In this volume, that high concept rose to dizzying heights. Let’s see if I can make sense of that. Tom Taylor, in an effort to find Leviathan and help heal the rift caused by Pullman harpooning the gargantuan meta-beastie, lands in the Fables world, a world where all of the characters we tell stories about in our world (that is, the world in which I live as I type this) exist in a sort of magical pocket reality within our own reality. He was summoned there by the magic users amongst the Fables, led by Frau Totenkinder (more like Frown Totenkinder with that permanent sourpuss...can I get another “hey-oh!”?), as they cast a spell intended to bring them a powerful wizard to aid them in their hopeless fight against Mister Dark.
Didn’t I say no plot summary? Fine, I’m a recalcitrant asshat. Bear with me for another moment.
Totenkinder realizes that Tom can’t help them…and so she works some hocus pocus to transform Tom into Tommy Taylor, boy wizard, and flanks him with his besties, Sue and Peter. The precocious trio join the Fables in the fight against Dark, though to little avail—he proceeds to maim, mutilate, and massacre our heroes, even going so far as to sic a revenant Boy Blue on them. (I confess that I was NOT thrilled with that development…Boy Blue is one of my all-time favorite comic characters, and, like Stinky, I vow that this besmirchment of his hallowed name shall not stand!)
I won’t spoil the ending, but, suffice it to say, this really functions more like an Elseworlds or What If?-type story…it doesn’t have any impact on the Fables universe, and the Big Guy Up Above, Mike Carey, and Mike Carey’s hairstylist are the only ones who know what this portends for the next chapter of The Unwritten.
Why, then, does my brain hurt? Because now Leviathan connects all stories across ALL worlds. It’s not just the classics in the public domain; it’s also the worlds-within-worlds-within-worlds created by someone like Bill Willingham, who expanded upon fables from our world—which may or may not be consistent with the fables of Tom Taylor’s world—and wove together a tapestry of interconnected worlds and realms where the fables themselves were but bit players, entire universes stretching beyond our own…and that’s just the work of one man. And now that Tom Taylor finds himself wandering through those worlds, what’s next? Does he stumble upon Frank Miller’s Superman/Batman throwdown in The Dark Knight, or perhaps meet Christian Bale’s Batman in Batman Begins? Perhaps he does a do-si-do with Kevin Bacon in the world of Footloose. Or, maybe he just cops a feel on Miss Piggy (who doesn’t love bacon?) while getting a nooner from Betty, Veronica, Ginger, and Mary Anne all at the same time.
The point is, literally ANYTHING is possible going forward (well, subject to all due licensing restrictions and appropriate permissions being obtained by the Vertigo legal staff).
And that’s why my brain hurts. I have no earthly idea where this is going, and I love it.
Bring it on, Carey and Gross…just let me pop some ibuprofen first.
December 31, 2014
Fair warning: Spoilers.
I don't read many superhero comics, but I am aware of the concept of a crossover.
That's when two different comics with their own characters and storylines suddenly meet in the same comics (or they show up in each other's comics.)
This isn't the same as a character showing up for a quick guest star appearance. It involves the two stories interacting in significant ways. (At least in theory.)
Volume 9 of Unwritten is the Unwritten/Fables crossover.
On the surface, you'd think this would be right up my alley. I love fables. I love Unwritten. They're both stories about stories. They both involve mythic characters becoming real and interacting with our world. It seems like a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. Rather than bringing in cool new elements to the Unwritten story, it pulled me entirely *out* of the story I was reading, and dropped me into Fables instead. So it was effectively an entire book that had nothing to do with the ongoing story.
Making matters worse, at the end of this crossover, in order to keep the big bad from winning and taking over the multiverse, Tommy blows his magic horn and unmakes the world. Effectively making it so the entire crossover never actually happened.
I read the end of it just shaking my head, wondering how so many creative people I love and admire could conspire to tell a story that could be summed up as "then they all woke up, it was just a dream."
I expect that people who read more superhero comics would have enjoyed it much more. Or people who read comics issue-by-issue as they come out in the store.
But for me, it felt like it was an entire book that had nothing to do with the story, and was then instantly retconned out of existence anyway.
Very frustrating.
I still like the series. I'm still going to finish it. But you can simply skip this book and you won't miss anything.
I don't read many superhero comics, but I am aware of the concept of a crossover.
That's when two different comics with their own characters and storylines suddenly meet in the same comics (or they show up in each other's comics.)
This isn't the same as a character showing up for a quick guest star appearance. It involves the two stories interacting in significant ways. (At least in theory.)
Volume 9 of Unwritten is the Unwritten/Fables crossover.
On the surface, you'd think this would be right up my alley. I love fables. I love Unwritten. They're both stories about stories. They both involve mythic characters becoming real and interacting with our world. It seems like a match made in heaven.
Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me. Rather than bringing in cool new elements to the Unwritten story, it pulled me entirely *out* of the story I was reading, and dropped me into Fables instead. So it was effectively an entire book that had nothing to do with the ongoing story.
Making matters worse, at the end of this crossover, in order to keep the big bad from winning and taking over the multiverse, Tommy blows his magic horn and unmakes the world. Effectively making it so the entire crossover never actually happened.
I read the end of it just shaking my head, wondering how so many creative people I love and admire could conspire to tell a story that could be summed up as "then they all woke up, it was just a dream."
I expect that people who read more superhero comics would have enjoyed it much more. Or people who read comics issue-by-issue as they come out in the store.
But for me, it felt like it was an entire book that had nothing to do with the story, and was then instantly retconned out of existence anyway.
Very frustrating.
I still like the series. I'm still going to finish it. But you can simply skip this book and you won't miss anything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2018
yeah quick question why the fuck
ok, but seriously, what even was the point of this volume? maybe i would have enjoyed it more if i had read any of fables [i did read jack of fables for awhile because i have to do everything wildly out of order] but i haven't so the whole time i'm just sitting here going ??? i mean if they really wanted to write a crossover then whatever, but don't market it as a real volume in the overall story, just have it be a special oneshot or something. there is absolutely nothing of any narrative value here and it's doubly disappointing to me because i've come to love carey's graphic novels specifically because they generally don't contain stupid gimmicks like this. [sigh] hopefully he can pull it together a bit for the ending ...
ok, but seriously, what even was the point of this volume? maybe i would have enjoyed it more if i had read any of fables [i did read jack of fables for awhile because i have to do everything wildly out of order] but i haven't so the whole time i'm just sitting here going ??? i mean if they really wanted to write a crossover then whatever, but don't market it as a real volume in the overall story, just have it be a special oneshot or something. there is absolutely nothing of any narrative value here and it's doubly disappointing to me because i've come to love carey's graphic novels specifically because they generally don't contain stupid gimmicks like this. [sigh] hopefully he can pull it together a bit for the ending ...
April 27, 2014
I was really looking forward to this, a mixture of two of my favorite comics. But it really doesn't work. I'm not sure why, exactly, but the story doesn't help matters, re-booting recent events in the Fables universe to a different outcome (really, the way Mr. Dark was originally written, it was hard to believe he could be so easily beaten in the first place, but why bring him back if you really don't have a satisfying way to resolve this particular storyline a second time around?). This isn't a satisfying story for readers of either series, but The Unwritten really gets short shrift here--this is a Fables story, with a few Unwritten characters shoehorned in. Carey and Willingham should have sat down and worked this out in more detail before foisting this half-written and half-realized nonsense on the reading public. There are so many options, so many better ways this could have gone down. I just hope this isn't the last Unwritten collection, as that series really deserves a better wrap-up. I'd say the same goes for Fables, too. A big disappointment.
January 2, 2016
This installment is a crossover with the Fables comics which I haven't read. Despite that, I didn't experience any confusion with the crossover characters, even while wondering about their backgrounds, for example why Snow White (sister of Rose Red) is married to the big bad guy. If the first battle scene had gone on longer than it did, I would've been bored, but it turned out to be the perfect length.
September 22, 2022
More of an ending to Fables, possibly, than to Unwritten—as illustrated by their being two more additions. I liked it very much all the same as I’m a huge fan of that series as well. It really does feel like it ought to have all been in that line though, since the pertinent details to Our boy here could be abbreviated in a summary, as appears in the start of the next volume. I expect this is a somewhat polarizing issue. Maybe Fables had a crossover with more Unwritten in it than Fables? I really don’t remember. But it does make me want to reread Fables, tbh…
January 14, 2016
Okay, first of all, what the hell has been going on in Fables while I've been away? Shit is MESSED UP. Second of all, this was way more of a Fables story than it was an Unwritten story, and it was a clunky Fables story at that.
I haven't checked in with Fables in years, and the last one I read was Vol. 6, Homelands. That ended in a very, very different place than this one began in, but it's not hard to get into the groove of what's going on. In fact, they go out of their way to make sure you know what's going on, exposition so expositiony it's even called out by the characters. That call-out is meant to make it okay, hang on a lamp on it if you will, but it's still awkward and I don't think it worked very well. I also found all of the Fables characters to be uninteresting in the context of this story. I was reading The Unwritten, and I wanted The Unwritten, but what I got was mostly under-cooked, confusing Fables.
The premise of the whole shebang is that in the midst of trying to get to the source of all story, Tom is pulled into the Fables world by magic, where the last of the surviving Fables are holding off against Mister Dark, who has enslaved the world, corrupted and married Snow White (and her children) and holds Bigby Wolf captive. Many of the Fables are dead, and more die with every encounter. They cast a spell to pull a powerful wizard in to their world, one who can save them all. What they get is Tom, and they are very disappointed by him. Frau Totenkinder pulls Sue and Peter in as well, and suddenly Tom is Tommy. Things don't go very well, and it's not actually very fun to read about even when it is working as a story.
But aside from the clunky dialogue, exposition, and the way the worlds and tones of the stories just fit poorly together, the whole thing is moot anyway, because the book ends with Tommy (Also, Buckingham's art suffered in comparison to Peter Gross's, especially where The Unwritten characters were concerned.) The only thing we learn is that everything, all story worlds, exist in Leviathan. Including maybe our own.
I wasn't as disappointed by this as some people were, but it's by far the worst book of the series. It was a good idea in theory to put two stories about stories together, but it didn't work very well in execution.
I haven't checked in with Fables in years, and the last one I read was Vol. 6, Homelands. That ended in a very, very different place than this one began in, but it's not hard to get into the groove of what's going on. In fact, they go out of their way to make sure you know what's going on, exposition so expositiony it's even called out by the characters. That call-out is meant to make it okay, hang on a lamp on it if you will, but it's still awkward and I don't think it worked very well. I also found all of the Fables characters to be uninteresting in the context of this story. I was reading The Unwritten, and I wanted The Unwritten, but what I got was mostly under-cooked, confusing Fables.
The premise of the whole shebang is that in the midst of trying to get to the source of all story, Tom is pulled into the Fables world by magic, where the last of the surviving Fables are holding off against Mister Dark, who has enslaved the world, corrupted and married Snow White (and her children) and holds Bigby Wolf captive. Many of the Fables are dead, and more die with every encounter. They cast a spell to pull a powerful wizard in to their world, one who can save them all. What they get is Tom, and they are very disappointed by him. Frau Totenkinder pulls Sue and Peter in as well, and suddenly Tom is Tommy. Things don't go very well, and it's not actually very fun to read about even when it is working as a story.
But aside from the clunky dialogue, exposition, and the way the worlds and tones of the stories just fit poorly together, the whole thing is moot anyway, because the book ends with Tommy (Also, Buckingham's art suffered in comparison to Peter Gross's, especially where The Unwritten characters were concerned.) The only thing we learn is that everything, all story worlds, exist in Leviathan. Including maybe our own.
I wasn't as disappointed by this as some people were, but it's by far the worst book of the series. It was a good idea in theory to put two stories about stories together, but it didn't work very well in execution.
February 22, 2023
'The Unwritten Fables'? More like 'Fables Unwritten', and that's where the problem resides...
I had read the first volumes of 'Fables', and it is indeed a great series, full of magic and so original; though I'm not sure I like the Snow White twist, whenever that happened, and I still enjoy far more 'The Unwritten'.
This crossover would have been ok as an afterthought, something that wasn't an actual part of the series that we are focusing on here, but just a fun stand-alone. As it is, it was completely unnecessary, and kind of a waste of time.
The art was beautiful, at least...
I had read the first volumes of 'Fables', and it is indeed a great series, full of magic and so original; though I'm not sure I like the Snow White twist, whenever that happened, and I still enjoy far more 'The Unwritten'.
This crossover would have been ok as an afterthought, something that wasn't an actual part of the series that we are focusing on here, but just a fun stand-alone. As it is, it was completely unnecessary, and kind of a waste of time.
The art was beautiful, at least...
December 5, 2014
Ugh. Short review, anytime Fables crosses over with something else, skip it. You won't miss anything.
Are you a Fables fan who wants more of Mister Dark or wants to see Snow White go Morticia for no good reason? Are you an Unwritten fan who wanted to see little Tommy and Sue have a grown up adventure of their own? If either of these applies to you, maybe you'll enjoy this volume. I could not. The Fables elements of the story (which is about 75% or more of the content in this volume, despite not being the top billing) takes the characters I once loved further into unsympathetic and arbitrary territory. The Wound storyline of Unwritten is twisted into a parallel universe device that saps the series conceit of most of its cleverness. This is a fan service detour I wish I'd stayed away from.
Are you a Fables fan who wants more of Mister Dark or wants to see Snow White go Morticia for no good reason? Are you an Unwritten fan who wanted to see little Tommy and Sue have a grown up adventure of their own? If either of these applies to you, maybe you'll enjoy this volume. I could not. The Fables elements of the story (which is about 75% or more of the content in this volume, despite not being the top billing) takes the characters I once loved further into unsympathetic and arbitrary territory. The Wound storyline of Unwritten is twisted into a parallel universe device that saps the series conceit of most of its cleverness. This is a fan service detour I wish I'd stayed away from.
February 19, 2022
I don't know what's so fun about taking beloved characters, corrupting them (in Snow White's and the cubs' case, to a ridiculous extreme), mangling them, and killing them off, taking an entire book to do it, and then saving the last couple of pages to cancel it all out with a do-over.
I'm giving this 2 stars instead of 1 because I liked the crossover idea. I pretty much hated every second of the story, but I kept reading in hopes that things would somehow turn out right in the end or that this whole scenario would be explained. The way they righted things was cheap, and it just made me mad.
Just seemed like the authors got bored and wanted to do some damage for damage's sake.
It wasn't fun to read, and what they did to the characters was criminal.
I'm giving this 2 stars instead of 1 because I liked the crossover idea. I pretty much hated every second of the story, but I kept reading in hopes that things would somehow turn out right in the end or that this whole scenario would be explained. The way they righted things was cheap, and it just made me mad.
Just seemed like the authors got bored and wanted to do some damage for damage's sake.
It wasn't fun to read, and what they did to the characters was criminal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2014
... That hole in Leviathan's belly really did confuse the "stories", as Tom finds himself in the middle of Alternative Timeline FABLES. A turbulent timeline with Mr Dark alive & well, SnowWhite as his Queen and other god-tier Fables coming to pay tribute...
Unfortunately this volume is a rather mediocre Fables adventure, and downright boring Unwritten story
The biggest question is what in the world happened to Snow in this timeline to make her this way?? All other Fables seem to be their usual selves, but she's a total 180 of what she is. This has nothing to do with Tommy's story, has no consequences anywhere else, but dammit do I wanna know what could have possibly happened there!
Unfortunately this volume is a rather mediocre Fables adventure, and downright boring Unwritten story
The biggest question is what in the world happened to Snow in this timeline to make her this way?? All other Fables seem to be their usual selves, but she's a total 180 of what she is. This has nothing to do with Tommy's story, has no consequences anywhere else, but dammit do I wanna know what could have possibly happened there!
May 17, 2016
Yeah, totally not for me. This is far more a Fables story than an Unwritten one, which makes it a very long digression for me. I haven't read Fables in years, since volume 6 or so, and this is set well after that. And I gather that this is basically an AU for Fables, too, so the whole thing seems somewhat less than necessary.
February 23, 2015
I should start by saying I'm not keen on crossovers. However, i'm willing to take a punt if the concept or authors are good enough. I like Carey and love Willingham, so this was an easy decision to make.
The story is a little difficult to unravel if you aren't reading both comics (I'm not reading Unwritten) but follows the arrival of a man into another world. The man travels through stories and finds himself in the universe inhabited by The Fables from the comics of the same name.
That man, upon arriving, is coaxed into another form by the most powerful magic user in the Fables universe, as she believe he will be more useful to the war going on in that form.
What follows is a bunch of scrapping, mystery and wild proclamations, along with an appearance from a greatly missed Fable.
For being a mix of two comics, it was put together well. The jumps between different artists didn't jar and I enjoyed the story arc.
My main complaint was not being sure whether what occurred in this book related to the main Fable storyline. I need to go back and reread the Fables from the same time period to get my head around it all, though that's very much a personal gripe.
I did, however, love the blatant rip off of Harry Potter, complete with wonderfully wordy spells.
More of a 3.5 than a 4.
The story is a little difficult to unravel if you aren't reading both comics (I'm not reading Unwritten) but follows the arrival of a man into another world. The man travels through stories and finds himself in the universe inhabited by The Fables from the comics of the same name.
That man, upon arriving, is coaxed into another form by the most powerful magic user in the Fables universe, as she believe he will be more useful to the war going on in that form.
What follows is a bunch of scrapping, mystery and wild proclamations, along with an appearance from a greatly missed Fable.
For being a mix of two comics, it was put together well. The jumps between different artists didn't jar and I enjoyed the story arc.
My main complaint was not being sure whether what occurred in this book related to the main Fable storyline. I need to go back and reread the Fables from the same time period to get my head around it all, though that's very much a personal gripe.
I did, however, love the blatant rip off of Harry Potter, complete with wonderfully wordy spells.
More of a 3.5 than a 4.
Read
October 30, 2013Weird. A crossover with the tiresomely unkillable Fables (now the highest-numbered comic published by either DC or Marvel, would you believe) which takes place entirely in the pages of The Unwritten, yet does much more to progress the main plot of Fables. As an Unwritten reader I found the Fables stuff easy enough to follow, because if there's one thing for which you can rely on Fables it's obviousness. But I feel a bit sorry for Fables readers who could easily miss out on this altogether, and even if they don't will have characters from another series plunging in as a deus ex machina. Still, from what Fables I slogged through, I can only presume they're easily amused.
August 3, 2014
Carey pulls off a neat trick here, writing an alternate-universe Fables tale that feels *almost* pitch-perfect for Willingham's universe. It's a wonderfully epic story, and though it doesn't have the character moments that Willingham's own writing would, it's still stand-out. The Unwritten part of the tale is equally interesting, even if it's mostly what you read between the lines. Tom and Tommy both make for interesting characters, but it's the ending that really shines. I'm looking forward to where it goes from here!
January 22, 2014
Whaaaaat the hell happened?
September 18, 2015
Tom Taylor has a guest role in the worst Fables-story ever... not exactly what I was waiting for.... what a piece of crap. Grmbl...
December 23, 2017
Tommy Taylor has been separated from his friends and is desperately trying to find a way back to them. He also needs to stop the ancient adversary, Pullman, from killing the legendary Leviathan once and for all, but is waylaid on his journey when the various witches and magical personages of Fabletown attempt to summon the greatest mage the worlds have ever seen, in order to stop the menace threatening their own realms. Tommy is pretty sure he's not the person they're looking for, but it's clear that the remaining (and rapidly decreasing) citizens of Fabletown need all the help they can get, and he's not really in any position to refuse.
Many years ago, I was given the first volume of Fables as a Christmas present by my husband. I read and enjoyed the comic for several years, but eventually got fed up with it not seeming to go anywhere interesting (and Bill Willingham's statements that he didn't really have an end in sight anywhere soon). According to my records, Fables, Vol. 10: The Good Prince was the last one I read, back in 2008, after having skipped vol 9 altogether (not sure why, but I bet it's because I'd heard negative things about it). I didn't really start reading The UnwrittenThe Unwritten until 2010, so when discovering that volume 9 of that comic was going to be a crossover with Fables and furthermore that said crossover was disappointing to a lot of long time readers of The Unwritten, I pretty much just stopped reading the comic.
I just checked - it took me 3 years and 8 months between reading The Unwritten, Vol. 8: Orpheus in the Underworld (early August 2014) until I finally picked up and read The Unwritten Fables (late November 2017). If I hadn't recently seen author Mike Carey at a small fantasy and sci-fi convention in Oslo, talking about the final parts of his series, in addition to the fact that I have a LOT of comic books/graphic novels to get through by the end of December if I want to complete my Graphic novel reading challenge, I may just have let the final three volumes languish unread on the shelves.
Now, since it was so long since I last read about Tommy Taylor, and his friends Lizzie and Richie and all of the others, I didn't feel quite the same annoyance of being taken out of their world and being thrust into the Fables universe, where things have clearly moved on a LOT since I last read that series. A malevolent creature calling himself Mister Dark has brainwashed and married Snow White and is raising her many children, while they keep Bigby Wolf locked up in a dungeon and are systematically trying to wipe out all the remaining Fable characters, with rather a high success rate.
Summoning a great magician is their last hope, and let's just say most of them are not happy when Tommy Taylor shows up instead of some legendary saviour. Meta fiction is always an important part of the Unwritten comics, and there's quite a bit of discussion about what's real and what's fiction and whether our real world, where Tommy originates, is just another work of fiction (which in terms of The Unwritten being a narrative created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross is indeed true), but mostly the six issues collected in this trade are just rather grim and seem to have been an excuse for Bill Willingham (the creator of Fables) to kill off a lot of beloved characters without any serious long-term consequences.
I also much prefer Peter Gross' art style to that of Mark Buckingham, and it was strange to see Buckingham draw Carey's characters. I can absolutely see why this is the lowest-rated of all the volumes in The Unwritten, and don't regret having waited so long to read it. I'm sure it was a lot of fun for the writers and artists to collaborate on a project, but in the end it seemed rather meaningless and more gimicky than anything else.
Judging a book by its cover: Peter Gross tends to draw really cool covers, and on this one, we get Tommy blowing a golden horn (this is a rather significant story point). The New York cityscape going up in flames suggests the danger to "our" world posed by the happenings in the Fables world, but of all the various covers for this comic, this is not all that remarkable.
Many years ago, I was given the first volume of Fables as a Christmas present by my husband. I read and enjoyed the comic for several years, but eventually got fed up with it not seeming to go anywhere interesting (and Bill Willingham's statements that he didn't really have an end in sight anywhere soon). According to my records, Fables, Vol. 10: The Good Prince was the last one I read, back in 2008, after having skipped vol 9 altogether (not sure why, but I bet it's because I'd heard negative things about it). I didn't really start reading The UnwrittenThe Unwritten until 2010, so when discovering that volume 9 of that comic was going to be a crossover with Fables and furthermore that said crossover was disappointing to a lot of long time readers of The Unwritten, I pretty much just stopped reading the comic.
I just checked - it took me 3 years and 8 months between reading The Unwritten, Vol. 8: Orpheus in the Underworld (early August 2014) until I finally picked up and read The Unwritten Fables (late November 2017). If I hadn't recently seen author Mike Carey at a small fantasy and sci-fi convention in Oslo, talking about the final parts of his series, in addition to the fact that I have a LOT of comic books/graphic novels to get through by the end of December if I want to complete my Graphic novel reading challenge, I may just have let the final three volumes languish unread on the shelves.
Now, since it was so long since I last read about Tommy Taylor, and his friends Lizzie and Richie and all of the others, I didn't feel quite the same annoyance of being taken out of their world and being thrust into the Fables universe, where things have clearly moved on a LOT since I last read that series. A malevolent creature calling himself Mister Dark has brainwashed and married Snow White and is raising her many children, while they keep Bigby Wolf locked up in a dungeon and are systematically trying to wipe out all the remaining Fable characters, with rather a high success rate.
Summoning a great magician is their last hope, and let's just say most of them are not happy when Tommy Taylor shows up instead of some legendary saviour. Meta fiction is always an important part of the Unwritten comics, and there's quite a bit of discussion about what's real and what's fiction and whether our real world, where Tommy originates, is just another work of fiction (which in terms of The Unwritten being a narrative created by Mike Carey and Peter Gross is indeed true), but mostly the six issues collected in this trade are just rather grim and seem to have been an excuse for Bill Willingham (the creator of Fables) to kill off a lot of beloved characters without any serious long-term consequences.
I also much prefer Peter Gross' art style to that of Mark Buckingham, and it was strange to see Buckingham draw Carey's characters. I can absolutely see why this is the lowest-rated of all the volumes in The Unwritten, and don't regret having waited so long to read it. I'm sure it was a lot of fun for the writers and artists to collaborate on a project, but in the end it seemed rather meaningless and more gimicky than anything else.
Judging a book by its cover: Peter Gross tends to draw really cool covers, and on this one, we get Tommy blowing a golden horn (this is a rather significant story point). The New York cityscape going up in flames suggests the danger to "our" world posed by the happenings in the Fables world, but of all the various covers for this comic, this is not all that remarkable.
October 25, 2021
A Fables crossover. I guess I didn't see that coming. Obviously Snow seems the most off. In general the rest seemed about right. But really this ended up to be a lot of fighting that didn't really move the story along very far. And didn't use much of the built up cast of Unwritten. I was hoping for better
September 23, 2018
Ah, so I guess this was a crossover to another series, Fables, by the same publisher. But not knowing that or having read any of it, it was just another fairly confusing addition to the series.
October 27, 2013
Read this in the "single issue" versions instead of the trade. Wished I had not bothered. Despite enjoying and following numerous books and comics written by Mr. Carey, The Unwritten series never really grabbed me when I tried the first trade paperback. Sometimes when that happens, I can delve into a series later when it "hits its stride" or connects with another series and start enjoying it more. As I wanted to give the series a second chance and because I enjoy the Fables comic series most of the time, I decided to pick up each issue as it was released for this story arc. The last and most recent issue was the final blow for me in regards to the series. I loathed it. I am trying to dissect my feelings and figure out why, but it is partly due to the feeling the story comes across rushed and if you read the Fables storyarac this one is based on, it is confusing. And depressing. I did not understand Snow White's position or why she would be in the role she is in. I also cannot connect with the Tommy character and found the whole thing came off as a badly written version of "What if" story of the Fable storyline with Dark vs. the Fabletown.
Potential spoiler ahead…though not in detail of how it ends so stop reading now…
You were warned.
And the ending was just one of those "magic reset" type things which I loathe as that reads almost as lazy writing to me. I am sure it is not, but that is how it comes across to me. Nothing really seemed resolved and I still don't see what the whole point of the story was except maybe in regards to the lead character maybe learning something. But I have doubts of that after the way it ended. While I will try other novels and comics by the author in the future, I will avoid this series from now on as I feel cheated after spending money and time on reading it. Weird how that works. I think it is only because I was looking forward to a massive pay off at the end and seeing the way it ended just made everything back to status quo that I feel that way. I would say those who enjoy The Unwritten comics prior to this series might enjoy it, but if you are not familiar with the Fable comics, the influx of so MANY characters and cameos might make you lose some of the emotional impact of their decisions and deaths (for some). I will say it does not read as a good introduction to either series or as a standalone story.
Potential spoiler ahead…though not in detail of how it ends so stop reading now…
You were warned.
And the ending was just one of those "magic reset" type things which I loathe as that reads almost as lazy writing to me. I am sure it is not, but that is how it comes across to me. Nothing really seemed resolved and I still don't see what the whole point of the story was except maybe in regards to the lead character maybe learning something. But I have doubts of that after the way it ended. While I will try other novels and comics by the author in the future, I will avoid this series from now on as I feel cheated after spending money and time on reading it. Weird how that works. I think it is only because I was looking forward to a massive pay off at the end and seeing the way it ended just made everything back to status quo that I feel that way. I would say those who enjoy The Unwritten comics prior to this series might enjoy it, but if you are not familiar with the Fable comics, the influx of so MANY characters and cameos might make you lose some of the emotional impact of their decisions and deaths (for some). I will say it does not read as a good introduction to either series or as a standalone story.
July 29, 2016
I won't lie to you. I wasn't anticipating liking this volume at all. Orpheus in the Underworld seemed like it riffed too much from Sandman, and it ended with a crass crossover ploy that soured the entire story for me. I wasn't ready to give up on the series all together, but I was hesitant to see where it was going to go from that point.
Luckily, Carey (and, I suppose, Willingham; they collaborated on the story here) surprised me. This wasn't a straight crossover event, and I don't think it wasn't something that required readers to follow both stories to understand (though it would certainly help). Carey visited a world of Fables, instead of the world of Fables, and incorporated the idea of the power of story quite well. I liked the way he manipulated the idea of reality in one world as being fiction in another. It drew more clearly the line that separates the story from simply being metafictional to being a compelling, interesting story in its own right.
Also, one of my biggest complaints about the end of Orpheus in the Underworld was that Tom was on a journey to the center of all stories, and wound up in Fables. It seemed insubstantial, all things considered, but it turned out that Tom just wound up in the wrong place due to Frau Totenkinder's summoning. In the end, it didn't feel out of place, or like a gimmick; it felt like it was a necessary progression for the story.
I'm very interested to see where the story goes from here. I know I could read the series from issue to issue, but I much prefer reading the collections to get the entire story at once. As it is, I already miss details from one volume to the next, and reading snippets of story from one month to the next just won't work for me.
Luckily, Carey (and, I suppose, Willingham; they collaborated on the story here) surprised me. This wasn't a straight crossover event, and I don't think it wasn't something that required readers to follow both stories to understand (though it would certainly help). Carey visited a world of Fables, instead of the world of Fables, and incorporated the idea of the power of story quite well. I liked the way he manipulated the idea of reality in one world as being fiction in another. It drew more clearly the line that separates the story from simply being metafictional to being a compelling, interesting story in its own right.
Also, one of my biggest complaints about the end of Orpheus in the Underworld was that Tom was on a journey to the center of all stories, and wound up in Fables. It seemed insubstantial, all things considered, but it turned out that Tom just wound up in the wrong place due to Frau Totenkinder's summoning. In the end, it didn't feel out of place, or like a gimmick; it felt like it was a necessary progression for the story.
I'm very interested to see where the story goes from here. I know I could read the series from issue to issue, but I much prefer reading the collections to get the entire story at once. As it is, I already miss details from one volume to the next, and reading snippets of story from one month to the next just won't work for me.
August 28, 2014
Okay, so the collected Unwritten Fables crossover came out in July, and Fables collection 20, Camelot, officially comes out next week. I grabbed them when I saw them in store yesterday, and started reading in that order, since I wouldn't expect things to be published out of continuity. I haven't started Camelot yet, but I have a feeling I got it backwards. The world that Tommy Taylor arrived in seemed to be in a different place than the one I remembered. I even got Fables 19 off the shelves to see if I was just forgetting.
Anyway, I've enjoyed Unwritten. I think this was okay as an Unwritten outing. It's essentially Tommy in Fableland. It progressed his story a little. Unfortunately, I think it progressed his story at the expense of Fables. It had none of the humor or the emotion or the character moments I expect from Fables. Everyone was at their worst. Characters were killed right and left, even though many of them should have been near unkillable according to the rules of Fables (as long as your story is still being told...)
I'm left hoping that maybe this was Darkest Timeline Fables or something, and that the events of Camelot won't lead up to this, and it can be dismissed as something that happened to another version of the same characters, in another similar world. It gets two stars as a Fables book. Three at most as an Unwritten book. I would have thought the two would have combined better.
Anyway, I've enjoyed Unwritten. I think this was okay as an Unwritten outing. It's essentially Tommy in Fableland. It progressed his story a little. Unfortunately, I think it progressed his story at the expense of Fables. It had none of the humor or the emotion or the character moments I expect from Fables. Everyone was at their worst. Characters were killed right and left, even though many of them should have been near unkillable according to the rules of Fables (as long as your story is still being told...)
I'm left hoping that maybe this was Darkest Timeline Fables or something, and that the events of Camelot won't lead up to this, and it can be dismissed as something that happened to another version of the same characters, in another similar world. It gets two stars as a Fables book. Three at most as an Unwritten book. I would have thought the two would have combined better.
July 29, 2016
"The Unwritten" is one of my favourite ongoing comics to collect in trades, and "Fables"happens to be another, but unfortunately the two don't meld so well in this uneven crossover. I have been following "The Unwritten" diligently, but I collect "Fables" at a slower pace, so the intersecting stories didn't mesh up for me and I felt at a loss not knowing how the characters I know wound up in the situations they were in. What must be said is that "The Unwritten" and "Fables" seem so compatible in concept and style that I was surprised not to enjoy this book as much as I would have enjoyed each individually. Folding in the main theme of "The Unwritten" into the fantastical world of "Fables" makes sense, but it spends much more of its time with the "Fables" characters and little seems developed for Tom Taylor and his cast. The art in the book is another piece of contention. The artists switch at random intervals throughout the issues, breaking the flow of the stories and some styles are particularly unfitting for the story. What is great is the ending to this volume which promises that "The Unwritten" is reaching its inevitable conclusion and that we are now in the final lap of the series. I just hope that the subsequent volumes return to the previous quality of the series and that this was but a blip in an otherwise perfect run.
December 22, 2017
The were perhaps somethings I missed when reading the ninth installment of The Unwritten series as I have never read Fables, the comics universe where Tom Taylor is whisked into. However, there is doubt whether Carey and Gross are actually that faithful to Bill Willingham's universe and, anyway, the album works well as a whole, as an independent chapter in the continuous tale of Tom Taylor.
Tom Taylor is transported into the world of Fables where a miscellaneous cast of fairy tales and stories expect him to help them battle against a local dark lord. Frau Totenkinder, Red and others are initially disappointed with the result of their summoning, but soon find that Tom possesses hidden intertextual depths in the form of his "later ego" Tommy Taylor, the harrypotteresque young wizard. Perhaps the battle against the looming armies of Mister Dark and his companion Snow is not completely lost yet.
While some characters in this installment are painted with a similar brush as some of the characters in the larger story arc of the series, the album offers a welcome side step from Tom Taylor's battle with Pullman. The arc manages to forward the main story silently on the background while the refreshing scenery offers new ways to explore stories.
Tom Taylor is transported into the world of Fables where a miscellaneous cast of fairy tales and stories expect him to help them battle against a local dark lord. Frau Totenkinder, Red and others are initially disappointed with the result of their summoning, but soon find that Tom possesses hidden intertextual depths in the form of his "later ego" Tommy Taylor, the harrypotteresque young wizard. Perhaps the battle against the looming armies of Mister Dark and his companion Snow is not completely lost yet.
While some characters in this installment are painted with a similar brush as some of the characters in the larger story arc of the series, the album offers a welcome side step from Tom Taylor's battle with Pullman. The arc manages to forward the main story silently on the background while the refreshing scenery offers new ways to explore stories.
April 18, 2015
I know I said I was going to take a break from this series, but I changed my mind because this volume was written by Bill Willingham. I remain steady in my belief that Fables remains one of the best monthly titles currently being published. His creator owned work has been solid to really good (if you like Watchmen read Pantheon). So a Fables/Unwritten crossover, why not see if this volume could change my opinion of Unwritten?
And, damn it nearly did. This volume goes much more towards the meta-fiction aspect I expected to continue from the earlier volumes. We get to question who is real and who is story in this volume, and Mister Dark remains a formidable villain.
Then again Frau Tottenkind goes all Doctor on us (I mean Doctor Who, as in the Doctor who would sacrifice a planet if necessary to save the universe type of Doctor).
You can read this volume of Unwritten only and not feel like you've missed anything from the main story, because well you don't. Much better than volumes 4-6.
And, damn it nearly did. This volume goes much more towards the meta-fiction aspect I expected to continue from the earlier volumes. We get to question who is real and who is story in this volume, and Mister Dark remains a formidable villain.
Then again Frau Tottenkind goes all Doctor on us (I mean Doctor Who, as in the Doctor who would sacrifice a planet if necessary to save the universe type of Doctor).
You can read this volume of Unwritten only and not feel like you've missed anything from the main story, because well you don't. Much better than volumes 4-6.
October 11, 2018
That was surprising! Wizards fighting with glowing energy from their hands and oposing spells is not my thing at all.
But this is a great colaboration. I have put aside the reading of Willingham's "Fables" for a long time, precisely because I am not into that specific fantasy aesthetics. And "The Unwritten" plays with genre conventions in a very nice way. I would not pick up a Harry Potter book, but Carey's main character, Tommy, is a obvious proxy, and (also) a take on the cultural significance of Harry Potter.
This volume is an immense clash of fable, the power of characters' personnas and reinvention and, above all, creative talent. From the covers, to the ilustrations, to coloring and writting, many talented people conspired to achive a great artpiece. And so much fun to read.
But this is a great colaboration. I have put aside the reading of Willingham's "Fables" for a long time, precisely because I am not into that specific fantasy aesthetics. And "The Unwritten" plays with genre conventions in a very nice way. I would not pick up a Harry Potter book, but Carey's main character, Tommy, is a obvious proxy, and (also) a take on the cultural significance of Harry Potter.
This volume is an immense clash of fable, the power of characters' personnas and reinvention and, above all, creative talent. From the covers, to the ilustrations, to coloring and writting, many talented people conspired to achive a great artpiece. And so much fun to read.
August 13, 2014
I recently received this as a First Reads Giveaway. Yay!
I think the crossover was very successful, and I loved the idea of Tom showing up in the Fables' woods. I know many disagree, but I think the way both worlds are structured makes the merging of both narratives to be quite plausible and heightens my interest in the future of the story(ies). Both series are very existential, so why wouldn't the question of what's real (or not) exist in both worlds/realities? Not to be too philosophical here, but what makes something real? I love the exploration of that concept here.
I felt the ending was brilliant; I can't wait to see what Tom learns about himself!
I think the crossover was very successful, and I loved the idea of Tom showing up in the Fables' woods. I know many disagree, but I think the way both worlds are structured makes the merging of both narratives to be quite plausible and heightens my interest in the future of the story(ies). Both series are very existential, so why wouldn't the question of what's real (or not) exist in both worlds/realities? Not to be too philosophical here, but what makes something real? I love the exploration of that concept here.
I felt the ending was brilliant; I can't wait to see what Tom learns about himself!
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