The Unwritten Vol. 2: Inside Man

The Unwritten Volume 2 does NOT collect issues 1-5, but rather issues 6-12. While these volumes do have some flaws, the whole story of the Unwritten remains as good as it ever was.First, the bad. The two arcs in this volume take place in in France and Germany, and there is a fair amount of untranslated French and German in the panels. It's not enough that you won't still be able to follow the story, but it can be annoying not understanding what people are saying. And, despite the events of the last volume, Tom still remains in denial for a good part of the book about what is happening to him. He definitely gets better by the end though.Now, the good. The mixing of horror, comedy, and action is all top-notch. The intercuts of the Tommy Taylor series and online news article never cease to impress, and the book delivers one excellent new character who you can't help but relate to. Mike Carey is clearly an extremely talented writer. Oh, and issue 12 is simply fantastic. I don't want to give spoilers, but it's a one-off issue that you will not be able to stop reading.

great

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I could only hope that they didn't ruin the story with the next volume. Luckily, this was better than I anticipated. It was crazy and tragic and magical and I can't wait to buy the next one to see where they take this amazing story next. The detail is amazing- I can spend 30 minutes sometimes just looking at one page. It's not just a great idea- its a really great story too.

This story has a great premise, and the characters are well developed and the writing makes it an enjoyable read.

Great!

Tom Taylor has been arrested, and the world is in a state of shock; no one is immune from the effect of the news that Tom Taylor, who is now seen as the living incarnation of Tommy Taylor, is a murderer; he has been expedited and taken to a prison in France, where Tom Taylor must deal with the consequences of being a famous prisoner. And the warden, a father of two impressionable young children who are fans of Tommy Taylor...what will he do to protect their innocence?

The story is a great concept but I wish the pace was a bit faster. Well drawn and a curious commentary on pop culture and fame. What if you were trapped in a story? What if you were kicked out of your story?

Mike Carey and Peter Gross continue with their terrific new Vertigo title, "The Unwritten", in this second volume collecting issues 6 to 12 (rather larger than the first volume). "Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity" earned four stars from me, and the commendation that it was interesting, if at that point a bit vague on the particulars, and that future volumes would show whether or not it would build on that promise. With "Inside Man", I think we can say that it has indeed lived up to that potential. Volume 2 far exceeds Volume 1, and it definitely leaves me anticipating the third collection in the series. Some spoilers follow.Whereas the first volume had a four-issue main story and then the Eisner-nominated one-shot spotlighting British author Rudyard Kipling, the seven issues contained in this volume have three different stories: a four-parter, a two-parter, and another one-shot. The longest story in the volume follows Tom Taylor after his arrest for the slaughters committed at the end of the past volume; he still has no idea what is going on or who has framed him. Accompanied to jail by a reporter, and with the mysterious Lizzie still trying to get in contact with him, he must also deal with an angry prison warden whose children are both huge fans of the Tommy Taylor books. Things go badly.Carey continues to demonstrate his impressive command of the history of fiction. The series starts from the point of using an ersatz Harry Potter to look into the world of children's fiction, and continues from there to incorporate a kaleidoscope of literary influences. The previous volume already supplied an impressive reworking of Rudyard Kipling's output, and here Carey also brings in the obscure works of the German Jewish writer Lion Feuchtwanger (whose "Jud Suss" was taken by the Nazis and turned into an anti-Semitic propaganda film), and a reworking of the genre of Beatrix Potter and A. A. Milne that is both perversely funny and creepy. He is aided at every step by the superbly malleable style of Peter Gross.Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this much more than volume 1 as the story gathered some momentum and felt less disjointed. The plot is most definitely thickening and Tom Taylor's world is becoming very strange indeed. I love that I have no idea where it is going to go next.But never mind Tom's imploding world, my new favourite character is the potty mouthed and desperate Mr Bun of Willowbank Wood, mostly because of the wonderful artwork.

I picked up volume 1 in my local comic store as I had left my book in the car and was meeting a friend.I had an hour to kill, and rather than walk back and get it, I picked up volume 1 and blew through most of it in the pub waiting for him.That evening I went straight home and ordered the next 4!Book two opens up a few new twists as we start to understand how Tommy got his powers.I really enjoy the literary crossovers in the book

One of literature's best kept secrets continues to astound with the turn of every page. If you have half an interest in books, you must pick this series up.It follows Tommy Taylor, a Christopher Milne type figure, whose father centred a popular series of books on him; books which bear more than a passing resemblance to Harry Potter. Tom's father has disappeared, and a mythical 14th book may or may not exist. Because of the popularity of the books, Tom has long been the centre of international adulation. But after the dazzling events of book 1, he has rather more pressing concerns.Once again Unwritten's authors play about with the genre, posing questions about the nature of fiction, and the power of storytelling. It's hard to explain without giving it all away, so I won't try to, but trust me you have to read these books. One can't help that if Carey and Gross did write a straight `Tommy Taylor' novel, it would knock 'HP' into a cocked hat. Yet this fictional series is only a small part of what `Unwritten' is about.I guess because `Unwritten' is a graphic novel, many people wouldn't give it a second glance, if they even know of its existence. This is a great shame. Buy them. Buy them for you friends. Buy them for random strangers. It's time these book were `Unwritten Off'.

Der erste Band war schon sehr gelungen und machte Lust auf mehr. Das wird im zweiten Band auch geliefert. Ich bin zwar kein Harry-Potter-Fan, aber ich glaube schon, dass hier sehr viele Anleihen genommen wurden. Ist mir persönlich egal, ich finde die Story und die Umsetzung super.