“The Unwritten” graphic novel “Ship That Sunk Twice” sails to bookshops

By John Freeman on September 5, 2013

The Unwritten original graphic novel by Mike Carey and Peter Gross, on sale 1st October in the UK, features a stunning cover by Yuko Shimizu and includes 31 pages of fully painted art by Al Davison, with additional art by Kurt Huggins and Zelda Devon.

The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor And The Ship That Sank Twice is a standalone Unwritten project by series creators Mike and Peter, a much-praised ongoing series from DC Comics imprint Vertigo that follows Tom Taylor, the adult son of an author and long-lost father, Wilson, who created a series of incredibly popular Harry Potter-esque books featuring the eponymous Tommy. The lines between reality and fantasy blur, however, when Tom becomes a target of a magical literature-obsessed secret cabal.

Tom has lived his life being mistaken for Tommy, but after a series of strange events start to parallel the lives of both Taylors – fictional and real – he realizes that he might be the character on page, made flesh.

Billed as both a prequel and parallel story to the main Unwritten series, in this first-ever original graphic novel spinning off from the pages of the critically acclaimed The Unwritten series, writer Mike Carey explores the origins behind Tom’s mysterious powers and the odyssey his father has sent him on.

Exploring the Tommy Taylor novels in a visceral and direct way, Vertigo says new novel provides a great entry point for new readers and fans of classic literature. We pull back the curtain on how Tommy’s father, Wilson Taylor, devised his subversive literary masterpiece and reveal the blueprint of how a father gives his son vast power in order to accomplish a wider scheme. Partly told through Wilson’s harsh, intoxicating journal entries and juxtaposed with Tommy’s swashbuckling deep sea adventures with his trusty companions Peter and Sue, the story is at once a prequel and a parallel story to the ongoing series.

“We wanted an origin story for him that would be a little bit fresher than usual, that tied into the glimpses we’d already established in Tommy’s world in the main series,” Mike told Comic Book Resources last month. “He’s the greatest wizard of his world. He’s the Tim Hunter of his world. Or the Harry Potter. He’s the unique, übermage. And we wanted to give him an Odyssey — mountains to climb and oceans to cross. That was part of the idea. Also, there are some hints within the book that maybe Tommy’s origin is a little more complicated than we’re being told.”

“It’s both a complete Tommy Taylor story, a sort of comic book adaptation of a Wilson Taylor fantasy novel, and at the same time a prequel to The Unwritten,” Mike told Graphic Reporter in a separate interview, “that reveals a lot of new stuff about Wilson’s life and how he did what he did. And it includes Tom’s birth, which to some extent settles one of our big questions…”

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.