The Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity, Chapter 1 -- Mike Carey and Peter Gross

Tom Taylor is a bit like Christopher Robin Milne, if Christopher Robin Milne had made his living off of Pooh. See, Tom Taylor's father wrote an insanely popular series of Harry Potter-ish books about a character named Tommy Taylor—and then, thirteen books into the series, he just... disappeared, leaving the series on an extremely down note.

Years later, fans are still understandably dismayed, and although Tom makes his living doing appearances at conventions and so on, he still finds it annoying that A) they never think that being abandoned by his father might be, you know, a sore subject, and B) they seem to be completely incapable of differentiating between Tom-the-real-live-adult and Tommy-the-teenaged-fictional-character.

He's used to weirdo fanboys—like the dude who dresses up like series villain Count Ambrosio and interrogates him about Tommy Taylor minutia at every opportunity—but he's thrown when, at his latest appearance, a seemingly completely sane woman stands up and basically accuses him of being an imposter:

His agent tells him not to worry about it, but clearly knows more than he's telling...

Artwork? Good stuff. Depending on what is being depicted—whether it be Tom's story, an excerpt from a Tommy Taylor novel or movie, a newscast, etc.—the style, color scheme, and sharpness of the lines change, and the difference between the sadsack Count Ambrosio fanboy and the [SPOILER] possibly-real Count Ambrosio is staggering.

Storyline? So, first, there's the backstory, the hilarious parallels to Harry Potter, the fab opening scene that depicts a celebrity experiencing the obsessive end of geek culture, all of which are awesome. But then there's the introduction of all sorts of mysteries: A Big Conspiracy and maybe even (okay, probably) an Actual Fantasy Realm; the suggestion that Tom Isn't Who He Thinks He Is; that possibly there's more to those damn books than anyone ever imagined. Also, there's stuff about Destiny and the Importance of Story, and there's also a cult based around Tom/Tommy. BASICALLY, IT'S FULL OF BIG FAT WIN. Totes looking forward to the second issue. Which, luckily, I have right next to me in this handy-dandy trade.

Read the next one? YES. YES YES YES YES YES. YES YES.