The Unwritten Discussion Thread (contains spoilers)

[edhopper]

I think the guy with the hand accordian is the character from Kipling's
"How The Whale Got It's Throat" as seen in #5 (which gaudium's post encouraged me to reread)

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/171/

That's an interesting guess. I forgot about the Kipling issue. We'll see.

[gaudium]

I think the guy with the hand accordian is the character from Kipling's
"How The Whale Got It's Throat" as seen in #5 (which gaudium's post encouraged me to reread)

http://www.online-literature.com/poe/171/

I hadn't gone back to that last page of #22 after re-reading #5, but I think you are right. Corn cob pipe, squeezebox, torn overalls, seems clear it is the same guy. Good catch. Jonah, the Mariner, Sindbad, Pinocchio, left-to-right.

Anyone else read this review of #22?
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/best...ws-110214.html
The reviewer sounds like she's writing about Fables and possibly missing some more important meaning to the whale imagery:

Who's to say that the whales that swallowed Pinocchio, Jonah, Sinbad, and Baron von Munchhausen weren't all the same whale, teaching each character a lesson through parable?

I definitely don't think Carey is implying that these are all the SAME whale, as Fables portrays Jack of Fables to have been EVERY Jack in EVERY story, for example.

[matt levin]

How the Whale Got its Tiny Throat (Kipling):

It's the suspenders, best beloved, you must not forget the suspenders.

[edhopper]

I hadn't gone back to that last page of #22 after re-reading #5, but I think you are right. Corn cob pipe, squeezebox, torn overalls, seems clear it is the same guy. Good catch. Jonah, the Mariner, Sindbad, Pinocchio, left-to-right.

Anyone else read this review of #22?
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/best...ws-110214.html
The reviewer sounds like she's writing about Fables and possibly missing some more important meaning to the whale imagery:

Who's to say that the whales that swallowed Pinocchio, Jonah, Sinbad, and Baron von Munchhausen weren't all the same whale, teaching each character a lesson through parable?

I definitely don't think Carey is implying that these are all the SAME whale, as Fables portrays Jack of Fables to have been EVERY Jack in EVERY story, for example.

Yeah, the reviewer does not understand what Unwritten is about at all. She thinks it's about bringing fictional characters from different books together.(Even that condescending "high school assignment" reference) It is not. It is about the separation, or lack there of, of fiction and the real world, and the power of the written word in shaping our world.

[gaudium]

Finished my re-read of the series to date, a highly recommended undertaking if you're someone like me who reads enough comics that you don't remember every single detail from months back -- esp in a complex story like The Unwritten.

A few things that stuck out to me, not meant to be exhaustive or anything but speculative -- sorry if I'm spoiling the heck out of things (though probably not) or just stating the obvious...

Pullman: Seems fairly obvious in the story "Dumuzi and Enkimdu" told by the Toymaker in #19, Enkimdu IS Pullman -- explaining his apparent immortality. When Pullman first goes on his killing spree at Villa Diodati in #3, he is armed with a sickle, as was Enkimdu. Later in #13, though, he arms himself with a bow ("feels like an old friend") and uses its string to behead Wilson Taylor. A couple different points where Pullman is referred to as Lucifer/the devil/Satan, though I'm not taking that literally yet.

Toymaker/Rausch: ?? This is a woman, right? haha

"Man in the big chair": Firth kills Callendar -- who was "MIX" -- #1009? -- at least that's what I assume the various Roman numbers in the pile of corpses/skeletons means -- "MVIII" is visible, seemingly next to the body that was previously on top of the pile. But the "REAL power lies with --"?

Maanim: The Shankha Shetra, the instrument of Vishnu, etc. Shankha is a conch shell, sacred emblem of Vishnu -- war trumpet, giver of fame, longevity and prosperity, the cleanser of sin. Is this a person? An object? A trumpet keeps getting mentioned (along with the doorknob and map) but all we've seen is the Horn of Roland thus far, in a story and in ghostly form.

Leviathan/whales: Though the word often refers to a whale -- Biblical sea monster, with Day of Judgment implications. Mouth is the gateway to Hell. In #13, a random crazy person is preaching on the sidewalk and says that with the publication of the 14th Tommy book, "prophecies will be fulfilled." Monsters at the end times are wallowing all around right now, blah blah blah -- then Tom sees the crowd morphed into the giant shape of a whale -- "You see Behemoth! You see Leviathan!" Behemoth also a Biblical monster with end of times implications. 14th book is called "Tommy Taylor and the Day of Judgment." The map indicates a whale as the "source" and Lizzie explains that whales are a symbol that became "more real than what they stand for." #5 = "How the Whale Became"?

Frankenstein's monster: The "First"? Connected to Tommy (and Mingus?) somehow, clearly not birthed by a human woman as Tommy was -- though in #22 we see Wilson doing something to Tommy with some sort of liquid-filled Frankenstein-like apparatus.

And what, oh what, about Mr. Bun?

Anyway, hopefully I didn't bore anyone with these random thoughts and info lifted from Wikipedia. My rusty English major background kicking in. Feel free to disagree/expand anyone...

[BeastieRunner]

Leviathan/whales: Though the word often refers to a whale -- Biblical sea monster, with Day of Judgment implications. Mouth is the gateway to Hell. In #13, a random crazy person is preaching on the sidewalk and says that with the publication of the 14th Tommy book, "prophecies will be fulfilled." Monsters at the end times are wallowing all around right now, blah blah blah -- then Tom sees the crowd morphed into the giant shape of a whale -- "You see Behemoth! You see Leviathan!" Behemoth also a Biblical monster with end of times implications. 14th book is called "Tommy Taylor and the Day of Judgment." The map indicates a whale as the "source" and Lizzie explains that whales are a symbol that became "more real than what they stand for." #5 = "How the Whale Became"?

Well the "whale" is the subconscious of all the readers currently reading a story. The more people reading (or maybe even have read ... not sure yet) a story, the more powerful the characters become ("I can use a wand in real life because you think I can." Paraphrased from #23).

Now Tom can knock some heads together.

So one mystery down, many more to go.

And I totally called Jonah being in the whale, haha!

[edhopper]

Our Unwritten thread seems to have disappeared. So....
Unwritten #24.
I can't recall the previous issue with the crazy rabbit (I am getting old), but I do remember I really liked it. I liked this one as well, it was Fables meets Unwritten with a disturbingly dark tone. Only the "Warden Story" was darker. Not sure how it ties in with Tim's story, other than a look at other characters existing beyond the written page, but it was a great issue whatever the larger picture is.

[henryfish]

Our Unwritten thread seems to have disappeared. So....
Unwritten #24.
I can't recall the previous issue with the crazy rabbit (I am getting old), but I do remember I really liked it. I liked this one as well, it was Fables meets Unwritten with a disturbingly dark tone. Only the "Warden Story" was darker. Not sure how it ties in with Tim's story, other than a look at other characters existing beyond the written page, but it was a great issue whatever the larger picture is.

Agreed. I went back to reread the first Tale of Pauly Bruckner before this one, and both issues are super fun/creepy. I have the feeling that Pauly will figure into the main plot more prominently as the story continues, as he does seem to know a fair bit about all the goings-on.

[Awesome!]

The old thread is here.

I haven't read the latest bunny issue yet but I am very excited to do so.

[BeastieRunner]

It was fun seeing Mr. Bun again. This time it appears his counterparts understand him to some degree.

I love how his story parallels the theme/plot of what Tom is going through.

[BeastieRunner]

Shall we Merge??

[edhopper]

Shall we Merge??

Yes, please. When I posted this I looked back over the two pages available in this forum and did not see it.

[noh-varr]

I wasn't expecting a new Mr. Bun tale already, and was quite surprised by it. There are a lot of references to other tales and worlds from the characters that appear in this last issue as well as the names of places they had ransacked for supplies, which is really making me wonder how this will tie into Tommy's tale. The animals of the story finally interacting with stories that involve humans was quite interesting as well, showing the big connection of everything even though we don't know quite what it all is. I feel that while I love the stories of Mr. Bun they are something that will only be properly appreciated once we get more context. Which is fine, I can be patient, especially as long as I get to enjoy Mr. Bun's vigorous energy and harsh attitude towards all the nice and proper creatures and people he meets along the way.

[BeastieRunner]

I wasn't expecting a new Mr. Bun tale already, and was quite surprised by it. There are a lot of references to other tales and worlds from the characters that appear in this last issue as well as the names of places they had ransacked for supplies, which is really making me wonder how this will tie into Tommy's tale. The animals of the story finally interacting with stories that involve humans was quite interesting as well, showing the big connection of everything even though we don't know quite what it all is. I feel that while I love the stories of Mr. Bun they are something that will only be properly appreciated once we get more context. Which is fine, I can be patient, especially as long as I get to enjoy Mr. Bun's vigorous energy and harsh attitude towards all the nice and proper creatures and people he meets along the way.

I really want to know who he was before he became Mr. Bun.

[edhopper]

Issue #25;
So Mr. Bun was one of Tommy's toys. Interesting.
I like the exposition dialog explaining the discovery of the source. It's help keep things straight in my mind. On the other hand Tom acting like a stupid jerk wondering around and making noise while they are trying to steal the diaries was inane.
Speaking of that fragile gob of goo in my head. I can't recall the resolution of the puppet lady with Savoy and Lizzy. The obviously don't recall the events, but do we know what they are set up to do?