The Unwritten: Apocalypse #1

creators: Mike Carey & Peter Gross
released: January 2014
publisher: Vertigo

I am terribly sad The Unwritten is coming to an end. Unwritten might not be on the same literary level or pedestal as Sandman, but it comes very, very close–it’s an intertwined, devilishly complicated puzzle about words and stories and how we use them to literally navigate our lives. I can only imagine that this final arc will pull out all the stops and stretch our imaginations to the limit–giving it a finish it truly deserves–but I just hope we’re all ready for it.

That being said, the back letter described this issue as a perfect jumping off point for Unwritten, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It would be like giving someone the last arc from Sandman and saying, hey, you’ll understand everything, right? Nope, read straight through from the beginning and thank me later, otherwise this will just be a jumbled mess to you.

This issue gets really trippy and weird and I don’t completely understand all of it, but that’s Unwritten’s MO. So, pretty used to it by now. Our homebound hero Tommy moves from story to story, trying to find his way home–to his own narrative, which is essentially just another story. (Again, this will only really fit if you’ve been reading since the beginning and know Carey’s style). Tommy hops from “basic” fairy tales to those more famous and familiar (and thankfully our ‘favorite’ bunny rabbit was only mentioned, and not actually guest starred), though usually he gets there by the death of whichever character he is currently embodying. Brilliant, strange, but at the same time a bit slow; while Carey never comes out and says, “this is the story Tommy is now in,” much of the dialogue is Tommy trying to understand his situation, and talking through it with the story’s counterparts–to more or less success, depending on the story. As mentioned before, while it fills in the very basic details of Tommy’s journey, the Leviathan, and so on, it’s a very a slow buildup to the very last page, which is a slight disappointment, since we now have to wait for the actual meat of the story in the second issue (hopefully).

Admittedly, it might be more satisfying to read all at once as an entire trade, instead of broken into five separate issues. I imagine that many subtleties will fall through the cracks while waiting weeks for the next installment. I’m the impatient type, but whether you choose to stall a bit longer is entirely up to you.

I must note that Gross’ art continues to be a visual treat here–like the stories, the art also evolves, and hats off to Gross to visually building the art as Carey does so with words, from rough sketches to fully colored and polished art by the time we get to–oh, but I won’t spoil it for you. Their teamwork has been exceptional from the very beginning and it is in full force in this installment.

Cautiously anticipating the second issue.

Ms. Marvel #1

creators:  G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona
released: February 2014
publisher: Marvel

You might remember Marvel garnering a whole lot of attention back in November, not because of some character dying or coming out, but because they were adding a Muslim superhero to their ranks. Finally, Kamala Kahn is being introduced in Ms Marvel #1 to the world, and it not only lives up to the hype of introducing a beautifully well rounded character who happens to be Muslim, but also provides an entertaining and visually lush story too.

Kamala Kahn is a sixteen year old girl who just wants to be normal–sounds familiar, right? Her Pakistani Muslim religion and culture feels like a natural part of Kamala – not forced – and writer Wilson brilliantly weaves in multiple characters who engage with their faiths differently. Kamala curiously sniffs at bacon, “infidel meat,” while her friend chooses to wear a headscarf; her brother remains overly devout while her father is conservative but skeptical towards constant prayer. Wilson is Muslim, and it is obvious that she brilliantly introduces a whole spectrum of modern Muslims certainly with intention, but also sensitivity. (Her jabbing at the faux pas of non-Muslims, however, is considerably less so.)

Of course this is combined with the fact that so much of Kamala’s personality feels like a normal teenager. She loves the Avengers (to the point that she writes fanfiction, okay we would totally be friends), is desperate to fit in–for goodness sake, her father won’t let her go to a party with boys! She doesn’t want to be the one with “weird food and holidays” and goodness knows anyone part of a minority culture or ethnicity can relate to that. I love Kamala’s quirkiness and spunkiness.

Interestingly Kamala views not only white, blond and popular as “the other,” but superheroes as well. Wilson deftly injects the racial politics of superheroes (as largely white, heteronormative, etc) as an undercurrent of her comic–not only showing what superheroes are like right now, but how Kamala is going to be breaking those bonds as well.

Adrian Alphona has a lot of experience drawing rebellious teenagers through the excellent series Runaways and he does an absolutely fantastic job with the art here. The style feels completely like its own world, with lots of lovely subtle expressions and little ‘easter eggs’ for those who take the time to try to find them. I felt immediately sucked in, and I cannot get over the wonderful moment towards the end when Kamala has her vision, or visit with “faith.”

Absolutely on board and looking forward to #2! And I would love to see some at some point Kamala being under Captain Marvel’s tutelage. Those two would have a pretty cool Jedi Master/Padawan relationship, no?