Review: The Unwritten #31

"Tommy Taylor and the War of Words: Part One."
Writer: Mike Carey. Artist: Peter Gross. Finishes: M.K. Perker. Colors: Chris Chuckry. Letters: Todd Klein. Cover: Yuko Shimizu. Asst. Editor: Joe Hughes. Editor: Karen Berger.
DC Comics/Vertigo

I haven't written many reviews of graphic literature yet. I always intend to, but never seem to get around to it. I aim to correct that. You should know by now how much I enjoy The Unwritten, a story about stories that I liken to reading Harry Potter while on LSD. Right now the series is working through a climatic story arc titled "Tommy Taylor and the War of Words." The past 30 issues have been leading up to this point and I thought it might be nice if I slowed down, reflected on this arc, and highlighted just why this title is as awesome as ever.

Review: Green River Killer

Graphic literature consists of a wider variety of material than just monthly superhero comic books. In fact, the vast majority of graphic literature has nothing to do with Batman. Sometimes that makes me sad. But then I think of awesome non-Batman graphic lit such as The Walking Dead, The Unwritten, and now Green River Killer, and I don't feel so sad.

Green River Killer: A True Detective Story is a graphic novel written by Jeff Jensen with art by Jonathan Case.  A graphic novel is essentially a long comic book with better binding. I take issue with the term as a blanket label for the format since it implies a genre of fiction. Originally I was going to refer to this as a graphic memoir, but then the back of the book corrected me. The book explicitly states, "It is not intended as history or memoir." Names and information have been changed and streamlined. Whole groups of people have been collapsed into a singular character. It is still based on a true story, but not a completely accurate depiction of that true story. I guess it is more akin to a movie adaptation of a true story.

Green River Killer is roughly 230 pages long, illustrated in black and white, and truly unsettling.