The Unwritten, Vol. 8: Orpheus In The Underworld (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Fair Warning: Spoilers. The kids that were killed back in Volume 2 come back from the dead in this book.Viewed with hindsight, this makes their death a little more understandable/palatable. I don't doubt that Carey knew they would be back, and perhaps that led to him not treating their deaths with the delicacy I'd expect from him.That said, five entire volumes pass before they come back, and since there's never really any hint they might return, it doesn't really do much to fix the problem I had with Volume 2. The biggest accomplishment of this volume is Peter Gross's artwork. With more fantastic elements than any previous volume, the imagery shines. Many past issues have featured distinct changes in pencils, inks and colors to replicate different eras and mediums of art, and here Gross mingles styles in one seamless story. He's an incredible talent on this series. The story... I'm really starting to think the series would have been stronger if it had ended more succinctly after volume 6. Leviathan was a perfect concept. Spinning it into one part of an ecosystem... I worry that Carey's wonderful meta-fiction conceit is getting tangled up in the strings of a new mythology. And Tom himself goes another volume as a non-character spending most of the volume in arbitrary amnesia. The series feels much closer to Lucifer than ever before -- and not just because of the Hell storyline. Great scenes and delightful high-concepts but an ever shifting goal line that saps the narrative of urgency.
What do You think about The Unwritten, Vol. 8: Orpheus In The Underworld (2014)?
Wow. Did not see that coming. I think I've officially lost respect for this series.
—bailey
Pretty good but I should've realized it wasn't volume 1 before I read it.
—robertc4
This meta-fictional epic continues to be brilliant!
—brodey
