Some books must not be read.
Creative Staff:
Story: Kat Howard
Art: Tom Fowler
Colors: Jordan Boyd
Letterer: Todd Klein
What They Say:
Timothy Hunter may be destined to become the most powerful magician in the universe, but he’s still a London teenager, and having magical abilities complicates things more than it helps. It’s not like he can use magic to pass his exams, stop being bullied or convince his cute friend to date him. And while Tim’s trying to live his life, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his power will eventually corrupt him into becoming a merciless mage. Oh, and those are the good guys. Luckily, his new substitute teacher is more than she appears, and may be able to help Tim discover the mystery behind the Books of Magic…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Of the books that have been launched under the Sandman Universe banner, I think Books of Magic was the one I was looking forward to the most. I had read the original prestige series when it came out and I think there was an ongoing after that which I read some of, but I had fallen out of comics not long after and had no idea where Tim Hunter ended up through the relaunches and reboots of the DC universe. With this series, Kat Howard has taken over the writing chores and presents the most accessible and straightforward of the books – and that utterly delights me after some of the “work” put into what the other books have felt like. This is light and breezy and made all the more engaging and accessible with its focus on the mundane work that Tom Fowler presents. It has its ugliness to it to be sure and the feel of a young man like Tim in how he views everything and that combined with Jordan Boyd’s color work really binds it all together.
The opening installment is great in that it spends the first couple of pages recapping the original work in how Tim was given a choice of magic or mundane for his life. To grow into a magician of great power and importance but one determined by the choices he makes and the kinds of magic he employs. Not surprisingly, he chose a life of magic but is frustrated because he has none at this point. So he’s dreaming of what happened and came before, what he could become, and it’s causing him a lot of trouble in school on top of the recent loss of his mother. That’s lead to fights in school while trying to show off to a girl and that gets him in more trouble. But the neat little part is that his teacher, a woman named Rose, is of magic herself and reveals that all those with a connection to magic knew of him the moment he made his choice. What she’s able to do is to help guide him a bit because becoming the greatest actually means hard work and studying.
This element I like because it’s not just a gifted upon him ability but an unlocked one that must be mastered. The book she gives him will help teach him but he has to be in the right frame of mind to actually understand it when the ink is actually visible. This gives us some time seeing some of his home life, his frustrations there and just what he’s coping with. It does also give us a taste of what’s to come with a group that at least by the initial view isn’t all that thrilled with him being involved in everything so there’s some nice tension toward the end. But the bulk of the book is focused on Tim himself and who he is at this point, a teenage boy with promises of power that expected it handed to him. He’s struggling with loss and lashing out and it really is uncertain as to his path because it can go in very different ways overall and both main directions would be really intriguing.
In Summary:
I really enjoyed the original prestige run back in the day but I also get a sense that this Tim Hunter will be moving forward in a different way than we would have seen in the 90’s. The path of a young man is of great focus these days and the choices they make and that has me hopeful that we’ll see a real struggle and exploration from Kat Howard with what he has to face and the forces that will be aligned with him and against him. Tom Fowler does a great job here of making this feel similar to what came before but with his own take on it and I love the way it has a real world and mundane kind of approach with just enough life to tantalize. But I’m also just thrilled that Kat Howard went and made this hugely accessible, touching on the past but also not going overboard in the weirdness just yet or the style of storytelling. I’m very excited by the potential of all of this.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Vertigo Comics
Release Date: October 24th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
