The Books of Magic

Deluxe hard back edition, released in 2013 to mark the 20th anniversary of this story. It contains the 4 stories collected together, telling the story of Tim Hunter, who meets 4 mysterious men (John Constantine etc), who show him a path of magic, should he chose to follow it.

Each story is one of the men showing him a magical world, that dazes and confuses him. Some previous Gaiman characters (some of the Endless) make a special appearance.

Despite several different artists completing the graphics, there's a decent continuity between the stories, and Dream and Death look the same as normal. Dave McKean is nowhere near this, but it's very similar to his work too.

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Timothy Hunter is destined to be the greatest mage of his age--but for good or evi? Four masters must show him what magic is and leave him to chose: Mr. E, Dr. Occult, the Stranger and John Constanine.

This was pretty good, but there were some moments when it felt a little "long in the tooth." The point of the graphic novel, which actually collects a four-issue story, is to introduce Tim Hunter, a young 12-year old boy to the world of magic. He has the potential to be a great magician someday, but he has to choose to follow the path. He has four guides who will show him parts of the path along the way. If you like myth and fantasy, this is a book for you. Don't expect a lot of action; there is not that much of that. It is a lot of exposition, which is why I liked it, but I don't love it. I will add that the art of the book is excellent overall, and it goes along with the story very well. Overall, the set serves to set up Tim's future adventures. It is written by Neil Gaiman, so you can be assured it is well written and good stuff, but as I said, it is mostly an expository piece.

By the way, readers who enjoy this book would probably enjoy Alan Moore's Promethea, which has a very similar feel to this book. Moore's work does have some action to it. ( )

Neil Gaiman and illustrators John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, Paul Johnson, and Roger Zelazny take readers on a journey through the magical realm of the DC Universe in The Books of Magic. When twelve-year-old Timothy Hunter shows signs of becoming the most powerful magician in the DC Universe, John Constantine, the Stranger, Dr. Occult, and Mr. E. show him the past, present, alternate worlds, and future of magic, with appearances from Etrigan, Zatanna, Titania of Faerie, and three of the Endless: Dream, Destiny, and Death. The story shows both the beauty and price of magic, as Timothy faces the choice between being a part of the magical world or rejecting it. This story is Gaiman at his best, with a sense of the mythic and beautiful that also has an underlying current of danger, which only makes the world more enticing.

This 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition comes in a lovely hardcover and includes excerpts from Neil Gaiman’s script notes, pencil work, and thumbnails from Books III and IV. Since DC retired its Vertigo imprint, the book features the DC Black Label imprint and The Sandman Universe Classics banner on its cover livery. ( )

Rather a who's who of the DC comic world of magic, mixed with a bit of real magic.

What? Real magic? As in great storytelling, great art, a big portion of myth and a much more huge portion of fascination? You bet!

A kid very much like Harry Potter might have been starts a journey of discovery, with four wise(ass) men from the magical side of Detective Comics, ostensibly to see if he wants to keep upon the path of a magical destiny. Give him the principles and a feel for the cost, show him the dark side, let him hope for the light, and put him in constant peril while keeping an eye on him... or not.

All told, it's one hell of a journey less like the Inferno and more like a dive into the human psyche to revel in our imagination and our sense of wonder.

For all that, it works brilliantly.

Whatever happened to our sense of wonder, anyway? Perhaps it's just slumbering, waiting for that one good story to kiss us and shock us awake after long last?

This one feels like a genuine Gaiman even though it's filled to the brim with stock DC franchise characters. The point is the journey, after all, not the reiteration of the franchises. :) ( )