The Books of Magic

Cover for the Italian edition of the series.

The Books of Magic is the title of a four-issue English-language comic book miniseries written by Neil Gaiman, and later an ongoing series, published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, it has also been published in a single-volume collection with an introduction by author Roger Zelazny. It tells the story of a young boy who has the potential to become the world's greatest magician.

Miniseries

The Books of Magic began as a four-issue miniseries written by Neil Gaiman, published in 1990 and 1991. Each issue was illustrated by a different artist: "The Invisible Labyrinth" by John Bolton, "The Shadow World" by Scott Hampton, "The Land of Summer's Twilight" by Charles Vess, and "The Road to Nowhere" by Paul Johnson.

In Book I, "The Invisible Labyrinth", Timothy Hunter is approached by four of the DC Universe's mystical heroes, and, after agreeing to the tour, is shown the DC Universe's past by the Phantom Stranger. In Book II, "The Shadow World", Tim is shown around the DC Universe's present by John Constantine. In Book III, "The Land of Summer's Twilight", Doctor Occult shows Tim the Land of Faerie, with brief stopovers in a number of other otherworlds (including the Dreaming). In Book IV, "The Road to Nowhere", Mister E shows Tim the DC Universe's future (or, at least, one of its possible futures), and Tim faces a decision about whether to try and fulfill his potential, or to live out his life as a normal person.

Ongoing comic book series

After the miniseries, Tim Hunter came back in Arcana Annual, the sixth part of The Children's Crusade (Vertigo comics) series. The Arcana name was changed back to Books of Magic in an ongoing comic book series about the further adventures of Timothy Hunter. This series was written by John Ney Rieber (issues #1-50) and Peter Gross (issues #51-75), it ran from May 1994 to August 2000.

The depiction of Tim Hunter's life continued in a five-issue mini-series called The Names of Magic, in which Tim learnt his true name (Timothy Hunter; Tamar, son of Tamlin; The Opener; The Merlin; Magic) and was accepted into the school of magic, known simply as White School, which exists across the Multiverse of Worlds in DC. Another ongoing called Hunter: The Age of Magic (25 issues) followed shortly after this series ended. It ran from September 2001 to September 2003, and told of his graduation and what happened to him afterwards.

Another series, Books of Magick: Life During Wartime began in July 2004 and lasted fifteen issues. This series depicts two Earths, both of which have a strong connection to an alternate version of Tim Hunter. On one of these worlds a war is going on between humans (known as the Bred) and the races of the Faerie (known as the Born). The world is ruled by the Born, but there is a resistance made up of both Born and Bred that features versions of Zatanna and John Constantine among others. The second world is one made by Tim Hunter as a place of safety where he can hide from his enemies.

Novels

In 2003 HarperCollins began publishing a series of Books of Magic children's novels under the Eos imprint, adapted from the comics series by Carla Jablonski.

The Books of Magic 1: The Invitation ISBN 0064473791
The Books of Magic 2: Bindings ISBN 0064473805
The Books of Magic 3: The Children's Crusade ISBN 0064473813
The Books of Magic 4: Consequences ISBN 0-06-447382-1
The Books of Magic 5: Lost Places ISBN 0-06-447383-X
The Books of Magic 6: Reckonings ISBN 0-06-447384-8

The first book is based on the original miniseries. The subsequent books are based on story arcs in the second series, except The Children's Crusade, which is based on the Vertigo crossover event of the same name.

Spin-off

There were also several spin-off mini-series set in the Faerie realm, entitled The Books of Faerie. One series documents the misadventures of Molly, Tim's sometimes girlfriend, when she accidentally becomes trapped in Faerie. Another documents Auberon's rise to power while yet another documents Titania's.

Similarities with Harry Potter

Many people have noticed similarities between Timothy Hunter — a bespectacled English teenager with family troubles who has a magical owl as a pet — and the later and more famous Harry Potter. Neil Gaiman has been quoted as saying that while there are similarities between the two they are largely superficial and most likely reflect the fact that both draw on common archetypes.

The original mini series was published long before the Harry Potter series.

Trade paperback collections

Ongoing comic book series

Bindings (Issues #1-4)
1. "Bindings: Prologue"
2. "Bindings": Parts 1-3
Summonings (Issues #5-13)
1. "The Hidden School"
2. "Sacrifices: Parts 1-3"
3. "The Artificial Heart": Parts 1-3
4. "Small Glass Worlds": Parts 1-2
Reckonings(Issues #14-20)
1. "What Fire Leaves Us"
2. "Playgrounds": Parts 1-6
Transformations (Issues #21-25)
1. "Heavy Petting"
2. "Needlepoint"
3. "And Sure in Language Strange She Said"
4. "Used to Bes"
Girl in the Box (Issues #26-32)
1. "Rites of Passage: Prologue"
2. "Rites of Passage": Parts 1-6
The Burning Girl (Issues #33-41)
1. "Rites of Passage": Parts 7-11
2. "Rites of Passage: Conclusion"
3. "Solitaire"
4. "The Motherless"
5. "Nothing Up My Sleeve"
Death After Death (Issues #42-50)
1. "The Bridge"
2. "King of This"
3. "Slave of Heavens: Prologue"
4. "Slave of Heavens": Parts 1-4
5. "Slave of Heavens": Conclusion
6. "The Box"

The remaining issues remain uncollected.

Books of Magick: Life During Wartime

Life During Wartime (Issues #1-5)
1. "Have You Seen the Stars Tonight"
2. "Storm Warning"
3. "War Babies"
4. "The Diplomacy of Monsters"
5. "Passing in a River"

External links

Roots of the Swamp thing - An extremely detailed timiline chronicling all the events of Swamp Thing, Hellblazer and related titles (including Books of Magic) in chronological order, spanning millions of years of DC/Vertigo history