Deron Generally
Deron Generally
Books of Magic #1
DC Comics/Vertigo
Written by Kat Howard
Art by Tom Fowler
Colors by Jordan Boyd
A young boy named Timothy Hunter has a choice to make. After being shown worlds within reach of his potential for magic, Timothy is offered a choice. He can choose to either be mundane or choose magic. He makes the choice we all would at that age and that might be the biggest mistake in his short life. In the real world, Tim Hunter has to deal with the mundane. He’s bullied at school, falls asleep in class and the magic tricks he tries to impress people with fall short. After getting into a fight, his teacher decides to give him his first book of magic to learn.
Unfortunately, he can’t read it.
Tim has to go home and deal with more of his mundane life after visiting a friend in the park. When the book finally starts to respond to him and he reads the first two pages, he becomes disillusioned with the fact that the book doesn’t reveal everything too him. Unbeknownst to Tim, there are forces at work who don’t want to read any books of magic at all and they have sent someone to stop him.
The first issue of Books of Magic starts a little slow, but it crafting an interesting story, especially in the first few pages. There are some obvious shades of Harry Potter in the story, but Howard does a great job of keeping the story grounded and the characters realistic. Tim is a good kid, but he’s not perfect. He doesn’t have the wide-eyed curiosity one would expect from a kid learning magic. He has his own reasons and agendas and those look like they are going to fuel much of the drama in this book.
Fowler’s art works well with this story, he gives the characters some great facial expressions, and character movements that make the story move at a good pace. I look forward to seeing where this story goes next based on the well drawn final page.
Books of Magic #1
