THE PAGE

The best way to begin a story is from the beginning. The best place to finish a story is at its end. The Books of Magic is a story in the truest sense of the word, however, it's format is not. Consequently, it's not always possible to start the story from the beginning. The miniseries came out in 1990 and '91, and the regular series has been coming out monthly since March of 1994. The point is you may be missing an issue or two out of the thirty-plus that have shipped so far. So here's where you can catch up on the story and meet the characters.

Before John Ney Reiber started writing on the Books of Magic, he was not a household name in the comics industry by any means. People were convinced that he was just going to ride on the coattails of the title's creator, Neil Gaiman, and turn the title into something not entirely worthy of either the Vertigo imprint, or their support. Reading the next year's worth of letter columns in BoM was almost funny, as letter after letter basically apologizing to John for doubting his skills and motives, and then extolling his incredible virtue, often even comparing him with Mr. Gaiman himself. The point is: John Ney Reiber's an incredibly good writer, and has a great knack for dialogue. Here's some of the Books of Magic's best lines.

Tim Hunter apparently has the potential to be one of the greatest mages in history, and he's learning to control his power quickly. The cool thing is that Tim's uses of magic aren't necessarily those that we have been culturally trained to expect. He uses magic the way a fourteen year-old East Londoner whose having problems with his family would use it. Here's the comprehensive list of the magic Tim has done.

Sledge's Ledge and all related insignia are © 1996 Neil Allan
Vertigo, The Books of Magic, and all associated text, graphics and insignia are © 1996 DC Comics
This page was constructed by NRK Graphix.
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