The Annotated Books of Magic
Edited and largely written by Neil 'Sledge' Allan
Issue 1: "Tearing Down"
John Ney Reiber, Gary Amaro, Peter Gross
First part of storyline "Bindings"
Reprinted in trade paperback "Bindings"
Disclaimer: The Books of Magic and all characters, their distinctive
likenesses and related indicia are trademarks of DC Comics. The Books
of Magic and this annotation are intended for mature audiences only.
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Cover: Mostly major characters in this issue. From left to right -
Titania, Puck, Tamlin, King Arthur, Kenny, the Amadan and below,
Timothy Hunter. Only King Arthur does not appear in this issue, he
is Tamlin's mentor. Of note, the 3 little creatures on Tim's
footboard, and the birds flying off of his wallpaper.
Page 1 panel 2: Bill Hunter first appeared in The Books of Magic
(mini-series) #4. He was created by Neil Gaiman and Paul Johnson.
And yes, he's missing his right arm. More on that later.
panel 3: Timothy Hunter first appeared in The Books of
Magic (mini-series) #1. He was created by Neil Gaiman and John
Bolton. Tim talks to himself a lot, as we shall see, and this is
probably why. He's a loner, living with just his dad, who isn't
exactly a wonderful conversationalist.
panel 6: Look at the doodles on his notebook. Most of these
are throw-aways, but three are relevant. 'MAGIC' (kinda obvious), the
owl (Tim had an owl familiar in the mini-series, by the name of Yo-yo),
and to the right of the owl, a fedora-ed head with shaded eyes that
bears an uncanny resemblance to the Phantom Stranger (one of Tim's
guides in the mini-series).
Page 2 panel 1: Old Henderson is apparently Tim's general science
teacher. Tim's 13, so could someone tell me what form that puts him
in? Does anyone know what Robert Mitchum film he's writing about here?
panel 2: Tim's writing with a feather!
Page 3 panel 1: Does anyone have a reference on Sarisen, Citadel of
the Dusk?
panel 2: Tamlin first appeared in Arcana: The Books of Magic
Annual #1 which was part of the Vertigo crossover, The Children's Crusade.
He was created by John Ney Reiber and Peter Gross.
Page 4, panel 1: My Lady: Titania, Queen of Fairie.
panel 3: Tamlin is a (the?) Falconer; he can in fact change into
such a bird of prey.
panel 4: Obviously Tamlin prefers to go au naturel. He's also a
mortal (a 500 year old shapeshifting resident of Faerie, but a mortal).
Does anyone have a reference on Mazaran, Elflord, Paladin of Faerie?
panel 5: My Queen: Titania, again.
panel 6: Clayborn: man born of clay - some sort of faerie insult
to humans
Page 6 panel 3: Reference on Paladin?
panel 6: "To see, to change ... is Man's Magic" - therefore Tim's
magic as well.
panel 7: Foreshadowing - your guide to quality literature.
Page 7 panel 4: Apparently Titania and Tamlin had a thing a while back.
panel 6: Obviously Tamlin's conjured some little spell to cause a
storm that removes the glamours covering the heart of Faerie.
Page 10 panel 2: A child together ...
panel 3: Notice the dead leaves, withering vines and cracked
banister. Signs of Faerie's decay.
Page 11: In the trade paperback volume Titania doesn't have green skin
on this page. This is obviously a colourist's error.
Page 12 panel 4: "This London" - are there other London's or is Tamlin
speaking chronologically?
Page 13 panel 7: On Tim's dresser: Yo-yo, swiss army knife, a magical
stone that Tamlin gave him in the Arcana Annual, pocket watch. In Tim's
hand: the key to open worlds, exchanged with Titania in the miniseries #3.
Page 14 panel 3: The angel's not going anywhere, it's wings are too small
for flying. Numerous Vertigo references including: Remiel and Duma in Hell
(Sandman - Season of Mists); Lucifer on Earth (ditto); Gabriel (The Snob)
now deceased (Hellblazer - Fear and Loathing); Araquel? (Books of Magic -
Stay tuned)
panel 7: Puppies - stay tuned for relevance.
panel 8: Bird Cage - stay tuned for relevance.
Page 15 panel 1: Tamlin as a falcon and some damn cute puppies.
panel 7: "Knives and nets and creepo sidekicks" - in Arcana, Tamlin
abducted Tim to Faerie with these devices.
Page 16 panel 1: "Another test" - the first one was in Arcana, concerning
dying, in the barrenlands of Faerie.
Page 17 panel 3: It would appear that in order for Tamlin to turn into a
bird, he must leave his clothes behind.
panel 5: Kenny. He seems quite at home with magic in general and
Tamlin in particular.
panel 6: This clasp is reminiscent of Morpheus'.
Page 18 panel 2: Check out the bird on Kenny's shoulder. It's eyes follow
Tim for the rest of this issue.
panel 5: Shirley MacLaine - actress and firm beleiver in psychics,
paranormal phenomena, UFO's etc...
panel 7: How old is Kenny? He seems to be another Mad Hettie type.
Page 20 panel 3 (inset): You can finally see that it's a Superman button that
Kenny's wearing.
Page 21 panel 1: "A fine boy you have there, Tam" - foreshadowing. You can
see it coming, can't you?
Page 22 panel 3: Would a revolver be of any help against baddies in Faerie?
In any case, Kenny knows that Tam's in trouble. They've probably met up
fairly recently because Kenny's got all this stuff ready.
Page 23 panel 4: The Amadan - obviously from Faerie - any references out
there?
Page 25 panel 3 (inset): Tamlin knows what the Amadan can do, and ain't too
happy with the thought.
panel 5: Any reference on swearing by oak and ash and thorn? The
'oh god he's hurting me' is from Tim, in case you didn't get that.
panel 6: compare to 25:2. That's one ugly beast.
Page 26 panel 2: Tamlin will obviously sacrifice a lot for Tim. How much?
panel 3: "Power resides in little things" - Tim is a little thing,
relatively speaking.
Page 27 panel 6: "your father" - Wahoo!! Welcome to revelation city!
Page 28: Just curious, did Kenny leave without his backpack and bundle seen
on page 17?
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