The Books of Magic, Volume 1: Bindings

The Books of Magic #1

by John Ney Rieber (Writer), Gary Amaro (Illustrator), Peter Gross (Illustrator)

Tim Hunter, destined to become Earth's greatest sorcerer, defends the realm of Faerie from the deadly manticore while trying to maintain a normal childhood life. Is his real father the one-armed drunk in the front room or is he the man who can turn into a hawk? Is his mother dead and buried or is she Titania, Queen of Faerie? Plus Death herself weighs in on the subject of identity.

Collecting: The Books of Magic 1-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Young Adult

112 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

John Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer. He has written for the comics The Books of Magic, Captain America, G.I. Joe and Tomb Raider.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spinning out of The Books of Magic miniseries by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton, Tim Hunter is destined to be the next great magician. Time will tell if that will be a good thing or not for the world. This takes a bit to get going but once Tim meets the Manticore I was hooked. I like how Tim doesn't really know what he's doing, acting on instinct. Death's guest appearance in issue 4 is fantastic. I like how these early Vertigo titles were all loosely tied together in the same universe.

[Wing Kee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid start to an interesting series.

World: The art is solid, very much a product of its Vertigo time. The world building is solid also building upon the mini series and also tying it not only into the greater magical DCU but also the Vertigo Sandman universe. The setting is small and down to earth to begin with which allows for the difference when Tim goes to the magical realm to be more special. I like the use of my rival creatures and the imagery and history to build a larger world narrative.

Story: A strong first story which is character based. It does take a while for the story to start and it is a but choppy at times but the message and the emotions come trough. This is a buy that witness something wonderful in the miniseries and now what? Coming back to normalcy and trying to find his place and what he is is a problem and a struggle and that's what this is. This is a more of an origin than the mini series. Where that book was a journey of discovering what he can be and is meant to be this is about him accepting who he is and starting that journey. Solid.

Characters: Tim is surly and a pretty angry kid and the circumstances shows us why. He's not immediately likeable but that's fine cause this is our journey too to discover who he is and it's a strong arc. The other characters like Hamlin and the Manticore are also interesting and offer a unique tone and gateway to the world that Tim will be visiting for the rest of the series. The imagery and the implied emotions and symbolism is good.

A nice little intimate albeit slightly choppy start to a series that should be fun.

Onward to the next book!

[Suvama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something about the writing of these stories makes their readers pause and pay attention.

[Titas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because you are not real either
Sometimes we read and gulp down books that we like. But there are few books that swallow us down and make us think, "Did I read the book or did it read me?"
Neil Gaiman had given us The Books of Magic and after a few years Vertigo decided to launch a series about it which gave us this epic and wonderful product of some great minds.

Volume 1: Bindings reintroduces us to the boy called Tim Hunter who is destined to become the greatest sorcerer of all time. But he is torn between the 'real' world and the 'magical' world where he learns more about his powers (in the hardest way) while trying to save both worlds from colliding with each other. In this first adventure he faces one of the long lost mystical collectors and faces Death (another unbelievable creation of Mr. Gaiman) too.

Reading this book is not just reading. It feels like an experience to be cherished. There are only a very few comics which created this magic e.g. The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes, Death, The Invisibles, Vol. 1: Say You Want a Revolution, Swamp Thing, Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing. Vertigo's line up has always been untraditional, unique, mind bending and mature unlike any other. And Books of Magic is one of shiniest jewels in Vertigo's Crown.

The raged yet classy art and the wonderful colourings just sucked me in and made me forget about where I was. The tensed fight of Tim is spin chilling too. But the best part is when Death shows up. That conversation between Death and Tim is so ironic and symbolic that I had to stop and think about what they were actually meaning. Those are some of the best comics pages I have ever read.

It is a really noticeable conspiracy that how much Timmy looks like Harry Potter. Also, both of them are destiny's children, lost their real parents and on epic magical quests. But whatever it is, I don't care because Tim came out in the early 90s.

So I recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy or magic. Read it and you'll live it too.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's odd, but I haven't read the original Tim Hunter series by Neil Gaiman (Note to Self: Read the Tim Hunter series), as I was reading this 'revival' of Tim Hunter, by John Ney Rieber, all I kept asking myself was what the hell happened for their character to ever needed 'reviving'? I mean, Neil is a genius, Rieber does a remarkable job also, I can't fathom a possibility in which Tim Hunter wasn't done justice to warrant this 'revival'. I'm not complaining, let me get to the point -- this is a brilliant first volume, very brilliant in fact, I'm wondering why it couldn't have been its own thing, rather than being a spinoff of the Original Tim Hunter character... Boy on a quest to find himself, a faerie land in jeopardy, an outcast magician its only hope, plus feature in amazing characters, and, wait, a manticore, a unicorn, and Death. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK but still not super intriguing at all, it didn't leave me very curious about what Tim was going to do next by any means. Death was kind of cool, but pretty preachy too. The fae were stereotypical. And it was really annoying that Gaiman's The Books of Magic was numbered 0 and this is book 1, but somehow there was clearly a big chunk of story missing between the two, since Tim had already met the Falconer and had a terrible experience with him by the beginning of this book. It left me feeling very confused and lost. Eventually I figured out that they met in The Books of Faerie apparently, but since I had to request this book from Interlibrary Loan from across the country and there's no renewing those books, I didn't have time to wait for the other book to arrive before reading this one. I'll probably read it when it comes but I'm not sure yet if I'll request the rest of the series. I don't dislike it but I'm not exactly enjoying it either. It's just not particularly interesting yet.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Tim the main magical character is similar to the famous Harry Potter which is interesting (something about that archetype yields scrawny boys with troubled pasts dark messy hair and glasses). My favorite character was death. She was stunning and cute, easy to relate to yet shes death so has some depth there. She had a simple apartment that reminds me of some of my apartment homes (comforting), teddy bears, and offers tea to ease the transition. I'm looking forward to reading the original Neil Gaiman series where death is introduced. Tim goes through a really interesting adventure where he faces a manticore and rescues Faerie from its dying. He displays a foolish bravery in the face of what could be horrifying for him never yielding to express his quick witted opinion. I think wisdom can be observed anywhere if you are looking and such is true with this story. Happy reading!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bindings (BoM #1-4). Rieber takes faerie as his entry point to the Books of Magic series, and it's a great choice, because it was the strongest and most coherent element of the original series. The questions about Tim's parentage are terrific, but so is his battle against the manticore. Altogether, a great intro to the series proper [5/5].

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over the two decades I've been collecting comics, I've amassed most to all of the collected Books Of Magic trades. I've only read one or two, but imagined I'd get around to reading them all eventually. And since the first volume was by Neil Gaiman , I imagined there would be at least one volume I enjoyed.

So far, not so much.

There's a potentially interesting story here about the difference between heredity and family, and the use of Death is fun, and in-line with Neil Gaiman's use of her in Sandman, but overall the story is underwhelming. It's the same problem with the Gaiman volume, in that the story is more concerned with mythology and the wider-universe than in telling a succinct story or having three-dimensional characters.

When there's barely-to-no depth to characters, their dialogue becomes exposition, be it plot exposition or character exposition. It plays all the notes on the piano, but it hammers the keys instead of allowing crescendos, decrescendos, and tempo changes. Technically, all the elements of the story is there, but there's no grace, joy, or emotion to it.

Like volume one, I finished the volume not caring what happens to Timothy Hunter.

If you love stories about Faerie, or you absolutely must read all of the books that touch upon Gaiman's Preludes & Nocturnes, then this might appeal to you. But it in no way reaches the potential one might imagine if you'd seen an outline for this story.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little weary of how to follow-up Books of Magic mini by Neil but John Ney Rieber nails it.

Basically Tim gets deeper into the magic world as he finds out his dad, isn't his dad. This sets him back, trying to figure out who it can be. Soon he's in a twisted cat and mouse game by a creepy predator. This leads him to have to try to outsmart the creature, and while this is happening we do indeed get the backstory we need to fill in the blanks on who Tim's parents are.

This is great stuff. The start is a little heavy, throwing a lot at you. But once you catch on, and by the end, it all paints a easy picture. Tim has to grow up fast, maybe a bit too fast, and this leaves a kid having to deal with adult situations. On top of that Death makes her appearance here and man is she as great as ever.

Overall, a great volume and I can't wait to read more. A 4 out of 5.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This is a good continuation of what Neil Gaiman started. The new author clearly has some background in mythology that he brings to bear on this story.

I only dock it points because, as a volume, it’s missing a piece.

A prominent character in this volume is already known to Timothy Hunter. I was trying to figure out why there was this assumed familiarity, and eventually had to google it. Apparently there was a special between the original miniseries and this volume that accounts for the references. But to collect a volume and reference something that isn’t collected at all is a weird editorial decision to me. Especially if this series never becomes big in the reboot, and never develops a demand for reprints.

So good writing, weird editorial for the volume

[Gav451 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ongoing series based on the miniseries I read recently. It could have been a mistake to jump into the same character written and drawn by different people. To be fair it did not start well either. I thought it a poor decision to basically give a precis of the mini-series at the start own drawn by a different artist who was given less time. It opened the book up, right from the start to comparisons with the original and it did not fare well within those comparisons. The art was not as good (understandably) and the writing showed nothing because it was not the work of the author.

It does get a lot better as it progresses however. It does not fall into the trap of making Timothy Hunter a supremely powerful wizard straight away. What it does is focus on smaller and ultimately more interesting details and dilemma as he tries to survive. On occasion his survival has larger consequences but he is never knowingly a hero in this volume. The are improves as it beds in as does the writing.

The cast of characters is interesting and varied and the stories do have a magical ethereal quality to them. So as I read it I liked it and the character more and more.

Get past the start and stick with this one. Its a fine read.

[Marc Pastor · Rating 1 out of 5]

És com si a La Història Interminable hi haguessin posat lorazepan.

[Iva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Красива візуально та абсолютно беззмістовна сюжетно річ. Можливо, це такий перший том, але якщо за 100 сторінок так нічого неклішованого не трапилось - це поганий показник.
Хоча, повторюсь: візуально це дуже крута та стилістично витримана річ.

[Ron Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea behind it but the story is very disjointed. Definitely helps if you're familiar with the Vertigo magical universe (Sandman, Constantine).

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 3 out of 5]

A finales de los ochenta, antes incluso de Sandman, Neil Gaiman recibió un encargo de la editorial DC: aclarar el confuso mundo mágico de la editorial, y el autor lo hizo a través de una miniserie de cuatro números, Los Libros del a Magia. En esta miniserie, Gaiman nos presentaba a Tim Hunter, un muchacho que estaba llamado a convertirse en el mago más poderoso del universo, y un grupo formado por cuatro de los personajes mágicos más importantes del Universo DC se presentaría ante Tim para comenzar su educación mágica. John Constantine, el Doctor Occult, el Fantasma Desconocido y Myster E mostraron a Tim el presente, los mundos alternativos, el pasado y el futuro, y al final del cómic, Tim aceptaba la magia. Por cierto, Tim Hunter es un chico de unos trece años, delgaducho y con gafas... Igual Harry Potter no es el primer niño mago de la historia.

Después del éxito de Sandman, evidentemente Gaiman se había convertido en la gallina de los huevos de oro, así que se recuperó Los Libros de la Magia, y se decidió continuar las aventuras del joven Tim Hunter, e incluso para este primer arco, se contó con la aparición de Muerte, la más popular de los Eternos, incluso al nivel del propio Sueño. Para esta serie se contó con los guiones de John Ney Rieber, que en este arco estaría acompañado por los lápices de Gary Amaro y Peter Gross. Y curiosamente, lo primero que hacen en este primer arco, Vínculos, es quitarle a Tim toda aquella normalidad que se le había dado en Los Libros de la Magia. Tim Hunter es un chico normal, que vive un suburbio londinense, que tiende a pasar desapercibido o si atrae atención es la de los matones, con un padre sumido en su propia desesperación tras la pérdida de su mujer y que vive de una minusvalía debido a que ha perdido un brazo. Y eso era parte del encanto de Tim, esa carga de normalidad, casi de azar en el hecho de ser el mago más poderoso del mundo. Pero en Vínculos, vamos a conocer a Tamlin, el Halconero de la reina Titania de Faerie, que va a desafiar a la propia reina para demostrarle algo que ella se empeña en ignorar: hay algo que está acabando con Faerie poco a poco, y es la pérdida de sus vínculos con la realidad. Y Tamlin, que es un mago humano, está dispuesto a destruir Faerie para que Titania acepte la realidad.

Y tras huir de la reina, desvela que es el padre de Tim. Así que cuando Titania consigue capturar al Halconero y llevarle de vuelta a Faerie, Tim va a acudir en su búsqueda, y tendrá que hacer frente a la criatura que está rompiendo los vínculos de Faerie con el mundo: la Mantícora, o una interpretación realmente ingeniosa que hace John Ney Rieber de esta criatura mitológica, que va eliminando todo lo mágico como producto de la superchería, incluidos sus propios estudiantes... entre los que quiere se cuente Tim.

En fin, la historia es entretenida y el dibujo cumple, quizá el final es un poco precipitado, y a lo mejor no estoy del todo de acuerdo con la revisión familiar de Tim Hunter, precisamente porque pasa de no ser nadie a ser el hijo bastardo de la reina de las hadas, pero en fin, es una lectura interesante, a pesar de los años que han pasado desde su primera publicación.

[K.S. Trenten · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engrossing sequel to the original Books of Magic, although more focused and less larger than multi-universe than Tim’s introductory story. There appears to be a tale in between of how Tim first met Tamlin which I would very much like to read. I hope I can still find The Children’s Crusade in print. This, however, contains enchantment, a threat to enchantment, engrossing characters, including one of the most frightening and fascination villains I’ve ever encountered in fiction, a cameo appearance of one of DC Vertigo’s most likeable characters, and the further development of Timothy Hunter as a magician and a person. We catch a glimpse of Tim’s home life, the people who’ve already taken an interest in Tim’s destiny, and a menace to all of Faerie, not to mention Tim personally. The manticore takes the idea of the perverse, child eating predator to the next level as a teacher, donning Enlightenment style attire, educating the young out of their dreams and illusions before hunting down and devouring his students. In doing so, he taps into a potent source of power, which drains more from worlds than anyone who imagine. The menace he poses seems so contained, so personal to Tim and the other children he targets, yet it has wide reaching effects. Disbelief can be deadly, which the manticore showcases in his lair. Determined to add Tim Hunter to his collection, addressing him by a number of edible pet names, hiding his multiple mouths behind a false face, this villain manages to terrify and fascinate as only an erudite monster can. He makes quite the perilous obstacle for Tim, not only as an adversary who longs for tender prey, but as the mentor who could scar a boy for life, who is struggling to learn.

Family and a variety of mentors present themselves in various forms in this volume whom Tim must accept for who they are and/or decide to avoid. He illustrates some of the perils a child growing up faces, as well as a developing mage, in spite of others’s desire to protect him. Tim shows that a child can triumph in spite of all the dangers waiting to disillusion and/or devour him, growing more self assured as an individual, in spite of whomever abandons, curses, or tries to exploit him. For showing all of these things in striking art work and evocative prose, I give this book four stars.

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil Gaiman –

Yes, THE Neil Gaiman –

Started this world building off with a limited series and then John Ney Reiber, Gary Amaro and a host of DC Vertigo creators collaborated on this title that would run for 75 issues back in the Vertigo heyday of the 90s.

I found a stack of these in a local comic book shop and so am off on this cool journey.

Protagonist Tim Hunter is a kid in England who may have some formidable powers. He also may or may not be the actual son of a one armed drunk, OR the son of a magical being who can turn into a hawk. His mother may be dead or Titania, queen of Faerie.

There’s a manticore –

Yes, THE manticore, the magical beast who causes all kinds of problems,

AND!

A unicorn –

AND!

Gaiman’s goth girl Death straight from the Endless family makes a cameo

And this is just a cool start to what looks to be a cool series. Not perfect, but the writing and art is really good, I really like the dark tones used in all the Vertigo titles and I’m off to read some more.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, this series, of which I own volumes 1 and 2, was spawned from another graphic by Neil Gaiman. Apparently, I read that in 2007. Apparently, I remember nothing about it at all. I still have it, though, so perhaps I will re-read it.

I was not overly impressed by this volume. The world was interesting, involving faerie, and including the Manticore, but the story, itself, didn't grab me. The artwork was good, and I especially enjoyed the introduction by Jane Yolen, which spoke highly of the value of story. I'm a big believer in "story," and think that it is highly underrated in our society.

In this volume, we follow a young man named Timothy, who discovers that, perhaps, the person he lives with may not be his actual father. Instead, his father appears to be someone from the fae community, who goes by the name of Tamlin and is also known as Falconer.

Tim sets out to find out the truth, but, in doing so gets trapped in the realm of the manticore, a deadly monster who has Faerie under his spell.

The interactions between characters, in my opinion, seemed to lack depth. Even Death, when introduced later in the book, didn't have the kind of depth that Gaiman's Death had.

Maybe volume 2, Summonings, will be better.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Timothy Hunter. His life story is an exercise in wrong place, wrong time. A full 7 years before the introduction of Harry Potter to the masses, 12-year-old magician in training Timothy Hunter debuted in a 4-issue limited series from DC Comics and writer Neil Gaiman. Based on the success of that series, DC later made Tim’s exploit’s a regular monthly occurrence as part of their Vertigo imprint. “Bindings,” the first story arc in the ongoing series collects the first 4 issues, and is detailed below:

After a brief recap over the first couple of pages, where we meet Tim and get to understand a little bit about his life and way of thinking through diary entries, we meet Falconer, a magical being who has the rare ability to see beyond the lie cast by Titania, the queen of Faerie, which is in place to give everyone the illusion that the kingdom is thriving, when in reality it’s on the verge of death. Falconer wakes the Queen from a nap and tells her he’s brought her a gift: Truth. He then takes off, leaving Faerie, as Titania finally sees her land as it really is. It seems she’s been under her own spell for centuries as well, but now that she’s awake, she sees the desolation as well.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Falconer confronts 12-year-old Timothy Hunter with a big surprise.

“Ask Tim. He’s the magician.”
“What did you say?”
“You may know nothing, boy…but you’re no less a magician for all that. Magic is in you.”

But before Falconer can get any further in whatever it is he’s come to Earth to do, he’s summoned back to Faerie under threat of harm to young Tim. After Falconer leaves, Tim is given one last shock.

“Do not worry about your father,” says the man Falconer was talking to in the park. “He’s always been in trouble, and he always will be.”

Confused, hurt, angry, Tim goes home, looking for proof that his father--who rarely even acknowledges the boy’s existence anymore since Tim’s mother’s death--is really his father. Or proof that he’s not, whichever is more convincing. Finally, Tim remembers something else Falconer said, Magic responds to need. Well, Tim decides, he needs to know, now.

Magic flares up and when Tim opens his eyes, he finds himself in an unfamiliar place, in the courtyard of a strange school run by a very dangerous character who strikes a bargain with Tim. Play a game of hide and seek, and if Tim wins, the creature will tell Tim who his father is. If Tim loses, well, Tim has to stay here and take instruction, and eventually get eaten. Tim takes him up on his deal, but uses his time to explore the “school” and look for clues as to the identity of his mysterious host.

The man isn’t a man at all, but a manticore, a dangerous mythological creature. Tim uses his magic to bring to life a unicorn which dispatches the manticore, but not before Tim suffers a scratch on his arm. That’s bad news, because manticore venom, as Falconer laments over the dying body of his son, is incurable.

I found “Bindings” to be a good story, a decent introduction to the Tim Hunter character, but it also acknowledges this isn’t his first adventure. Having never read the original 4-issue Gaiman series, however, I think “Bindings” starts off just right.

Writer John Ney Reiber doesn’t seem as if he wants his series to be all about the magic or all about the wonder. He wants Tim to be as human a character as possible. Hell, in this first story alone, Tim dies. His body is shriveled and mummified due to the venom in his veins. The climax and resolution to that dilemma was a touch cliché, but it was well-played nonetheless and the moment Falconer makes his exit is touching and well-rendered.

The obvious parallels to those books about another young wizard in training crop up in plot points here and there. But of the two THE BOOKS OF MAGIC is the one that relies less heavily on the magic and focuses more on the main character and his struggles with whether or not he wants to pursue these avenues that are now open to him.

Sure it would be awesome to be the world’s most powerful magician (which is one possibility set before our young hero. Naturally he could be the greatest. No one ever tells stories of the mid-level competent magicians or the magicians who are really bad at magic, but have a heart of gold and lots of moxy), but for Tim Hunter, his normal life seems depressing enough, living in London in the early 1990s with an alcoholic absentee father and no mother, does he really need to add even more stress to what is already a less-than-desirable life?

I guess we’ll see just how he handles these new possibilities as the series unfolds. For now, we’ve got “Bindings”, and I for one enjoyed it.

Art is provided by Gary Amaro and Peter Gross who, while not the slickest artists on the page, I think their styles lend themselves well to 1990s London. There’s something very dark in Amaro’s renderings, although I feel at times his storytelling ability may not have been at its strongest back then. As for panel layout, he seems to have a few preferred templates, which he uses over and over. It’s not too noticeable at first, but if you look for it, then you notice it clear as day. This isn’t a bad thing, his layouts work, but I thought since I noticed it just by leafing through the book, I would mention it. Gross’s layout is pretty plain, but his pencils are sharp and very good.

I read THE BOOKS OF MAGIC when it was originally published for a short time back in the early 1990s. The series ran for 75 issues, but I don’t remember how many of those I have, and there’s not one moment of the entire series that I recall from those first readings, so working through these trade paperback editions will be just as new for me as if I’d never picked up the book. But I can safely say with “Bindings” in place, I like what I’ve seen so far and am intrigued enough to keep going. That’s good enough for me.

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il fatto che sia un numero #1 è piuttosto fuorviante: la storia di Tim Hunter ha radici ben lontane, e qui sono presentati i numeri 57-61 della serie. Quando Gross ha preso le redini della storia e ha iniziato a raccontare lo scontro fra un depotenziato Tim Huner e il suo doppio malvagio e vampiro, che arriva a lui dopo aver distrutto un migliaio di mondi. La storia è raccontata benissimo, e l'impressione, come per il sodale di Gross su Lucifer / Unwritten, è di costante controllo delle dinamiche della storia e degli obiettivi. Il ritorno di Tim Hunter è un bellissimo volume che un appassionato di certo immaginario magico Vertigo non può farsi sfuggire. Da leggere. In particolare per l'annual con il retroscena sul Tim malvagio e per i racconti su Faerie.

[Lisa Feld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rereading this for the first time in more than a decade, it's a gorgeous exploration of the magic of the faerie realms. There's other stuff that's closer to my heart now, but this still gets credit for being one of the early examples of urban fantasy, generating a wealth of ideas that other authors took and ran with.

[Shaun Phelps · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I'd read this, and maybe I hadn't. The story is pretty good, overall. I get a little frustrated that most situations are not resolved through intentional action; instead, the protagonist is frequently saved by others impacted positively by his unpleasant bumbling around. I guess it's fairly relatable, in it's fantastical way.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

I’m not always a big graphic novel person, but this one was GREAT. Set in the same universe as Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman series, it follows it own through line, with Gaiman characters appearing at times.

I truly enjoyed this a lot. I hope to read the rest of them. Much deeper and more thorough than most graphic novels, in my opinion.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a cumbersome read. Put it down for a few days, picked it back up, and it's like my mind didn't care enough to remember all the many threads this book introduced. The story needed to be much simpler to work, and a lot of the story threads end really weirdly.

[Daniel Ashley Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the original Books of Magic, it was one of the first graphic novels i ever read, reading this series has been very enjoyable, the art beautiful and some excellent story telling, I was sorry when it ended.

[Andres Tovar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creo que me ah faltado un volumen por leer , pero al principio me costó entenderle , ya después me atrapó la historia es muy interesante el mundo en el que está ambientado , y ya quiero saber qué pasa con tim

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this new series I thought it started with #5 because the original series was 1-4. Then after reading about 20 issues I found the "new" 1-4 (this one). Good stuff. Wish I would have read it first, probably would have made things make a little more sense.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've determined Gaiman is just not for me. I'm not smart enough for his eloquent poetic verse to understand the plot or story. I was lost most of the time trying to determine who the characters were or why they care about each other.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great start to Tim’s adventure after Neil Gaimen’s introduction to the world. I enjoy other characters showing up from different comics in the series and look forward to further adventures. Very enjoyable.