Books of Magic series?

[taozen]

I have and really enjoyed Gaiman's mini :cool: (or course) but is the series worth seeking out? Which story runs or other mini series should I pick up?

How were these BOM stories or various mini series?

The Names of Magic,
Hunter: The Age of Magic
Life During Wartime Hellblazer/Books of Magic
Arcana: The Books of Magic

Thanks in advance!

[Shellhead]

I enjoy Neil Gaiman's writing, but the Books of Magic series was even better than the mini-series, despite being written by a different writer. And when I say better, I mean much better. No offense to Gaiman... his mini works decently as an intro to the magic aspects of the DCU. But the main series has better stories, better characterization, and better dialogue. The artwork isn't quite as fancy as that in the mini, but it tells the story better, and really conveys emotion.

[Spastic Minnow]

The John Ney Reiber's BoM started off fantastic but slowly got worse and if you go the trade route I'd recommend skipping his final collection. He rather pointlessly does bad things to characters you like ("pointless" was the key word in that sentence) and is just a chapter of his story I like to leave alone.

It is a shame that Peter Gross's run was never collected though. It started off slow but overall was a fantastic story.

Arcana was a one-shot, prequel, Annual that tells an important story that should have been collected in the first trade but was instead later added to one of the Book's of Faerie trades (not bad minis either).

Names of Magic was a good little mini that promised a new beginning/dircetion for Tim.

Unfortunately that direction made him the angsty/cool 20-something of Hunter. It wasn't a horrible series, definitely had it's good bits, but it changed his character too much. A cocky gen x/y guy.

Life During Wartime was a very interesting idea but also a bit too dark and dense to be easily enjoyed. It's almost like the writer should have made the story into an original novel without pigeonholing Tim and the DC magic world into it.

When will they bring Tim back? What new direction will they have for him? I figure it's inevitiable... like new verisons of Swamp Thing and reboots of Doom Patrol, someone will always try.

[Ben Akers]

I'd love to see Vertigo pick up where Hunter: Age of Magic left off.

You could have an older/wiser Tim Hunter return. I'd buy it.

[Indigo Al]

Life During Wartime was a very interesting idea but also a bit too dark and dense to be easily enjoyed. It's almost like the writer should have made the story into an original novel without pigeonholing Tim and the DC magic world into it.


Agreed, I was completely confused by Life During Wartime, and found it a bit over-the-top ridiculous.

That said, the original mini is one of my favorite series ever.

[dancj]

I really liked the TPB of Life During Wartime. I'm still looking out for the remaining issues.

[FanboyStranger]

I really liked the TPB of Life During Wartime. I'm still looking out for the remaining issues.

It actually gets a lot better as what is actually going on becomes more clear. (It's there in the first few issues, but hidden between the lines.) By issue 10, it was one of my most anticipated titles of the month, even though it was evident that the book was doomed. Everything comes full circle by issue 12, and the last three issues are great as well.

[noh-varr]

I really enjoyed Hunter Age of Magic. It was great until the last storyline became well the last storyline of the series. It was abrupt but well that's what happens when series are canceled. The first two story lines are fantastic and really show an aging Tim Hunter very well imo. Names of Magic was a great lead in as well and by the same writer. I thought the Books of Magic series was a bit uneven in it's execution myself. And Life During Wartime had great covers but by the 2nd issue not only did I really have little idea what was going on, I just didn't care.

[dancj]

I haven't read Age of Magic, but I thought Names of Magic was pretty lame.

[cpahl2000]

I'd love to see Vertigo pick up where Hunter: Age of Magic left off.

You could have an older/wiser Tim Hunter return. I'd buy it.


I would buy for sure. As a huge BoM fan I´d like to see an older version of Tim, he is needed in Vertigo, I miss him a lot and for some time he is off radar.

DC should bring Books Of Magic back.