Paul Johnson (22) (1958–)

Rather a who's who of the DC comic world of magic, mixed with a bit of real magic.

What? Real magic? As in great storytelling, great art, a big portion of myth and a much more huge portion of fascination? You bet!

A kid very much like Harry Potter might have been starts a journey of discovery, with four wise(ass) men from the magical side of Detective Comics, ostensibly to see if he wants to keep upon the path of a magical destiny. Give him the principles and a feel for the cost, show him the show more dark side, let him hope for the light, and put him in constant peril while keeping an eye on him... or not.

All told, it's one hell of a journey less like the Inferno and more like a dive into the human psyche to revel in our imagination and our sense of wonder.

For all that, it works brilliantly.

Whatever happened to our sense of wonder, anyway? Perhaps it's just slumbering, waiting for that one good story to kiss us and shock us awake after long last?

This one feels like a genuine Gaiman even though it's filled to the brim with stock DC franchise characters. The point is the journey, after all, not the reiteration of the franchises. :) show less

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors and one of my favorite things about him is his unabashed, genuine, passionate love of story and myth. The Sandman is his greatest work because it allowed him to delve deep into this love and while I love or at least enjoy almost all of his other work, The Books of Magic is really the only thing I've read that captures that same magical enthusiasm that made The Sandman so captivating and thought-provoking so long ago.

In typical Sandman fashion this show more story is low on conflict but high on powerful themes. Basically, a group of DC characters with magical leanings decide that it's time to teach a boy about magic, because he could be the greatest magician of his age, and because others are eyeing the boy with envy and they want to make sure he knows all the choices laid out before him (obviously hoping that he will choose to use his magic for good).

What follows is, quite simply, magic. Pardon the pun, but really, it is. Between the illustrations, the themes, and Gaiman's beautiful prose this book made me feel like Alice, tumbling down the rabbit hole.

They show the boy how the universe was born, and how it ends. They show him the various planes of existence that exist beside our own: Faerie, Hell, The Dreaming, etc. Dream, Death, Destiny, Cain, and Abel from The Sandman all make an appearance. Many other DC characters I wasn't familiar with do as well.

My favorite line from the book was from Titania, queen of faerie, and perfectly shows off Gaiman's masterful prose which washes over you like a waterfall and smashes into you like a tsunami:

"You wish to see the distant realms? Very well. But know this first: the places you will visit, the places that you will see, do not exist. For there are only two worlds--your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy...These worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power, provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning. They do not exist; and thus they are all that matters." show less

Neil Gaiman and illustrators John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess, Paul Johnson, and Roger Zelazny take readers on a journey through the magical realm of the DC Universe in The Books of Magic. When twelve-year-old Timothy Hunter shows signs of becoming the most powerful magician in the DC Universe, John Constantine, the Stranger, Dr. Occult, and Mr. E. show him the past, present, alternate worlds, and future of magic, with appearances from Etrigan, Zatanna, Titania of Faerie, and three show more of the Endless: Dream, Destiny, and Death. The story shows both the beauty and price of magic, as Timothy faces the choice between being a part of the magical world or rejecting it. This story is Gaiman at his best, with a sense of the mythic and beautiful that also has an underlying current of danger, which only makes the world more enticing.

This 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition comes in a lovely hardcover and includes excerpts from Neil Gaiman’s script notes, pencil work, and thumbnails from Books III and IV. Since DC retired its Vertigo imprint, the book features the DC Black Label imprint and The Sandman Universe Classics banner on its cover livery. show less

This was pretty good, but there were some moments when it felt a little "long in the tooth." The point of the graphic novel, which actually collects a four-issue story, is to introduce Tim Hunter, a young 12-year old boy to the world of magic. He has the potential to be a great magician someday, but he has to choose to follow the path. He has four guides who will show him parts of the path along the way. If you like myth and fantasy, this is a book for you. Don't expect a lot of action; show more there is not that much of that. It is a lot of exposition, which is why I liked it, but I don't love it. I will add that the art of the book is excellent overall, and it goes along with the story very well. Overall, the set serves to set up Tim's future adventures. It is written by Neil Gaiman, so you can be assured it is well written and good stuff, but as I said, it is mostly an expository piece.

By the way, readers who enjoy this book would probably enjoy Alan Moore's Promethea, which has a very similar feel to this book. Moore's work does have some action to it. show less