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(More customer reviews)Particularly after the success of Alan Moore's "The Watchmen" and Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", graphic novels have soared in popularity. Indeed, it now seems that the market is inundated with them, and practically every Vertigo title from DC is regularly recapitulated every seven or eight issues in collected paperback form. With such an increasingly large selection from which to choose, the more casual reader might be baffled as to where to start. This volume probably wouldn't be the wisest choice.
While it is of the highest quality, it really has its best payoff for those who have at least a passing acquaintance with DC's occult universe and its myriad figures. So many of these pop up within the story (in a profusion not seen since the struggle for the North Slope of Heaven in the pages of "Swamp Thing" a few years ago) that it can be daunting to the neophyte. Even many of the more experienced comics readers might have a hard time placing two of the four major magical protagonists, Mister E and Doctor Occult (who actually is one of DC's oldest characters, having been created many decades ago before slipping into obscurity). In fact, so very many exceptionally minor characters pop up in the margins that it's necessary to hit the Internet to find annotations to explain their background and significance.
In large part, this collection is an attempt to codify and explain the chaotic history of the DC occult universe. Gaiman has an intimate knowledge of apparently every title ever produced over the last 30 or 40 years, and he induldges himself somewhat showily in dragging in every two-bit mage and witch for a fleeting guest appearance. Often, this is done for purposes of historical revisionism, which is for the good, since the accretion of rank silliness and sloppily conceived plots in the thousands of DC comics over the years has resulted in many mutually contradictory character origins and universal histories, not to mention a lot of gross stupidity. (Such an opportunity for widescale housecleaning was one of the few appeals of DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths", which gave the writers permission to ruthlessly slaughter dozens of idiotic characters and to destroy the countless alternate dimensions and the "it was just a dream" Earths. But I digress.)
Be that as it may, the heart of the story, which served to launch the ongoing "Books of Magic" series and its various mini-series spinoffs, is the realization by the mightiest of the occult powers that Timothy Hunter, a young lad in the UK, is destined to become the most powerful magician ever known, should he actively choose to walk that path. Accordingly, Doctor Occult, Mister E, the Phantom Stranger (always one of DC's coolest and most enigmatic characters, often thought to be a repentant fallen angel), and John Constantine (even cooler than the Phantom Stranger, although much scummier and devoid of nearly any useful powers) band together as the so-called Trenchcoat Brigade to show Tim what could lie in wait for him if he embraces a future of magic.
In its most basic form, this is of course a classic quest story, wherein a young man has to undertake a journey to discover his destiny, and along the way will discover mentors, guides, companions, and foes. In Tim's case, he's actually taken to the past and the future, and given an introduction to many of the occult players of the present. He also takes a fateful trip to Faerie, a mystical land which has long been of fascination to Gaiman (see his "Stardust", which also shares artist Charles Vess, for another treatment of the fey world).
The segment in Faerie is actually the strongest, largely because of the fantastic and dream-like nature of the setting and because of the art by the award-winning Vess, whose distinctive and delicate style suggests a naughty opium-addicted Victorian illustrator. Also of special interest are any of the scenes featuring the dissolute and disreputable yet popular John Constantine (who anchors his own series, the long-running "Hellblazer", itself a spinoff from "Swamp Thing"), a favorite Gaiman character. (I've noticed that all hip English characters in the comics have to share a loathing of the perceived horrors of Thatcherism, which arguably was the economic salvation of the UK, but again I digress.) Constantine is one of the most feared occult characters in the DC universe, even though he's actually one of the weakest. He gets by on bluff, style, and charm, and also because of his resemblance to a more dangerous and less eco-friendly Sting (tantric powers included).
At this early stage in the game, Tim remains mostly a cipher, since it's his job largely to merely bear witness to all that is being displayed to him. He has to make certain critical choices, but to a large degree he's overshadowed by the more strongly delineated members of the Trenchcoat Brigade. Even so, he plays an active enough role in his quest.
The character of Tim Hunter proves to be promising enough, and any Constantine appearance is welcome. Doctor Occult turns out to be so interesting that one wants to learn more (although very little has subsequently been done with this character). This volume is exceedingly enjoyable to any DC readers who have been fascinated with the magic-oriented superheroes, but can be intimidating to the less avid. Nevertheless, even for the more timid, the Vess artwork alone is worth the price of admission.
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