Vertigo Comics 2018
Written by Kat Howard
Illustrated by Tom Fowler
Coloured by Jordan Boyd
Lettered by Todd Klein
Timothy Hunter may be destined to become the most powerful magician in the universe, but he’s still a London teenager, and having magical abilities complicates things more than it helps. It’s not like he can use magic to pass his exams, stop being bullied or convince his cute friend to date him. And while Tim’s trying to live his life, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his power will eventually corrupt him into becoming a merciless mage. Oh, and those are the good guys. Luckily, his new substitute teacher is more than she appears, and may be able to help Tim discover the mystery behind the Books of Magic…
This was one of the book I was excited about when it was announced and after reading this issue I have to say that I wasn’t let down or disappointed in the least. The opening is sensational and recaps the first mini-series that introduced Timothy. It is beautifully done and huge kudos to Tom and Jordan for the work in bringing the different feel of the different moments so beautifully. So not only does this say he this is where are continuity is and where we are starting that diverges from the rest of the stories that were written.
When we first see Timothy he’s in class in what looks like either a catholic or private school from the looks of the uniforms. Which I almost find odd since he lost his mother and his father is not handling it well and I wouldn’t have thought they’d had the money. I like because Tim hasn’t mastered magic and honestly he’s struggling to even get any to work. He is that green after taking that trip with his four tour guides. With the addition of his new teacher, one Dr. Rose, Timothy is going to learn that actions have consequences and that he’ll need to grow and mature in order for the magic to come to him. I do like that aspect very much as what kid wants to know of consequences when they want something so badly or for all the wrong reasons?
The interiors from Tom and Jordan are nicely done, a bit too on the simple side for me at times and while this looked better on Doom Patrol I was hoping for more along the Lucifer line of work. Don’t get me wrong visually speaking I do really like the utilisation of the backgrounds and how we see the attention to detail in them. Then of course there is Hettie and her look and that’s marvellous to see and I have that instant connection to her. I’m not a fan of Tim’s glasses and how big on his face they are it looks over exaggerated and comical. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a solid eye for storytelling. Also I wonder if images in the background are meant to change from panel to panel, with Tim’s emotional state and magic it wouldn’t surprise me.
So from the opening to the closing here they aren’t wasting any time in establishing how this new series is going to be. Tim is going to have face some serious trials and tribulations if he’s going to survive to become the greatest wizard the world has ever seen and with secret allies and open villains it may be a race against time. The pacing and the characterisation that we get are fantastic and I am really enjoying how we are seeing the begging of their personalities and get to watch them grow and change over time. If you are a fan of the original series, all of them, or just finding this for the first time you really are going to feel the electric excitement that it brings.
The life of Timothy Hunter is back and in extremely capable hands with strong writing and nice interior artwork the time for magic has come again and it’s been a long time since it was this exciting!