Books of Magick: Life During Wartime is a fantasy comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 2004 and 2005 that was discontinued after fifteen issues.

All of the issues are written by Si Spencer, from an story created by Neil Gaiman, which gave consultation through the creative process of the script. The artwork is done solo by Dean Ormston throughout most of the series' run. Steve Yeowell is co-credited as an artist in issues eleven and twelve and Duncan Fegredo fully replaces Ormston for issues six and ten.

The series depicts the events that take place on two fictional worlds, both of which are connected through an alternate version of the character Timothy Hunter.

When Timothy Hunter first appeared he was a young boy who had the potential to be the world's most powerful magic user. He starred in his own series titled The Books of Magic. Over the course of the character's history he changed and aged.

The idea behind Books of Magick: Life During Wartime was to present a more mature version of The Books of Magic without the character's past continuity attached. During the planning stage a problem appeared. A series of books based on the comics and also titled The Books of Magic had been released and marketed in this form to children. Books of Magick: Life During Wartime depicts nudity and sex, as well as a higher degree of violence than The Books of Magic. Although tastefully depicted these things make it a series inappropriate for children and there were fears that the new series and the books could be confused in some sectors. The decision to change 'Magic' to 'Magick' and to add the words 'Life During Wartime' was made and the series went forward.

Setting

The true Earth of this series is a world upon which humans (known as the Bred) live side-by-side with members of the races of Faerie (known as the Born). It is a world torn by war. On one side is the ruling elite made exclusively of Born. On the other is the Coalition made up of both Born and Bred. The majority on both sides are members of the same religion. They worship Tim Hunter as a god under the name The Hunter.

The second Earth is known as Hunter's World and was created by Hunter as a means of protection and escape. The things he was running from were magic, war, and religion. As a result, when he created Hunter's World none of those things existed there.

Publication history

The first five issues detail the current status quo in the final days of the war. The Born make their final attack and the war ends in issues seven to nine. Issues eleven to fifteen show the aftermath of these events with eleven and twelve dealing with the true Earth and thirteen, fourteen and fifteen showing the fate of Hunter's World and the main cast of characters. These three sections are separated by two one issue stories that show events from the perspective of two supporting characters. Issue six shows Dog's perspective while issue ten deals with Cat's.

Characters

  • Tim Hunter is the most powerful magic user on the real Earth. He is worshiped as a god, but hates it. He only wants the war to stop.
  • John Constantine and Zatanna are two of Tim's closest friends and key players around which events move. These two characters are based on the DC Universe characters of the same names (John Constantine and Zatanna).
  • Molly is Tim's girlfriend on Hunter's World.
  • Cat and Dog are brother and sister and Tim's close friends on Hunter's World.
  • Brewster is the only other person living on Hunter's World not created by Tim. His mission is to safeguard Tim for the Coalition and to ensure his memory of the real world returns when it needs to.
  • Lord Midian is a Faerie and one of the leaders of Coalition. He is in charge of the Coalition's Navy.
  • The Faerie Queen is the leader of the Born and rules over Earth from her palace in Jerusalem.

Plot synopsis

The Beginning of the End

The series starts fifteen months into the war between the Born and the Coalition.

On the real world John Constantine finds himself in charge of the besieged city of Kraków. The forces inside are surrounded by the soldiers of the Born under the command of a monstrous Faerie known as The Cherish, and the food stores ran out seven months previously. In Jerusalem Zatanna searches for a way to obtain the three keys that will give her access to the Books of Magick. Her hope is that the books will allow Tim Hunter to regain all of his memories when he comes back from his exile.

Things get worse for the Coalition when an apparition of the Hunter appears worldwide. Seeing this the Coalition launches its naval fleet from Reykjavík to attack England (known as Albion on this world) despite the misgiving of Lord Midian. This turns out to be a disastrous move when the fleet is destroyed by giant wood golems guarding the landing beaches. In Kraków things get much worse when the forces surrounding the city begin launching deadly cluster spells. On top of all of this Zatanna is captured in Jerusalem and tortured. The pain of this last event is lessened when Zatanna escapes taking the three keys to the Books of Magick with her. The apparition also allows the Faerie Queen to discover Tim's location. She sends her agents, the Micturides to get him.

On Hunter's World, Tim meets his girlfriend Molly at the train station. Later they meet with their friends Cat and Dog who give Tim a book named The Books of Magick. After looking through it he collapses and sees a vision of the real world. While in the middle of this vision he inadvertently causes the apparition that appeared there.

This event causes Brewster to make his presence known. He introduces himself a few days later and enters Tim's circle of friends. Brewster begins to take actions that are designed to force Tim to use his powers and to remember magic again.

Strange things begin to happen around Tim at this point. These culminate when Cat gets hit in the head by a broken stone. Her eyes turn solid red and insects begin to exit her mouth. Tim drives to the oceanside and submerges her and himself in the water. The magic he uses in this location allows him to save her. While this is going on The Micturides arrive and are confronted by Brewster.

Collected editions

There has been one trade paperback collection so far:

  • Books of Magick: Life During Wartime: Book 1 (with Dean Ormston, Vertigo, tpb collects #1-5, 2005, )

Notes

References

  • Review of issue #1
  • A second review of issue #1
  • Review of issue #6