Books of Magic #4 // Review
Trying to find his place in life, coming to grips with his new found powers and prophesied role of future Merlin are all just another day in the life of Timothy Hunter. Kat Howard and Tom Fowler continue to deliver yet another heartwarming chapter to such a beautiful series. Setting to embark far and wide, this young boy must seek answers for himself if he’s ever going to make it out of high school alive.
Timothy Hunter continues to find difficulty in taking control of his new found powers as it now seeps into his school life. More nefarious characters continue to surround Timothy’s life from the shadows. After being unsuccessful with help from anyone immediately close to him, in a last ditch effort to take control of his life, the young wizard sets to embark outside of his world and into another plane of reality all together. Coming to the crucial realization that he must enter, The Dreaming.
Kat Howard delivers another heartfelt and exciting issue for the series at large. Ever the page turner, Howard continues to absolutely embody the frantic adolescent nature of Timothy and keeping him relatable and faithful to the character yet allowing him growth. Howard refusing to keep Timothy remaining stagnant, if he can’t seek help here then he will search further for new answers. As this magical slice of life moves forward Howard brings Tim to places far and wide with this beautiful love letter to Gaiman.
Tom Fowler’s character detail still stands at this series’ highest achievement, setting it much further apart from its predecessors. The ability of Fowler to capture the multitude of emotions in which Tim is subjected to throughout the series continues to connect readers to this young wizard all over again.
The unsung hero of the series stands as the brilliant colorwork of Jordan Boyd, creating the atmosphere that has become quintessential to the series and bringing Fowler’s pencil work flying off the pages.
Continuing of the new era for the young wizard, Howard and Fowler continue to leave their mark on the title as a whole. Standing just a bit higher than its contemporaries within the Sandman Universe imprint, this series is a hallmark to DC comics and Neil Gaiman’s legacy. With the young Wizard headed into The Dreaming with the next issue, reader anticipation is sure to build as Timothy meets the new Sandman, Daniel.
