Written By: Kat Howard
Drawn By: Tom Fowler
Finishes By: Brian Churilla
Colors By: Jordan Boyd
Letters By: Todd Klein
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: April 24, 2019
Hey, it's that book that always somehow feels like I'd just written about it... and haven't read it in months! Maybe it truly is a Book of Magic?
Worth noting, really appreciate the absence of a vapid cover blurb this time out. Maybe there was nobody out their to shrug their integrity and blatantly lie in order to suck up to DC Comics?
Ah, who am I kidding... of course there was! And there will be this month out too!
The last issue wrapped up in a somewhat promising way. After checking out a magical saucer full'a water, Tim Hunter and Dr. Rose have taken to the streets, and the mystical highways and bi-ways in search of, missing classmate (and potential Tim-love-interest), Ellie Jones.
Now, I've been reading comics for over thirty-years... and I feel like I should turn in my "Fandom Card" for not immediately realizing that it was never going to be quite as easy as that! No sooner does Tim and Rose's journey begin than they are forced into an unexpected detour. I foolishly hope this isn't a detour of the "six-issue" variety.
The thing is, Dr. Rose is able to sense "doorways" into different realms. She'd have better luck if Tim's Owl, Yo-Yo were around to help, but the bird... and the bird-lady aren't in their usual spot right now.
Doing the best she can given the circumstances, Rose is able to suss out the correct door... unfortunately for the tandem, however, that creepy librarian was aware of the situation, and caused the doorway to zig when the good guys expected it to zag...
... which deposits Tim and Rose into Faerie, a land of magic. A land where Tim has walked before, though, for the moment he can't remember any of that. Again, I hope this isn't the next six-issues.
We're left with a cliffhanger... that kind of falls flat. We're introduced to Titania, "The Lady", "The Queen"... and, since this happens on the very last page, I'm left assuming that this is supposed to be some big revelation. I'm just not seeing it, however. I feel like we've been introduced to so many "Interchangeable Ethereals" over the past several months of Sandman Universe books, that I couldn't tell you who's important and who's not... nor the "whys" in either direction.
Books of Magic continues to be a "breezy read". The better part of the first three pages consists of newspaper headlines discussing the missing Ellie Jones... with a dash of Dead Brisby. This makes sense, in that they're both connected to Tim... who just happens to be the one student the police can't track down... that's pretty cool. It's just, the amount of "paginal real estate" spent on little more than Newspaper headlines makes this already quick read even more so.
Bits and Pieces:
It was never going to be so easy as just Tim and Dr. Rose tracking down the missing student. If only the detour we're given was half as interesting as it seems to think it is.
7.0/10
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