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astroscribe40's review against another edition
2.0
Intresting. It didn't seem to have much of a plot, more like a long exposition. Yet I am still curious and want to read the next one....
sdemler14's review against another edition
4.0
I had no idea what this was about until I read it, and it actually ended up being pretty cool. Some of the ideas were really out there, but I loved the way everything tied together. I expected nothing else from Neil Gaiman.
criticallyours's review against another edition
3.0
Loved having another dose of Gaiman's magic! I've noticed that he's very consistent about the rules of the magic world, and with this consistency he's established a solid world to revisit over and over whenever I'm running low.
It was also great to see some characters from his other works make a cameo in this series, and play their roles.
It was also great to see some characters from his other works make a cameo in this series, and play their roles.
n8hanson's review against another edition
2.0
A gorgeous, evocative, sweeping, but ultimately shallow graphic encyclopedia of the DC universe. The first five stages of the hero's journey - a passive cardboard cutout of a hero - fluffed to 200 pages.
rustcohle's review against another edition
4.0
The books of magic are really about the art of writing. All those tips of being a magician and the art of magic are advice about the writer's trade.
lines__lines's review against another edition
3.0
The artworks throughout volume are absolutely brilliant, though I wish the late '80s-early '90s had a better sense of fashion. After the first few pages, the fashion becomes irrelevant, though, as the members of the Trenchcoat Brigade lead Tim through through the past and other realms of magic. I skipped the intro to this volume, and knew nothing about it going in, so I was expecting a stand-alone story that would wrap up by the end. But it is really just the introductory book to the series about Timothy Howard, destined to become a great magician. And so Gaiman gives us a tour of the mystical characters of the DC comic world by giving Tim an tour of magic's past (led by Phantom Stranger), magic's current presence in the modern world (led by John Constantine), Faerie and other realms (led by Dr. Occult), and the future (led by Mister E). The book covers a lot of ground (physical and temporal), but lacks on definitive story arcs. There's a background struggle in which the Trenchcoat Brigade is participating, but what exactly they're up to is never really illuminated. Each jouney that Tim takes has small arcs, but none of them have the urgency of a fantasy epic; mistakes in Faerieland, hanging out at the wrong party in the present, getting stuck at the end of time: each could have more gravity, but the solutions come quickly each time and more than once are solved with a little deus ex machine (in the form of John Constantine at the party and Death at the end of time). Even the attempts on Tim's life seem part of the Trenchcoat background story that we aren't really privy to. The whole lesson of the book is clearly that magic comes with a high price, and that the price must always be paid, and Tim takes that to heart when he says in the end that his choice is to not continue in the magical world. But by having introduced him to it, the Trenchcoat brigade has really already made the choice for him, and we end with Tim realizing that, yes, he will be a magician after all. I figured out pretty early on that this was the likely outcome, and despite the lack of plot, I still enjoyed the ride.