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HUNTER: THE AGE OF MAGIC #3
"The Lake of Fire Part Three: The White School"
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics/Vertigo imprint
Writer: Dylan Horrocks
Pencils: Richard Case
Inks: Bob Wiacek & Steve Bird
Colors: Sherilyn van Valkenburgh & Jamison
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Heidi MacDonald
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
This was probably the strongest issue of Hunter so far, taking Tim and his friend Kalesh on a tour of parts of the White School, which encompasses a lot of different territory. It's something of a cross between a "universe guide" for the magic universe that Hunter is set in and a
character piece that reveals a bit more about what happened to Tim Hunter
between the end of Names of Magic and this series. The addition of a pair of
inkers to Case's art has actually strengthened his already impressive artwork,
and I enjoyed this tour of the magical setting and hints at some big changes in
Tim's life, both past and future.
One of the most endearing and simultaneously maddening things about Books of Magic
in the past was the relationship between Tim and Molly. It was endearing because
it was such a true portrayal of a relationship, and because Molly was such a
fascinating and likable character. It was frustrating because she was far more
interesting than Tim, and so he was relegated to second-stringer status in his
own book. Horrocks seems to have hit a better balance with the relationship
between Tim and Kalesh, which is more like a senior and a freshman with romantic
tinges to it. His knowledge about more realms and the possibilities of the White
School make him an interesting character, and Kalesh's history with her people
and surprise at seeing the breadth of magic make her interesting, and nobody
overbalances anyone else.
However, while Tim is the star of the series, it's the realms that are the stars of this issue. Every few pages, we get a new vividly-imagined settings, complete with a bit of exploratory text "torn" from the pages of a White School book to go along with Tim's more colloquial explanation of the place. The characters explore everything from Gemworld to Skartaris to the home of dinosaurs and an endless storeroom. This sense of the surprises that magic holds is very much in the tradition of Harry Potter, and captures the attention in the same
way. Rather than simply powerful or dangerous, we get the sense that magic is,
well, kind of neat too.
Which is not to say that the danger is
missing from the book either. Tim carries a darkness behind his optimistic
facade, and Merlin's nagging clearly is meant to get him back on the track of
his important but unpleasant destiny. The revelations of why Tim hasn't left the
White School are also sobering, and while I enjoyed meeting the friends he had
from Earth during his stay, the hints that one of them met an unpleasant end
almost make me dread seeing the story unfold.
In the hands of the current creative team,
this is becoming more of an urban fantasy comic, something that Vertigo
currently lacks, and I'm becoming more intrigued with every issue.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
