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The Books of Magic Vol 1 1

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"The Invisible Labyrinth": The Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Doctor Occult, and Mister E convene to discuss Timothy Hunter, a British youth with unprecedented potential in magic. While E favors preemptive killing, and Constantine total inaction, they are outvoted by Occult and the Stranger

Boy! Do you believe in magic?
— Mister E

The Books of Magic #1 is an issue of the series The Books of Magic (Volume 1) with a cover date of December, 1990.

Synopsis for "The Invisible Labyrinth"

The Phantom Stranger, John Constantine, Doctor Occult, and Mister E convene to discuss Timothy Hunter, a British youth with unprecedented potential in magic. While E favors preemptive killing, and Constantine total inaction, they are outvoted by Occult and the Stranger, who insist that Timothy be offered a proper education. The quartet make such an offer to Timothy, who instantly dismisses them - until his yo-yo is transformed into a live owl by Occult. Impressed, Timothy agrees to be shown the mystics' world.

With the Stranger his first instructor, Timothy witnesses the Creation; the War in Heaven; the fall of Atlantis; magic as understood by cavemen, then by ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Greeks. A brief encounter with the legendary Merlin and medieval witch-hunts additionally teach Timothy some of magic's worst drawbacks: it often forces acolytes to know futures they cannot change, and it cannot always coexist with man's suspicious, capricious nature.

Finally, the Stranger introduces Timothy to Doctor Fate, Zatara, and Sargon the Sorcerer - three mystics who had successfully adapted to the modern, science-centered world, but nevertheless met less-than-pleasant ends, as is often the price of magic. Timothy emerges from this first leg of his education disturbed, but still eager to learn more - an eagerness Constantine is more than willing to indulge.

Appearing in "The Invisible Labyrinth"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

  • Tim Hunter's Skateboard (First appearance)

Events:

Concepts:

Notes

  • Although the events of this story also occurring in the continuity of New Earth, the events of this issue are set on the Vertigo Universe and take place on the day before Halloween[1] 1990, a couple weeks after the events of Hellblazer #40.[2]
  • According to this story, "primordial demons" walked the Earth before Life came to be in the Prehistoric Era. However, it is unclear if these are an Earth-born race of demonic creatures or the true demons from Hell.
  • Merlin being sealed under Castle Branek is just one of the many interpretations of his story:
    • A version of Merlin was previously shown in the flashbacks of Hellblazer Special #1 where he was murdered by King Kon-Sten-Tyn;
    • In future storylines, various incarnations of Merlin will eventually resurface on Earth. This suggests that either various characters named Merlin exist in the Vertigo Universe or Merlin has been somehow split (or split himself) into different incarnations.

Trivia

  • Phantom Stranger foreshadows Tim Hunter meeting the Doctor Fates (Eric and Linda Strauss) in issue #2 and traveling to the future to meet a possible future iteration of Doctor Fate in issue #4.
  • The real circumstances behind Merlin's imprisonment in his cave and the link between him and Tim Hunter are eventually revealed in The Names of Magic (Volume 1).
  • The first meeting between Tim Hunter and Mister E will be homaged during Tim's last meeting with Constantine in Hunter: The Age of Magic #25.


See Also


Links and References

  1. ↑ Notes from The Books of Magic #2
  2. ↑ Vertigo Secret Files: Hellblazer
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