In passing a fair amount of DC characters or concepts manifest, but often introduced with such little fanfare that anyone who doesn’t know would consider Nightmaster as much a legend as Thomas the Rhymer, so don’t be dissuaded by them. In places there’s no time to construct, so he supplies archetypes that connect instantly, the spurned lover, or the pompous Dr Fate. The Books of Magic is the type of story Gaiman delivers neatly, a densely discursive meander through so much, informing or speculating all the time, building character in increments.

It’s Vess who has the greatest opportunities for pastoral beauty, the only artist working in pen and ink, and the land of Faerie is one he’s frequently visited, producing a memorable combination. Hampton’s present day (sample art left) is more traditional, subservient to the story, but the most expressive contribution. It’s very impressive, as are the montages, a technique also used by Bolton, here a painter at the top of his game. He’s the most experimental, spattering his pages with ink, breaking them down into jagged panels, or pasting outlined figures onto backgrounds. Johnson (sample art right) is the least known today, having left comics for other pursuits. They’re a potent combination, each of them a superb artist. We’re assured that there’s a power in names, so let’s drop a few: John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Paul Johnson and Charles Vess. So, we have one writer, Neil Gaiman, four chapters, four artists, and four tour guides. One solution may be to kill him before he develops, so solving any possible future problem, but the combined mystics choose instead to show him events in the hopes of guiding him toward the correct path. The question is not whether he’ll become powerful, but the purpose to which he’ll put that power. E, Doctor Occult and the Phantom Stranger are near enough top of the range when it comes to mysticism, and they’ve identified twelve year old Timothy Hunter as future major magical force.

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman