[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Kat Howard
Artist: Tom Fowler
Colors: Jordan Boyd
Letters: Todd Klein
Summary
It looks like the witches from Macbeth are out to get Tim Hunter before he becomes a mass murderer with just a thought of his mind and a flick of his magic wand…er…Screwdriver. Meanwhile, the aforementioned boy of magic is counting literal sheep as he creates them to jump over his bed. Spoiler alert, a room full of magic sheep does not help on sleep. Eventually, by the end of the book and after a lot of chair tossing and general teenage grousing, Tim finds out how to sleep.
Tim uses his magic quite a bit. He is practicing. He might be putting himself in danger, but he is sleep deprived and has a magic screwdriver, so, how could he not but himself in danger? That is kind of a pre-requisite for someone in his position.
Positives
Tim Hunter is so well scripted by Kat Hunter. She really gets into his head and lets the reader spend time with him. He is a complicated, angry, scared and confused teen magician, so, really, he is just a normal teenager who just so happens to have magical stuff happening in his life. The reason this book works so well is that Tim is totally relatable to people who are teenagers or people who have been, so pretty much everyone who should be reading this book.
There is section right in the middle of this book where Hunter turns the book over to Tom Fowler where we see Tim and his friend just sit and ruminate over the death of the their literature teacher. Nothing happens, but in Fowler’s hands, this scene might as well have been a photograph of two teenagers in anguish. It is heartbreaking and it is beautiful.
Finally, Dr. Rose is quite the interesting character as well isn’t she? She does so many things that seem to contradict herself that the reader’s head spins. Is she a hero? Is she a villain? Does she really care about Tim or is she out to use him for her own nefarious needs? We have no real idea, but it is so fun to read and spend time speculating.
Negatives
I can’t find much of anything here. Art, coloring, story, dialogue all on point. Some people will not love the fact that this is taking a while to develop, but, because Howard and team are focusing on character development, it balances out.
Verdict
This book is just so good. I sit impatiently each month waiting for the next book. Do yourself a favor and get caught up on this book. You will be so pleased with your purchases.
