Books of Magick: Life During Wartime

Books of Magick: Life During Wartime
Cover of Books of Magick:Life During Wartime #2. Art by Frank Quitely. Pictured left to right Molly, Tim Hunter, Cat and Dog.
Publication information
Publisher	Vertigo
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date(s)	2004-2005
No. of issues	15
Creative team
Created by	Neil Gaiman Si Spencer
Written by	Si Spencer
Artist(s)	Dean Ormston Steve Yeowell Duncan Fegredo
Letterer(s)	Todd Klein
Collected editions
Book 1	ISBN

Books of Magick: Life During Wartime is a fantasy comic book series published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint in 2004 and 2005 that was discontinued after fifteen issues.

All of the issues are written by Si Spencer, with some script consultation done by Neil Gaiman. The artwork is done solo by Dean Ormston throughout most of the series' run. Steve Yeowell is co-credited as an artist in issues eleven and twelve and Duncan Fegredo fully replaces Ormston for issues six and ten.

The series depicts the events that take place on two fictional worlds, both of which are connected through an alternate version of the character Timothy Hunter.

When Timothy Hunter first appeared he was a young boy who had the potential to be the world's most powerful magic user. He starred in his own series titled The Books of Magic. Over the course of the character's history he changed and aged.

The idea behind Books of Magick: Life During Wartime was to present a more mature version of The Books of Magic without the character's past continuity attached. During the planning stage a problem appeared. A series of books based on the comics and also titled The Books of Magic had been released and marketed in this form to children. Books of Magick: Life During Wartime depicts nudity and sex, as well as a higher degree of violence than The Books of Magic. Although tastefully depicted these things make it a series inappropriate for children and there were fears that the new series and the books could be confused in some sectors. The decision to change 'Magic' to 'Magick' and to add the words 'Life During Wartime' was made and the series went forward.

The true Earth of this series is a world upon which humans (known as the Bred) live side-by-side with members of the races of Faerie (known as the Born). It is a world torn by war. On one side is the ruling elite made exclusively of Born. On the other is the Coalition made up of both Born and Bred. The majority on both sides are members of the same religion. They worship Tim Hunter as a god under the name The Hunter.