Neil Gaiman, Scott Hampton, John Bolton, Roger Zelazny, Todd Klein - Books of Magic

Pros: Beautifully written; spectacular artwork

Cons: None

The Bottom Line: The Books of Magic is the distant cousin to Harry Potter. Reading it will tell you why this is so. In other words, it shouldn't be overlooked at all.

Review: Tell me if you’ve heard this story. A young boy living in the United Kingdom has a fairly, uneventful life. This bespectacled boy has some family problems that he’s trying to ignore and escape. But one fateful day, a stranger comes to him and tells ...

Pros: Amazing story with cool art

Cons: There aren't any

The Bottom Line: Neil Gaiman and his four artists put magic in this awesome story about a boy who will be a powerful magician, if he learns the right lessons.

Review: Angels fall from the sky.

A yo-yo turns into an owl.

Merlin from King Arthur's Camelot gives advice about the mystic arts to a kid from the 20th Century.

That boy travels to the world of the fairies with a guide who is...

Pros: Heavy, mythopoetic storyline; a tour through many viewpoints on magic

Cons: Art is sometimes choppy and difficult; perhaps overfrequent references to other DC comics

The Bottom Line: A fascinating story told with fascinating images.

Review: It's rare to find a comic artist who takes himself as seriously as Niel Gaiman.

A caveat: I'm not a 'comics person'. I find the collecting of comics tedious, not to mention expensive, and I don't know a lot about the vast multitudes of comic...