Writers: Si Spencer and Neil Gaiman
Artist: Dean Ormston (cover by Frank Quitely)
Publisher: DC/Vertigo
Fans of sorcery, alternate realities, the English, and all things infernal will be overjoyed at the latest iteration of Books of Magic(k). Starring Tim Hunter in a mundane world ruled by astrology and John Constantine in a realm wracked by perpetual mystical warfare, each may hold the other’s salvation. So why is Constantine trying to ensure they never meet?
Due to subject matter and a shared artist, Life During Wartime will remind many of another Vertigo book, Lucifer. Dean Ormston’s style is suited quite well to both, shadowy and exactly as realistic as it should be. His Constantine actually looks a good deal more frightening than the Morningstar, and outside of “Vertigo-proper” it will be interesting to see if Johnny-boy assumes Lucifer’s role in his besieged world.
Si Spencer, working from a story cowritten with series founder Neil Gaiman, catches very distinct voices for each of his characters. Spencer also leaves enough out of this opening chapter to create a good deal of intrigue. This is obviously not the Tim Hunter of previous Books, and the parameters of his world are unclear. Apparently, everybody believes in astrology but nobody’s heard of a god. Constantine, on the other hand, has found himself in a wasteland resembling the prophecy from the original miniseries, the apocalypse that would result if young Tim took up magic.
Now, something most people will never think about, but someone was undoubtedly paid a good deal to consider: the cover logo. Jesus, what a train wreck. Presumably, the solid bar design is meant to avoid conflicting with the cover art, but there has got to be something else to be done with this. A fat black bar with slightly skewed white text tucked into the upper-left corner of the cover, next to a big, ugly barcode. Seriously. They put the barcode at the top of the book. What other ugly graphics could DC cram up there? Oh, a giant “Vertigo #1” label! Very helpful.
Design criticism notwithstanding, this is a very exciting book. Si Spencer may not be a familiar name, but Neil Gaiman is, and Mr. Spencer gives evidence of carrying his own weight. Ormston’s visuals are gruesome and foreboding, yet still beautifully convey the mixed up lives of young punks. Like recent successes Swamp Thing, Y: The Last Man, and The Losers, Life During Wartime continues the Vertigo resurgence, returning the line to its roots of “sophisticated horror.”
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