Rating: 
Summary: It was just not the best book.
Review: Bindings was the first Vertigo anything I had read, and since now I own all of the Books of Magic and Sandman paperbacks, not to mention a few others, I can tell you that it's addictive. It has a few lines that I love - I'll try to type them here, but I may not have them exactly right: "Love is what keeps things moving so that they stay together, and fear is what makes you hold so still you fall apart.", and "Was this Arraune, where the lake women wove water and sighs into blue-green silk, or was this Telis, where lost hopes paced the streets, begging strangers to take them in?" So I like parallel sentence structure . . . The story line is also very interesting; the manticore is a terrific villian, and I think we all like Death of the Endless. I do, however, have two complaints. The first: it's kind of short. Second, and this is more of a real complaint, when Tamlin first shows up, Tim recognizes him and launches into this dialogue that is kind of confusing, because Tamlin wasn't in the first miniseries paperback, by Neil Gaiman, and Bindings contains issues 1-4 of the series itself. The incident Tim refers to is in the story Long Walks In Dancing Shoes, which is in the Books of Faerie paperback (which story also explains Marya and Daniel fairly well, for those who have read Summonings), but Bindings does not try to explain this. Sigh. It is,however, excellent on the whole.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected
Review: Bindings was the first Vertigo anything I had read, and since now I own all of the Books of Magic and Sandman paperbacks, not to mention a few others, I can tell you that it's addictive. It has a few lines that I love - I'll try to type them here, but I may not have them exactly right: "Love is what keeps things moving so that they stay together, and fear is what makes you hold so still you fall apart.", and "Was this Arraune, where the lake women wove water and sighs into blue-green silk, or was this Telis, where lost hopes paced the streets, begging strangers to take them in?" So I like parallel sentence structure . . . The story line is also very interesting; the manticore is a terrific villian, and I think we all like Death of the Endless. I do, however, have two complaints. The first: it's kind of short. Second, and this is more of a real complaint, when Tamlin first shows up, Tim recognizes him and launches into this dialogue that is kind of confusing, because Tamlin wasn't in the first miniseries paperback, by Neil Gaiman, and Bindings contains issues 1-4 of the series itself. The incident Tim refers to is in the story Long Walks In Dancing Shoes, which is in the Books of Faerie paperback (which story also explains Marya and Daniel fairly well, for those who have read Summonings), but Bindings does not try to explain this. Sigh. It is,however, excellent on the whole.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, but the art is only fair.
Review: Good story. John Ney Rieber is to be congratulated for his script, but Peter Gross should either go back to art school or SLOW DOWN. One gets the impression that he either lacks skill or was in a hurry to meet his deadline. I wish to god Charles Vess, who is created with the cover art, had drawn the whole piece, because his work is really quite fine. As if to back me up, the introduction by Jane Yolen praises the storytelling but never once mentions the art work. For good reason.
Rating: 
Summary: beutiful
Review: it was great stuff.i love diving into the magical world of timothy hunter. very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: It was just not the best book.
Review: Some people would love it, I'm sure, but me, well, it was alright. Don't get discouraged though! You should read it and see what you thnk of it!
Rating:
Summary: A worthy effort
Review: The original Books of Magic, written by Neil Gaiman was great reading. John Ney Rieber Takes over writing chores for the regular series and manages to put together a decent arc in "Bindings" which takes place in Books of Magic 1-4.
There are a few subplots in the story, but the main driving force is Tim Hunter's battle with the Manticore. The Manticore is a changeling beast that captures children, "educates" them and eventually eats them. This is vintage Vertigo horror stuff, and is creepy enough to make you think that Gaiman might have ghostwritten it.
Tim's search to find the identity of his real father is also dealt with, although not to my satisfaction. Also something about the destruction of the lands of Fairie is thrown in, but it seems like an afterthought and isn't developed very well.
Death also makes a housecall, but is she there on business? Read the book and find out.
Overall, it's a very good story, the artwork is serviceable, but at times sketchy. This is another hallmark of early Vertigo work, and it does seem to add to the atmosphere of the book. The covers by Vess, on the other hand, are great. Too bad Vertigo reprints them 1/2 their regular size in this edition, you lose a lot of the detail.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy effort
Review: The original Books of Magic, written by Neil Gaiman was great reading. John Ney Rieber Takes over writing chores for the regular series and manages to put together a decent arc in "Bindings" which takes place in Books of Magic 1-4.
There are a few subplots in the story, but the main driving force is Tim Hunter's battle with the Manticore. The Manticore is a changeling beast that captures children, "educates" them and eventually eats them. This is vintage Vertigo horror stuff, and is creepy enough to make you think that Gaiman might have ghostwritten it.
Tim's search to find the identity of his real father is also dealt with, although not to my satisfaction. Also something about the destruction of the lands of Fairie is thrown in, but it seems like an afterthought and isn't developed very well.
Death also makes a housecall, but is she there on business? Read the book and find out.
Overall, it's a very good story, the artwork is serviceable, but at times sketchy. This is another hallmark of early Vertigo work, and it does seem to add to the atmosphere of the book. The covers by Vess, on the other hand, are great. Too bad Vertigo reprints them 1/2 their regular size in this edition, you lose a lot of the detail.
Rating:
Summary: meet tim hunter, greatest of all enchanters
Review: this is not where i first said hi to tim, but it's the meeting where you actually exchange a few words about yourself and get a feel for where your relationship is going to go :) needless to say, i like tim, and this is one good reason why. if anything, for his soliloquy at the beginning about love and fear and what holds the universe together. jnr writes uniquely weird stuff, and this is before it all overwhelmed tim and he got... well... a bit ahead of himself maybe. no molly yet, but otherwise, there's always death, isn't it :)very tantalizing if you start with it (as one should if you don't want the original mini too). also, do not be deceived!! jane yolen just wrote the introduction (it was a very nice introduction, but really, jnr should get first billing, i daresay). i suppose it may be too short-- only four issues-- but it completes its arc and you won't be disappointed if you like magic.. and boys... and maybe england :)
Rating:
Summary: Fair
Review: This isn't my favorite of the "Books of Magic"--Summonings takes that honor. It's an interesting tale of Timothy Hunter, perhaps the greatest magician of all time, the illegitimate son of Tam Lin and Queen Titania of the Faeries. Tim lives as an ordinary boy in our world, with a sloppy but loving father, and a few rather unworldly acquaintances. His father, Tam Lin, occasionally pops up in human form as does the Amadan, a rather repulsive little sprite who waits on Queen Titania. The Queen herself is furious because the Faerie lands are dying, for reasons that no one knows. Tim has problems of his own when he ventures into the lair of a mysterious - and sinister - creature. This will lead to the discovery of what is killing the Faerie lands, and exact a terrible price in return. While I found the story tight-paced and enjoyable, I wished they'd give us a little more backstory as to how Tim knows who his true father is. It would've made Titania's comments in the garden a little easier to understand ("we made love and a child in this garden"). I also felt that the explanation for the dying Faerie lands was a little too pat. The artwork was pretty bad - often it shifted from one frame to another, becoming well-defined in one frame and blurry in another. Dimensions altered. And Titania was terribly drawn - she's supposed to be beautiful, darnit! It looks like they simply took a picture of a none-too-pretty woman and colored her green (not to mention the fact that her teeth often appear the same color as her skin). She looks much better in future books. However, the atmosphere is unparalleled. The clash with the Manticore was downright chilling, as was the effects on Tim. I was quite surprised by Death's arrival, you'll be surprised at the face and personality of "death." And the last few pages were both sweet and sad. A nice comic book, hardly flawless but nor is it bad.
Rating:
Summary: Fair
Review: This isn't my favorite of the "Books of Magic"--Summonings takes that honor. It's an interesting tale of Timothy Hunter, perhaps the greatest magician of all time, the illegitimate son of Tam Lin and Queen Titania of the Faeries. Tim lives as an ordinary boy in our world, with a sloppy but loving father, and a few rather unworldly acquaintances. His father, Tam Lin, occasionally pops up in human form as does the Amadan, a rather repulsive little sprite who waits on Queen Titania. The Queen herself is furious because the Faerie lands are dying, for reasons that no one knows. Tim has problems of his own when he ventures into the lair of a mysterious - and sinister - creature. This will lead to the discovery of what is killing the Faerie lands, and exact a terrible price in return. While I found the story tight-paced and enjoyable, I wished they'd give us a little more backstory as to how Tim knows who his true father is. It would've made Titania's comments in the garden a little easier to understand ("we made love and a child in this garden"). I also felt that the explanation for the dying Faerie lands was a little too pat. The artwork was pretty bad - often it shifted from one frame to another, becoming well-defined in one frame and blurry in another. Dimensions altered. And Titania was terribly drawn - she's supposed to be beautiful, darnit! It looks like they simply took a picture of a none-too-pretty woman and colored her green (not to mention the fact that her teeth often appear the same color as her skin). She looks much better in future books. However, the atmosphere is unparalleled. The clash with the Manticore was downright chilling, as was the effects on Tim. I was quite surprised by Death's arrival, you'll be surprised at the face and personality of "death." And the last few pages were both sweet and sad. A nice comic book, hardly flawless but nor is it bad.
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