Timothy Hunter, surrounded by supernatural folk. Artist: Peter Gross.

TIMOTHY HUNTER

Medium: Comic books
Published by: DC Comics
First Appeared: 1990
Creator: Neil Gaiman
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What slight-built, bespectacled British teenage boy had the potential from birth to become a great and powerful wielder of magic, and is not Harry Potter? If your answer was a Harry Potter clone, you'd be …

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… right in most cases. The one exception is Timothy Hunter, a DC Comics character who predated the Potter kid by seven years. The remarkable similarity between the two, juxtaposed with the fact that DC could not possibly have stolen the character from author J.K. Rowling, is, without a doubt, Tim's most commented-upon attribute.

Tim Hunter was introduced in Books of Magic, a four-issue mini-series published in 1990-91 by DC's Vertigo imprint (Animal Man, Shade the Changing Man). He was created by writer Neil Gaiman, who had already given Vertigo The Sandman and The Black Orchid. In Books of Magic, Tim found out about his possibilities, and was given a guided tour of the supernatural aspects of the DC Universe, to help him choose whether or not to act on his potential.

The hosts of the tour were The Phantom Stranger (who showed him through the past), John Constantine (present), Mr. E (future) and Dr. Occult (alternate worlds). All were established DC characters, tho Mr. E, whose prior career consisted of filler material in a 1970s horror anthology, was a very obscure one before this. Along the way, Tim met about a dozen other established DC supernatural characters, including Dr. Fate, Baron Winters, The Demon and Zatanna the Magician. His four guides got together again in 1999, in a mini-series titled The Trenchcoat Brigade.

Tim chose to accept his destiny, and is now an established DC character in his own right. Books of Magic was an ongoing title from 1994-2000, and has had several spin-offs. His destiny still isn't fulfilled, but he's getting there.

— DDM

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Text ©2006 Donald D. Markstein. Art © DC Comics.