Then & Now, & Then Again
The previous post wandered into Harry Potter territory, and reminded me that The Books of Magic is being adapted into film. A DC comics (well, their Vertigo imprint) miniseries of that title introduced the comics-reading portion of the world to a young, bespectacled boy who had no idea he was destined to become the world's most powerful magician. Sound familiar? Well, this lad's name was Tim Hunter, and the year was 1990, long before Harry was born in print.
From the first time I'd heard a thumbnail sketch of Harry Potter I've wondered how much of an uphill battle it will be against public perception that Tim Hunter is some sort of Harry Potter rip-off. With the motion picture tentatively scheduled for 2006, it'll probably be a while yet before we find out, but it's coming.
It's darkly amusing to find that almost two years ago, when the script was being refined, that they felt that had to "un-Harry Potter Tim Hunter," according to Tim Hunter creator Neil Gaiman. (Well, the quote is buried in an interview at the first of these links, as the interview was strongly centered on Gaiman's then-new novel, American Gods, which is, sadly, one of his ultimately least effective efforts.) This largely tells me that they considered it a battle not worth fighting, one in which they would only engender more ill will than good.
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