A Bit of Bondage

Although I never cease to be amazed by the startling illusions created by modern magic practitioners such as Criss Angel, I am pleased to see a return to a focus in the visual arts on past prestidigitators. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan transformed The Prestige into a captivating look at magical rivalry from the tedious Christopher Priest book. Of course, any film with a David Bowie cameo has my vote. Also, the pairing of Nolan and Christian Bale seems a naturally charmed progression after Batman Begins. [Their future projected collaboration for The Dark Knight might see subsequent blog exposure]. The
brilliant adaptation of The Illusionist from the overlooked short story by Steven Millhauser captures the essence of mystery and marvel from days when motion pictures and illusions equally mystified audiences.

Riding this deluge of magical images, Jason Lutes and Nick Bertozzi offer an impressive display of legerdemain in their lovely graphic novel Houdini; The Handcuff King. Jason Lutes previously explored the relationship between magician and mentor with Jar of Fools, a graphic novel that was so cool that Sherman Alexie (Smoke Signals) extolled its virtues. Last Halloween, a new biography emerged shedding new light on the extraordinary qualities of Houdini. For more information on the master escape artist, look at Houdini Tribute.

Whilst perusing Lutes and Bertozzi’s tome at Star Clipper, explore Neil Gaiman’s The Books of Magic which still proves to fascinate with its fantastic boy’s adventure tale of Timothy Hunter’s coming of age as a magician and its gorgeous artwork by John Bolton.

-TL