Molly O'Reilly is a fictional character created for the
Vertigo
Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...
comic-book series ''
The Books of Magic
''The Books of Magic'' is the title of a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has ...
'' by writer
John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer.
Career
John Ney Rieber's first professional work in comics was scripting over the finished pages of the graphic novel '' Tell Me, Dark'', conceived by his late friend and mentor Karl Edward Wag ...
and artist
Peter Gross.
Although she was written out of the main series, she was brought back by popular demand in a limited series called ''
The Books of Faerie: Molly's Story'' (which was to have led to her own series). This series was never produced, and Molly returned as a regular character partway through the short-lived ''
Hunter: The Age of Magic'' series.
Background
''The Books of Magic''
To capitalise on the success of ''
The Books of Magic
''The Books of Magic'' is the title of a four-issue English-language comic book mini-series written by Neil Gaiman, published by DC Comics, and later an ongoing series under the imprint Vertigo. Since its original publication, the mini-series has ...
'' miniseries by
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
, Vertigo turned the series into a monthly comic which would continue the story of teenaged magician
Tim Hunter. Vertigo chose
John Ney Rieber
John Ney Rieber is an American comic book writer.
Career
John Ney Rieber's first professional work in comics was scripting over the finished pages of the graphic novel '' Tell Me, Dark'', conceived by his late friend and mentor Karl Edward Wag ...
as writer for the series, which debuted with ''Arcana: The Books of Magic Annual'' #1 (part of the crossover series ''
The Children's Crusade'').
Rieber expanded the character of Tim, using his own memories of teenage life to create a realistic picture of a young boy struggling to decide who he is going to be. As counterpoint to Tim's uncertainty Rieber created Molly O'Reilly (a young girl "who'd already figured out the best thing you could possibly do with your life was live it")
to allow the series to explore the magical world and Tim's real life.
As the series progressed, Molly proved popular with readers. Rieber (who sometimes found the central character too close to his teenaged self for comfort)
created Molly partly as wish-fulfillment: "Yes this is the perfect girlfriend, if you could have had a girlfriend like Molly at 13 oh my God".
His artist for the series,
Peter Gross, admitted that this sometimes caused Molly to eclipse Tim as the more-interesting character.
This may have been particularly true during the extended ''Rites of Passage'' storyline which became Molly's
swan song, with its focus on her enforced stay in Faerie ensuring that Tim was absent for entire issues of the comic.
When Rieber decided to leave ''The Books of Magic'', he initially asked that the character of Molly be discontinued;
he planned to write a story focused more on Molly, detailing how she lost her virginity before she met Tim and the effect that experience had on her.
Although this request was later withdrawn, his replacement had already plotted a 25-issue run without her and decided not to include her
(except for a one-issue story to give her closure with Tim).
Despite this, such was the character's popularity that "almost everyone" writing to the comic's producers asked if (and when) she would return.
''The Books of Faerie''
In 1999, Vertigo announced that Molly would be returning in two projects. The first would be a third volume of ''
The Books of Faerie
''The Books of Faerie'' was a series of three mini-series spun off from Vertigo Comics' series ''The Books of Magic'' written by Bronwyn Carlton (two series) and John Ney Rieber (one series). It featured characters used predominantly in the paren ...
'' called ''Molly's Story'', written by the character's creator John Ney Rieber.
The four issue mini-series was published at the end of 1999, and established a new ''status quo'' (and connection with Faerie) for the character; Vertigo planned to explore this in ''The Books of Faerie'' monthly series, with Molly as the central character. The series would be written by Bronwyn Carlton,
who wrote two "well received" (according to Editor Stuart Moore)
''The Books of Faerie'' collections, with Linda Medley inking her own pencils.
The new series was intended to focus on Molly, Sturm the Troll and the Gyvv (the last two characters introduced in previous ''The Books of Faerie'' comics) to tell stories of modern-day Faerie.
However, Vertigo reconsidered and decided to reduce the release from a monthly comic to a five-issue mini-series instead. ''The Books of Faerie: Serpent's Tooth'' would have shown Molly undertaking "a quest to save the faerie realm from ultimate destruction" (discovering the true nature of her role as protector of Faerie),
with a preview of the series published in ''The Books of Magic'' suggesting that the intention was to make Molly a future Queen of Faerie. The mini-series was planned for release in June 2000, before being indefinitely shelved.
Final appearances
Molly eventually returned in
Dylan Horrocks
Dylan Horrocks (born 1966 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a cartoonist best known for his graphic novel '' Hicksville'' and his scripts for the ''Batgirl'' comic book series.
His works are published by the University of Auckland student magazine '' ...
' ''
Hunter: The Age of Magic'', initially making brief guest appearances before becoming a supporting character shortly before the series was cancelled by Vertigo after 25 issues. An alternate version of the character appeared in ''
Books of Magick: Life During Wartime'', written by
and co-plotted by Neil Gaiman.
Character history
Molly grew up as the only daughter of a large Irish family on a farm in
Crossmaglen
Crossmaglen (, ) is a village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,610 in the 2011 Census and is the largest village in South Armagh. The village centre is the site of a large Police Service of Northern Ire ...
, constantly having to assert herself against her brothers. She learned detailed, practical knowledge about magic and fairies from her "mad" paternal grandmother (who had
second sight
Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universit ...
). For example, Molly knew her friend Marya would be able to ride a unicorn to escape an attack from Daniel because she was still a virgin (with her decision not to ride it herself implying that she was not);
she also demonstrated knowledge of the danger of accepting gifts or eating Faerie food when she was trapped in the realm.
This knowledge was not the only thing she inherited from her grandmother: Molly takes medication to prevent the auditory and visual hallucinations which run in her family. These are a version of her grandmother's "sight" when she is trapped in Faerie without her medicine.
When Molly's father moved the family to London
they moved into the Ravensknoll estate, next to Tim Hunter and his parents. She developed a crush on Tim, pestering him at school and eventually claiming him as her boyfriend after helping him accept his father's disfigurement in a fire (although she did not tell Tim, who only found out when their mutual friend Marya announced that Molly's boyfriend was a magician). Tim also had feelings for Molly, and the two began a relationship.
Molly is level-headed and tough, standing up to assailants like Daniel (and Tim, when he needs her no-nonsense advice) as she stood up to her brothers.
She has deep feelings for Tim; their first kiss transforms a corner of hell into a blossoming field
and some mistake her for Tim's Other because of her importance to him,
but when she discovers Tim might become abusive she carefully considers her options. When Tim heard her discussing those options with Marya, he ran away from home to protect his loved ones from further harm. Molly was shipped back to her grandmother's farm, and resolved that she owed it to Tim to discuss the situation honestly with him; this meant finding him.
With her grandmother's help Molly attracted the attention of the Amadan, hoping to win the fairy gift of her heart's desire: to see Tim. The conversation took an unexpected turn, however, and Molly accidentally challenged the Faerie to a contest to see which was the greatest
fool
Fool, The Fool, or Fools may refer to:
*A jester, also called a ''fool'', a type of historical entertainer known for their witty jokes
*An insult referring to someone of low intelligence or easy gullibility Arts, entertainment and media Fictio ...
.
With the contest due to take place in Faerie, Molly is transported from the real world and left to fend for herself until it can be arranged. She knows that if she eats Faerie food, she will never be able to return home; touching the ground would wither her and eating real food would starve her, so she would be forced to stay in Faerie. Instead, she attempts to grow her own real food; her efforts attract the Faeries' attention, and her stubbornness the ire of Titania. The Queen tricks Molly into eating Faerie food by making her crops grow overnight. The trick backfires, though, as Molly's anger transforms her into "the burning girl", who cuts a swath of destruction across Faerie.
She finds a friend in a horse named Prince, who reveals himself to be Titania and Auberon's son Taik. He is enchanted by Molly and proposes to her, but is also possessed by a demon and attempts to kill her. The Queen's loyal fairy Yarrow helps Molly defeat Taik, and Tim and Molly are reunited. Titania tempers her curse as best she can; Molly's feet will not touch the ground and she will have Faerie food to eat, so she can return to the mundane world with Tim. Molly tells him about her adventures in Faerie, but Tim is more interested in learning magic from his new mentor
Zatanna
Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in ''Hawkman (comic book), Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a st ...
. He fails to notice that her feet no longer touch the ground, and when she discovers that Tim slept with the
succubus
A succubus is a demon or supernatural entity in folklore, in female form, that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to religious tradition, a succubus needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activi ...
Leah while Molly was trapped in Faerie her pragmatic nature comes to the fore. Although it breaks her heart, she breaks up with Tim and returns home to her family.
For a long time, Molly does not see Tim again; when she thinks she gave him a last chance to talk things through she was really talking to his Other, who convinced her that he was a lost cause.
She remains with her family in London and tries to deal with her newfound celebrity; since her feet no longer touch the ground, she has been declared a saint. She finds life a struggle; unable to eat her normal comfort food, she gets over Tim as best she can. When passing a toy shop, Molly finds that Yarrow has been enchanted and sold as a toy; in rescuing her, she travels back to Faerie. The demon Barbatos is capturing the residents of Faerie and transforming them into a new range of toys; in defeating him, Molly is claimed by the magical gemstone Twilight as the new Protector of the Summerland (an "ancient obligation, to be worn by a person of honour, wisdom, dignity, wonder and courage"). She returns to earth with Titania's curse lifted; now ignored by the media, she appears to be a normal human girl again.
Molly leaves London, attends art school in Paris and finds a new boyfriend. Returning to London after graduation, she sees Tim again (denying that any of the strange things which had happened in her life were true). She is forced to admit the truth when she is sucked through a painting into an alternate world with Tim; although the two reconcile their differences, they do not resume their relationship.
References
External links
Unofficial Molly O'Reilly timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oreilly, Molly
DC Comics characters who use magic
The Books of Magic
Comics characters introduced in 1997
DC Comics female characters