Awn the Blink

Creation

Awn the Blink was created by writer John Ney Rieber and penciler Gary Amaro in The Books of Magic issue 10, in 1995.

Major Story Arcs

Awn the Blink was created by Tim Hunter. As a boy, Hunter created numerous magical beings through his imagination, often when he misunderstood something, wanted imaginary friends, or had a hard time dealing with the real world. However, Tim did not realize that the beings in his imagination had real, permanent existence, and did not take care of them after he grew up.

When Tim was a kid, he thought Awn the Blink was responsible for when the family TV was broken. And, in Awn’s words, “since the times I’m interfering with the telly are the only times your dad pays attention to you, you calculate I’m your friend.”

Awn the Blink is first seen playing chess with the Queen of the Buggers in Reverend Slaggingham‘s underground sewer kingdom. Slaggingham collected many of the beings that Hunter had created.

When Slaggingham has problems with his machine that is supposed to be pulling misery out of the London atmosphere, Awn crawls out of the machine and explains to him why it won’t work–because it’s not possible to pull misery out of the atmosphere.

Awn then “scraps” Slaggingham, to use his words–he pulls apart Slaggingham’s own cybernetics–in order to make sure the Reverend doesn’t kill Tim. He then finds Tim and helps him out of the sewers.

Tim introduces Awn to Molly, then Awn goes back into the sewers.

Much later, the faerie changeling that has taken Tim’s place at Tim’s house calls for Awn through the ducts, and Awn appears. However, he can tell right away that it is not Tim. However, the Wobbly, who is allied with the changeling, magically alters Awn so he now believes the changeling. Awn says he’s fixing the house electrics, and after that he’ll make Cyril like Tim.

Later, Tim breaks into his mostly-destroyed house (after a semi-apocalyptic event) and finds Awn broken to pieces in a back room. Tim puts his mechanical parts together, and suddenly his human parts magically appear as well.

Tim then asks him to rebuild Slaggingham a new massive machine body, so that he is a trap for an angel and a demon. It does what it’s supposed to, and catches a variety of supernatural beings, including Spinning Jemmy, although she escapes when she wants to.

Later, Tim is in hiding from his Other, an alternate universe creation who wants to take his magic. Molly comes home after a long time away, and finds Awn. He has built a secret hidey-hole in her basement for himself and of Tim’s other creations. He no longer trusts Tim in his current state. When Molly goes out to talk to the Other, thinking it’s Tim, Awn makes a horn to hear what they’re talking about. He, Tanger, and Crimple have come to act as the leaders of the group. When Molly comes back in, angry at the Other (but thinking she’s mad at Tim), she tells the creations they can stay with her as long as they want.

He and the others are still there much later. They are seen working on a rocketship in Molly’s back yard. An alternate version of Awn is also seen as one of the abberant creations that pester Barbatos when Tim finally defeats him.

Alternate Versions

In the universe that Mr. Currie is from, an alternate version of Awn the Blink works for that universe’s Tim, both as a lookout and as an animating force that can make the whole castle come alive.

Powers and Abilities

Awn is exceptionally good at diagnosing and fixing equipment, especially magically-oriented machines. He is even better at un-fixing them.

He is superhumanly strong, capable of ripping the mechanics off a vault door.