Books of Magic #14

Part of DC's Black Label Sandman Universe line, Books of Magic #14 brings a genuinely atmospheric energy to this 2020 installment of Tim Hunter's ongoing magical journey. Kai Carpenter's cover painting sets an unsettling mood: a bespectacled young Tim Hunter sits absorbed in an open tome by candlelight, while a menacing older figure looms behind him brandishing a knife — all framed by towering bookshelves and a leaded window bearing a skull emblem, with a real skull resting ominously on the desk beside him. With Kat Howard and Simon Spurrier co-writing and Tom Fowler and Craig Taillefer on interior art, "Bad Influences" promises the kind of dark, literary magic that makes this series a standout on the Black Label shelf.