Books of Magic #3

Part of DC's Sandman Universe line, this third issue of Kat Howard, Tom Fowler, and Jordan Boyd's Books of Magic revival carries the story title "In Memoriam" — and the cover by Kai Carpenter sets a vivid, unsettling tone. A bespectacled young Tim Hunter is shown tumbling through the air, arms raised in alarm or spellwork, while an enormous owl looms behind him, its talons and feathers filling the warm golden background. It's a beautifully painted image that captures the precarious thrill of a boy still finding his footing in a world far bigger and stranger than he imagined.