Criminal Macabre: The Third Child #1

Steve Niles and Christopher Mitten kick off this 2014 four-issue Dark Horse miniseries with a cover by Justin Erickson that immediately sets the mood: Cal McDonald slouches in shadow, glowing red eyes fixed on the reader, a drink in one hand and a gun resting on the table before him, while enormous dark wings loom behind him in the dim light. It's a portrait of weary menace — the scattered bullets and disheveled air of the scene suggest a man who courts trouble as casually as a nightcap. Fans of hard-boiled horror won't want to miss where "The Third Child" takes their favorite supernatural detective.