The Books of Magic #45

A figure clings to the fuselage of a diving WWII-era British Spitfire as an enormous Union Jack fills the sky behind it and a storm of open books swirls through the air — it's a genuinely arresting image from cover artist Michael Wm. Kaluta that sets a mythic, history-haunted tone. This February 1998 Vertigo issue kicks off "Slave of Heavens," a six-part arc written by John Ney Rieber with interior art by Peter Gross, suggesting that Tim Hunter's magical journey is about to collide with something rooted deep in British history and identity. If you've been following this series, the promise of a sweeping multi-part story makes this an easy one to grab off the shelf.