The Books of Magic #53

Subtitled "The New School," this October 1998 entry in DC Vertigo's long-running series presents a striking overhead view by cover artist MW Kaluta: a cluster of school-uniformed boys peers down through an open trapdoor in a wooden floor, while below them a pale-masked figure holds a candle amid the shadows, with a younger blonde boy crouched on the stairs between the two worlds. It's an image that perfectly captures the series' blend of schoolboy unease and genuinely unsettling supernatural atmosphere. Peter Gross handles the interior work on "Bardsey Boys," promising the same careful, character-driven storytelling that made this Vertigo run a quiet favorite of the era.