Collecting issues #1-6 of the new DC Vertigo series! While Tim Hunter is trying to study and attract the cutest girl in his class, there are cultists who want to kill him, believing his magical powers will eventually corrupt him, turning him into a merciless mage who will bring upon the end of magic forever! Luckily, the new substitute teacher at his school wants to mentor him and educate him in the magical arts so that he can discover the secrets behind the Books of Magic...This collection also includes THE SANDMAN UNIVERSE SPECIAL #1!

From Neil Gaiman, the best-selling novelist and creator of the world-renowned comics title The Sandman, comes a mesmerizing tale of the dangers and opportunities of youth, and its endless possibilities. Illustrated by four of comics' most accomplished artists, John Bolton, Scott Hampton, Charles Vess and Paul Johnson, THE BOOKS OF MAGIC collects all four issues of the original miniseries that introduced the character of Timothy Hunter and set the stage for his continuing adventures. Timothy Hunter could be the most powerful magician in the world, but does he really want to be? Guided through the magical world starting at the begining of time by a group of DC Universe magicians, often refered to as the TrenchcoatBrigade (John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, Mister E, and Doctor Occult), they attempt to aid Timothy in his decision whether or not to embrace his gift. However, by the time Timothy makes a choice, it may have already been made for him.

Subjected to an ancient Egyptian ritual, a hopeless drifter awakens to a fantastic world where magic exists and gods walk the earth.

Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.

Continued from Doom Patrol (1987) Annual #2. Tim Hunter, the teenager introduced in THE BOOKS OF MAGIC who has the potential to become the world's greatest mage, becomes enmeshed in Free Country's plot to recruit children of power. THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE concludes in Childrens Crusade (1993) #2.

The Dead Boy Detectives are on the case. When several children go missing in a small English town, a series of strange and unexpected twists take them to Free Country, a place that dates back a millennium, where children never grow old and are free from the abuse and tyranny of adults. But Free Country is failing, and what it needs is the strength of five innately powerful children-including the young sorcerer Timothy Hunter-to restore their uncanny world to what it once was. Collects THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #1 and THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #2, written by Gaiman with cowriters Alisa Kwitney and Jamie Delano. A brand-new middle chapter written by DEAD BOY DETECTIVES writer Toby Litt and drawn by artist Peter Gross (THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, THE UNWRITTEN) completes this compelling tale of ancient history, stolen dreams and lost children. Also featuring a new introduction by Gaiman, plus new cover art by DEAD BOY DETECTIVES artist Mark Buckingham.

Hundreds of years after the world ended and human society was rebuilt from scratch, a self-interested smuggler is forced to traverse a new continent of danger and mystery to deliver a child messiah to High Level, a mythical city at the top of the world from which no one has ever returned. Don't miss the start of a new series from writer Rob Sheridan, co-creator of Nine Inch Nails' groundbreaking Year Zero alternate-reality game!

Former lover of The Sandman, Thess is embroiled in her most impossible situation yet as the ruthlessly practical witch finds herself the unwitting and unwilling dispatcher of demons, beasts, and other arcane monstrosities.

Journey with magical hero Timothy Hunter, now 19, ten minutes into the future, into alternative universes where battles on Earth and Faerie overlap.

Lost in the unwritten scenes of all the world's stories, Tom Taylor is headed back to reality—and all the gods and beasts and monsters ever imagined can't stop him.