Writer: Michael Moreci
Artist: Sas Milledge with Phil Hester
Colorist: David Calderon
Letterer: Steve Wands
Publisher: DC
Price: $16.99
Release Date: May 20, 2020
Have you heard? Haly’s circus set up their tents outside Cheyenne, Wyoming! The clowns are selling balloons! I can’t wait to see the lions! We can watch Lotz and his niece Willow perform magic. Wait! First, let’s see the starring attraction: The Flying Graysons! I wonder what it’s like to grow up in a traveling circus. Do you think Dick Grayson enjoys his life as an acrobat? Let's leap and somersault into The Lost Carnival TP and find out!
Story
High up in the big top, Dick and his parents swing through the air. Far below, the audience cheers as they watch the family defy gravity. Yet after the show, Haly chews Dick out. How dare he change their established routine with some impromptu moves? The crowd wants to be awed, not horror-struck by an unnecessary death!
Like any teen, Dick looks to the future. He wonders what possibilities life might offer him. Despite his abilities, circus life doesn't satisfy him. He doesn't know what he wants, but he needs something more.
When Dick talks his friend Willow into attending a party, a chance encounter provides the excitement he hungers for. The townies make fun of a burned Carnie. Luciana, the girl who accompanied him, pulls Quinn away, but the bullies won’t let them leave. When the guys push down Luciana, Dick helps Quinn fight off their attackers. Then Luciana gestures and the bullies start talking funny and fight each other instead of Dick and Quinn.
In The Lost Carnival TP, Haly’s Circus faces stiff competition. The performers depend on ticket sales for their livelihood. Yet, soon after they arrive outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, a carnival sets up camp a short walk away. After performing to a sparse crowd, Dick investigates. He discovers exciting new acts and amusement park rides. Dick watches their star attraction, the magician Caliban, performs strange, otherworldly magic. Yet Caliban is not invincible. One of the creatures he summons escapes his spell. Caliban calls on his niece Luciana to help him. Dick uses his acrobatic skills to help Luciana capture them. And so begins the most exciting summer of Dick Grayson’s life.
The Lost Carnival TP follows Dick's growing attraction to Luciana. The girl returns his affection. While Dick yearns to leave his old life behind, Luciana remains loyal to her friends. Dick's friendship with Luciana pits him against the crew who support the circus. As he spends more time with Luciana, his friend Willow falls under a strange spell. In Michael Moreci’s story, competition and magic endanger Dick’s heritage and friends. Despite the odds against them, Dick refuses to give up on Luciana. He wants her in his future. Can she ever leave The Lost Carnival?
Art
Sas Milledge and Phil Hester imbue The Lost Carnival TP with old-world appeal. Their imagery evokes the illustrations in children's series from half a century ago. Milledge and Hester transport us back to an era when trapeze artists performed without a safety net, and elephants were circus staples. Yet the carnival performers’ attire harkens back decades earlier.
Milledge and Hester capture the energy that fuels Dick's incredible abilities. He climbs and leaps about a Ferris wheel like a child at home on the monkey bars of his local park. Dick and Luciana’s mutual attraction is evident. The sky imparts majesty to this enchanting tale, as clouds stream across the sky during the day, and the stars glow at night. Yet, as the dangers to Dick’s friend and heritage mount, he’ll journey to an otherworldly realm, where people walk on ribbons, and the burn that covers half of Quinn’s face seems a minor blemish.
David Calderon tones the first chapter of The Lost Carnival TP in blues. Luciana’s magic grows evident when yellow and orange surround her hand. The latter enliven carnival life, and the night Dick and Luciana sneak off for some time alone. Blue occasionally intrudes into yellow and orange scenes, or vice versa. Calderon enhances Dick's otherworldly adventure with green and purple. His limited coloring approach enhances this classic-era adventure's energy, emotions, and storybook appeal.
Steve Wands conjures small, lowercase black lettering in white dialogue balloons. Words grow bold for inflection and enlarge as voices rise. Large, colored type provides locations in time and space. Sound effects help us hear Dick drive Willow off to the local's party, an erupting fire, and a bullet blasting through a spinning metal target. Despite their rarity, the sound effects are colorful, vibrant, and energetic.
Thanks to DC Comics for providing a copy of The Lost Carnival TP for review.
Final Thoughts
As young circus acrobat Dick Grayson looks toward the future, a mysterious girl and a magical carnival endanger his family and friends in The Lost Carnival TP.
Rating 8.8/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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