The Lost Carnival: A Dick Grayson Graphic Novel
Written by Michael Moreci
Art by Sas Milledge, Phil Hester and David Calderon
Lettering by Steve Wands
Published by DC
‘Rama Rating: 8 out of 10
In the pantheon of Robins over the years, the original Boy Wonder Dick Grayson has seen a better run than most. In addition to his adventures as one half of Gotham City’s Dynamic Duo, his exploits in the Titans, as Nightwing, as successor to the mantle of Batman, and as a SPYRAL agent in his own eponymous book have made Grayson the poster child for letting a DC character grow up and mature.
Yet as a fortune teller with a solid pun game sagely advises a young Dick Grayson in The Lost Carnival: A Dick Grayson Graphic Novel, “there is a knight looming over your days to come.” For all his solo pursuits, Dick has never quite managed to step entirely away from the shadow of the Bat. For writer Michael Moreci, also known for his independent works such as Wasted Space and The Plot, giving Dick some room means taking the boy out of Gotham entirely.
As the title would imply, Moreci takes us back to the days of the Flying Graysons. Using a striking two-tone color palette, initially a muted blue and white, artists Sas Milledge, Phil Hester, and David Calderon immediately establish a sense of place – specifically, Haly’s Circus outside Cheyenne, Wyoming in June – but it could be virtually any time in the last century. Surrounded by mountains and the great outdoors, it’s about as far from the mean streets of Gotham or Blüdhaven as you could imagine.
Which is precisely the playground needed for this youth-oriented adventure. Make no mistake: this is not your daddy’s Grayson, and it’s targeted at a broader audience who may not have a detailed history with the character. As a standalone outing, it sees Dick frustrated with his parent’s assumptions that he will always carry on the family business and, like many Disney princesses before him, he yearns to be a part of a different world.
And Dick finds that new world in the nearby Lost Carnival, a new set-up that not only threatens to pull the remainder of Haly’s customer base away, but is also shrouded in something mysterious. The art team immediately marks this difference with a shift in colors, taking the same two-toned approach and desaturating it further with a sepia mix of pale yellows and oranges. It’s also here that Dick meets Luciana, who not only has the ability to do some real magic but serves as the love interest for the piece.
Yes, this is a star-crossed romance at its core, and if you’re at all familiar with the various YA subgenres of the last few years, you’ll recognise that the backdrop is secondary to the meet-cute. Throughout the dozens of pages of conversations and batted eyelids, Moreci introduces us to a version of the character that is charming, sometimes funny, and still finding his voice. For some readers, this may be summed up perfectly in a single, knowing line of dialogue: “I don’t know how I feel about this new, sentimental Dick Grayson.” Yet for a character who hasn’t faced the tragedies of his future, it never feels anything less than authentic and fresh.
The deceptive simplicity of the line art and color palette allows for some novel uses of comic book language. When you aren’t using more than a half-dozen colors in the entirety of a graphic novel, there is something spectacular to Luciana’s magic when it merely uses deeper shades of orange and purple to dominate a page. An old-fashioned fist-fight is highlighted by onomatopoeic KKSSSHHH and FWOOOSSSHHH in bright red, giving them tangible weight against the low-key backgrounds. When the worlds begin to blend and more supernatural elements come into play, the art team introduces a third palette set with light purple and aqua tones playing off against the unnatural wisps and reality folds Moreci is exploring.
Moreci doesn’t break the mold with this graphic novel, but instead plays to the strengths of the genre. With strong themes of belonging and Dick’s yearning to break away from the path his father has laid out for him, older readers might interpret this as a prelude to a tragedy in which Dick Grayson never fully escapes the expectations and career paths of his two father figures. Indeed, there’s a bittersweet reading to his mother’s promise that “we’re here for you…always.” As the young Grayson declares that he never wants to let his parents go, this reader’s eyes were a little less dry. Way to stick it in and break it off in the ol’ heart feels, Moreci.
As a graphic novel, this is both a throwback story and a promise of the future. “You think our business is in a golden age, Grayson,” asks the head of Haly’s Circus. “We’re getting squeezed by the internet.” He could just as readily be talking about the comics industry, which critics have been saying is seconds away from midnight for decades. The Lost Carnival may not please people looking for Dick Grayson’s adult exploits, but it’s exactly the kind of all-ages storytelling that comic books were made for and a thoroughly enjoyable read.