Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Duncan Fegredo

Just in time for Halloween, Dark Horse have given us a trade of sorts (clocking in a 50 some pages, it’s closer to an annual) which follows a young HB doing what we all wanted to do as a kid; run away and join the circus. I’ve always been a fan of “Times Past” type stories, from the ones in Starman to the BPRD stories set in the 40’s, and this is one to add to that list.

As mentioned, this is a young Hellboy story and as such, has a much more jovial feel to it. Things like stealing cigarettes after being told he was too young to know something, to sneaking out of a window at night, I’m sure it’s all too familiar for some!

The Circus characters themselves are all larger-than-life aspects of what we’re used to and, without delving into spoiler territory, there’s a page that’s going to be burned into your memory long after reading. It seems strange to say, but Dave Stewart really knocked it out the park with the colouring, it’s genuinely beautiful and brings something truly special to the book, both in adding to the childlike feel of what Hellboy sees, to adding depth to the pages.

This starts out as a book about a boy wanting to escape (and I’m sure I’m not the only one that found this relatable), but ends up showing how right that voice in the back of your head is… the circus really is an evil place full of monsters!

With an open ending, I can only hope that this story continues, and this is well worth the cover charge, even if it is over far too quickly.

Rating: 8/10.

The writer of this piece was: Chris Bennett
Article: I Hate It Here
You can also find Chris on Facebook