Review by Lewis Savarese
A feral child called Romo and an androgynous roustabout named Francis enter each other’s orbit exactly where you would expect, at Blimey O’Riley’s Travelling Circus. Yet, Romo the WolfBoy by Ilya is about much more than the big top extravaganza that brings its oddball cast together. When a series of freak accidents befall circus performers, Romo and Francis become an unconventional pair of amateur sleuths. Through the duo’s investigation into these mysterious circumstances, Ilya reveals a culture on the margins of society and the rules they live by, the Carny Code.
Romo crosses paths with the circus by happenstance. One morning, as he wakes from a nightmare filled with nets, snarling dogs, and sneering men, Romo spies the circus wagon train breaking camp. He catches the wagons as they depart and from then on is part of the circus. As to Francis’s origins, we are privy to almost less than Romo’s, knowing only that they joined the circus a few weeks prior. Under the tutelage of Terrifax the animal trainer, Francis must demonstrate their worth to the circus, starting with menial jobs such as putting up wheatpaste posters and shovelling dog excrement. Romo undertakes the tasks typically relegated to roustabouts as well, but has gained an advantage over Francis by endearing himself to certain members of the troupe. For instance, Miss Tillie the fat lady favors Romo and entrusts him with bathing her. A few crude jokes aside, the depiction of Miss Tillie exhibits a tenderness that fat characters are not often afforded. In several passages Ilya provides us with Miss Tillie’s emotions and thoughts as she confides in Romo. We even learn her backstory: a girl who escaped poverty by adopting the role given to her by the circus’s ringmaster, the role of Two Ton Tillie.
Francis quickly realises that, for better or worse, they will need an act if they ever want to be a full fledged member of the circus. Their opportunity arises during the opening night performance, as Francis finds success in the midway with a ruse involving a fortune-telling chicken. Under the big top, Ilya parades performer after performer around the ring, with action and page layouts worthy of the real life spectacle. For every death-defying or farcical feat, Ilya includes panels showing the audience’s reaction, like that of a man mid-spit take or another with mouth agape losing his dentures. The spectators get the biggest shock of all when a trapeze rope is cut by an unseen saboteur, setting in motion the mystery Ilya dubs the “Strange Case of Cackle & Hide”. Romo embodies a tenet of the Carny Code, “you need to band together to protect yourselves,” as he risks his life to save the trapeze artist. However, the trapeze artist perceives the vociferous praise Romo receives from the crowd as a violation of another tenet, “don’t nose into anyone else’s business.” A second act of sabotage incapacitates the ringmaster and tensions mount. Ilya shows Romo and Francis investigating the mystery, which involves a doll and a dentist, but his exclusion of the duo from the eureka moment feels like a misstep.
Ilya renders the Victorian England pastoral setting in an attractive sepia tone. His coloured pencil linework compliments this rough and historic approach, especially his judicious palette of muted blues, yellows, and reds. The instances where he employs digital colour make details and characters pop, like during the circus parade. Romo and Francis’s exploits will continue in ‘The Fall and Rise of Springheeled Tom’.
