I made it my goal to read the YA Graphic Novel stories about the pop culture superheroes we know and love. Dick Grayson has always been intriguing to me due to his circus upbringing. This book did not disappoint. The concept is great: a ghost carnival in which people are stuck to live outside of time. The writing and art worked well with the concept and kept me captivated. Although the ending was less than cheerful, it made sense with the story.

A really beautiful and magical graphic novel, and one that feels both truly at home and unique with the DC imprint. I love this series of graphic novels and the magical aura of this one lends itself well to the story. The art is beautiful and the story is well done.

- this review is several years late past the book's release (due to the many issues of 2020). But thanks a million to the publishers and netgalley for an early copy of this book.

Oh, wow. I REALLY enjoyed this one. It was GORGEOUS, first and foremost. I loved the contrast between the two places, the blue being for Haly’s and the orange and yellows for the Lost Carnival. I really loved that touch. It was fantastic.

I love these reimagined superhero stories. I think they’re so fantastic.

This is an amazing graphic novel to add to your collection! Thank you dc comics for this graphic novel VIA Edelweiss + Netgalley!

The world-building is epic! Basically two carnivals mixed with Romeo & Juliette! I absolutely love the artist and artwork in this novel! I need more graphic novels from this artist!

The character development is happening with every character in this graphic novel and it’s great. You think one way when starting the novel and then feel plus see the character transform through out the whole story. The love is very fast paced but so is young love if you think about it!
This is also a very compelling coming of age and hound adult story for young people and readers who love young adult books!
This novel comes out this summer! I am so excited to post about this!

This is a story in the life of Grayson, who becomes Robin in the DC comics world. He is part of a family of acrobats, but is getting bored with the routine of his life and wants to explore life outside the tents of the circus.
He and his best friend, Willow, go to a party with other teens from the community. There, he encounters a magical girl, which leads him to The Lost Carnival. This graphic novel used shades of blue for the circus and night scenes in contrast with shade of oranges and yellows for the images of the carnival. This came together well in a scene when Grayson mysteriously visits the past in a ghost-like form and stands out in each panel. Besides the carnival and circus folks. there are scary, brownish creatures which make creepy appearances. Overall, the book will appeal to teens and adults who enjoy alternative background storylines for superheroine/hero characters.
Grayson's angst and determination seems very naive at times, but it did drive the story along.
The magic in the story was used for both good and evil, with a mystery element which will keep readers guessing.

This review is based on the published ebook. Thanks to DC Comics and NetGalley for the e-galley of this title. My reviews and ratings are my own.

3.5 stars! A good standalone with touches of the greater Batman universe. Probably one of the better ones in this imprint because it doesn't try to be too clever. The magic doesn't seem to really fit in the DC/Batman universe, but whatever, I enjoyed it.

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher (DC Comics) in exchange for an honest review.  
Firstly, the illustrations are beautiful. I almost always enjoy graphic novel's art. Secondly, the story was interesting and had good characters in it; I like Dick Grayson's character especially. The cover is stunning. I enjoyed the carnival atmosphere as well - it added a lot to the story. I did however, know his backstory, so it was predictable. 

4 out of 5 stars. Would recommend this graphic novel, even if you already know a lot about Dick Grayson and his backstory.

Such a good book!! DC is doing really well with its YA line, a fact that seems lost in some of these reviews. A glimpse into Dick Grayson’s youth, a tangle with a rival, magical circus, and the consequences of first love.

The Lost Carnival introduces readers to Dick Grayson, a boy who will one day become Robin (and Nightwing) the sidekick of Batman. Right now, he's just a teenaged boy trying to figure out his place in the world. What is great about this story is that you can enjoy it whether you're a fan of superheroes or not. I think that this graphic novel is really appealing across the board. It's a really fun coming of age story where heroes battle villains and magic is at play.

Dick Grayson and his family are acrobats in a traveling circus, but Dick doesn't love what he does enough to want to be an acrobat for the rest of his life. He's struggling to find his place and figure out what he wants from life. His character is a blend of indecisive teenager and reckless savior. He's not one to sit back and let other people be hurt or taken advantage of. Overall, it makes him a very likable character and people will feel a connection to him as a person (where they might not in his Robin or Nightwing persona).

What I loved most about this graphic novel were the atmosphere and the art. One day, a mysterious carnival appears and begins to compete for business. Readers who loved the Night Circus or Caraval will be drawn to the magic and mystery of the Lost Carnival. Even Dick is entranced, drawn away from his family's show and into the majesty of the unknown. The moments and scenes in the Lost Carnival were my favorites to experience.

The palette was monochromatic, some pages were yellow with shades of pinkish/orange and some were blue with shades of turquoise. The traveling circus is exactly what you would expect: acrobats, magicians, clowns, tents, and animals. Even his time outside the circus, driving with his friend was "normal" or what you would expect. Both settings were brought to live in shades of blue. As Dick moves from the circus to the carnival, he went from blue in a blue scene, to blue in a yellow scene, and finally, he became yellow himself and I loved how the artist simply used color to depict his transition. It juxtaposed other scenes with the magical and mysterious carnival was always in shades of yellow. You always knew if you were watching a scene of the normal or the unknown based on the color scheme. I thought that was such a fantastic touch and something that I only subconsciously noticed when reading, but picked up when writing my review.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel and would love to experience more of Dick Grayson's adventures. I think it has broad appeal and you should read it even if you rarely like superhero stories, but especially if you like magical elements in an otherwise normal world like the Night Circus.

Thank you to DC Ink for my digital review copy. This did not influence my review in any way.

Wasn't too sure about this at first. Not a big fan of insta-love and all that but this got good towards the end!

I loved this graphic novel so much! The story was brought to life by the beautiful art style. I loved the character dynamics and plot development.

The Lost Carnival is an interesting take on Dick Grayson...he's still pretty similar to the Dick Grayson as Nightwing most people know and love, but in this version, his parents didn't die and he's still part of the Flying Graysons, though he doesn't want to be forever. The Lost Carnival also has major Night Circus vibes, which was a fun addition.

The Lost Carnival is a tale from Robin's life before Dick Grayson became Robin. It is a story of magic and love set in at a carnival. I was hoping to get an exciting tale from Dick Grayson's life. Unfortunately, this story was not. I never got into it. I didn't like the artwork, and I couldn't care less about the love story. It was like Romeo and Juliet as carnival workers. Also, the magic didn't make sense. There are DC Ink releases that are much better than one.

In this book, we are following Haly's traveling circus and in this circus, we follow the Flying Grayson's who is a family trapeze artist. Within this family, we follow Dock Graysons. However, he is tired of the circus life. When he and his circus comes to a small town there is a carnival called the Lost Carnival where he meets the mysterious Luciana. From there, things unfold. I wasn't blown away or surprised by anything (I saw everything coming.) but it was still an enjoyable read. For me, this was really a character-driven book. I liked the characters. I liked the characters' developments and the relationship grows. I really loved the art style, there was just something about it that drew me in, make the world strong.

3.5 stars

This was a cute story and I enjoyed it. This is potentially a little known fact, but I love Dick Grayson. He's been my favorite D.C. comics character since I was maybe 14. Anyway I say that to say that even though I've sort of fallen off the main D.C. canon I was still excited for this new Dick Grayson content and I was satisfied with it. To use fanfiction terms I read this as an AU One-Shot so I enjoyed it. If this is meant to be real canon it doesn't really work with the timeline, but I don't think it's meant to do that anyway. If this is your first introduction to Grayson I think he's written pretty well if a bit too headstrong for my taste (maybe I'm just remembering a certain Nightwing-era Dick though). As for the art style I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I'm coming to realize that I'm not a big fan of this 2 toned style. The romance went a little quickly for my taste as well, but I get it as this seems to be the first girl he's fallen for. Overall a cute read.

I really like these YA graphic novels coming from DC featuring younger versions of well known characters. This book features Dick Grayson, most well known as Batman's Robin.

This book features Dick Grayson working with his parents at the circus for the summer. It's set in modern times. I like the modern difficulties shown for circuses. They're competing with the internet and big name performances.

A mysterious carnival appears near the circus. Dick Grayson learns about this odd carnival and it leads to some interesting things. I really liked the way color is used in this book, especially between the two. Blues are used for the circus. Reds and yellows are used for the unusual carnival.

This is a really fun story. The connection to the Batman universe is not necessary. If Dick Grayson had different name, I think this story would still be just as great. Knowing what will happen to characters like Dick's parents and knowing Dick's future life as a superhero almost takes away or hinders from the story because you know certain things are not going to happen within this story. There aren't as many opportunities to take this story to interesting places.

I give this book a 4/5. It's a fun story, but the connection to Batman almost takes away from it.

First, thank you so much to DC comics for a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Some of you may not know, but Dick Grayson is my FAVOURITE evolution in the Batman universe, so I was dying to dive into this graphic novel, which encompasses Dick’s life before his encounter with Batman.

I loved that readers get to know Dick during his teens, spending his life as apart of Haly’s circus, being apart of the Flying Grayson’s. This is the perfect, quick read, encompassing teen angst, wanting more, summer romance, oh, and magic! While many only know of a dark and broody type Dick, here you see how he is with his parents, the friends he makes, and while he still “shows off”, its to help others.

The illustrations and colour palettes are gorgeous! Haly’s Circus is all blues (representing the ‘old ways’), whereas the Lost Circus is bright reds and yellows (the ‘new’ and ‘attractive’). These two contrasts enhanced the storyline, entrancing me with the whimsy.

I truly loved reading this and I really hope there is another instalment to show where Dick goes with his life. How his life has changed with all of that that had occurred in this novel.

DC continues to impress with their YA origin stories. We've reviewed several, with more to come soon, but this one was billed as a fantasy romance, so we decided to give it priority.

I have a spoiler related to this down at the bottom of the review.

If you know who Dick Grayson is, you know that he's destined to become Batman's sidekick (Robin) and then Nightwing. He grew up in a family of acrobats and doesn't have superpowers. But he is pretty great. What this means is that he can't ride off into the proverbial sunset at the age of seventeen if he's got this other big future ahead of him. Instead, this is a story about finding out who you are, how you can fight for a more just world and what you need to do to get to a point where you can.

The Lost Carnival opens with Dick reluctantly performing the same show yet again with his parents in a traveling circus. Like most of these origin stories so far, our protagonist yearns for more. Turns out, there's a competing circus across the road... with actual magic. Tensions are high, but Dick falls for a girl from the other circus--a girl with a very big secret.

The Lost Carnival 4Sas Milledge's art isn't overly detailed, but is evocative and beautiful. Most pages are in three colors, black and white with either shades of blue or shades of red, depending at which circus the scenes are taking place. The magical circus setting is excellent, with 1930's hair and costuming.

In all, I recommend The Lost Carnival for fans of coming-of-age stories, Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing and anyone who likes a bit of historical fantasy and romance with their superheroes.


Spoiler: There is no HEA. Now, before you revolt and ask why I would cover a comic without a happy ending on a Romance Comics site, hear me out - it's important to the future of Dick Grayson that there isn't an HEA. And I think this was done well. It's deeply romantic, even if bittersweet.



Suzanne received a digital copy of this book from the publisher for review. (And has since purchased it.)



Content Warnings: violence, fire, grief, past death of parent, attempted abduction/imprisonment

I love Batman and I love circus novels, so I was so excited to read this, and it did not disappoint! The book brought Dick Grayson-- pre-Batman-- to live with a lively and beautiful circus, along with a good dose of teen angst as he struggled in his role at the carnival. The characters were wonderful-- particularly Quinn!-- and the romance was a nice addition without taking over the entire plot. I can’t wait to get a copy of this book for my classroom!

This was a really fun graphic novel, and a wonderful look at Dick Grayson before he joined Batman. The art is wonderful too. Read my full review at ComicYears.com!