Review by Luke Williams
This review was written ahead of ILYA’s Kickstarter launch for the first Romo the WolfBoy collection – more details here
Your reviewer is familiar with the work of Ed Hillyer, known professionally as “Ilya”, from his work in titles such as Deadline, and strips collected in books such as BIC, Skidmarks, and End of the Century Club. He’s also worked with Eddie Campbell, on his Deadface and Bacchus characters – and made the occasional dabble into US comics for Vertigo. Since then, he has worked with notable publishers such as Kodansha and SelfMadeHero.
The first in a proposed series, Romo The Wolfboy is a whopping 224 page all-ages graphic novel, currently seeking a publisher, that has been published in instalments on the Ed H ILYA’s Substack account over a period of twelve months.
Set in the late 19th or early 20th century, it’s the story of the titular youngster who suffered a disturbed young life, raised by wolves before joining a travelling circus. Romo doesn’t speak, merely grunts, but this works as an effective means of communication with his fellow performers.
Despite this apparent setback, Romo finds his place in the circus, alongside fellow newcomer, Francis. He soon finds that he must find a role in the circus if he is not to be seen as merely a hanger on.
Circus life develops into a routine of setting up, performing, and travelling to the next location. Hillyer takes some time to introduce us to circus culture, but a series of acts of sabotage puts its future in doubt and Romo, despite his popularity with the audience, or perhaps because of it, becomes the main suspect.
Hillyer has taken an unconventional approach to storytelling, swapping between conventional comic panels with speech balloons, to panels that are served by expositional passages of text below them. It’s akin in approach to the format of adventure strips such Rupert the Bear, or the work of Posy Simmonds. Rather than being disruptive, this technique of swapping between the two story telling styles gives a nice flow to the strip.
The art has a loose, pencilled quality, the absence of inks giving it a soft focus. Colouring is limited to only two or three pastel colours per page, which is an effective way to convey atmosphere and tone.
Romo The Wolfboy is a beautiful looking book which deserves a physical edition, and, hopefully a sequel.
Luke Williams
• Ed H ILYA’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support his work, and read Romo the Wolfboy and The Circle Squared, a near-future fiction novel, set in the north-east of the former United States of America, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber
This review was written ahead of ILYA’s Kickstarter launch for the first Romo the WolfBoy collection – more details here
Internationally published British writer, artist and editor, Ed Hillyer, aka ILYA’s solo books include End of the Century Club (AmazonUK Affiliate Link), Skidmarks (find copies on eBay or the back issues section of your Local Comic Shop), Room for Love (AmazonUK Affiliate Link), Time Traveller, and Manga Shakespeare’s King Lear (AmazonUK Affiliate Link), plus the prose novel, The Clay Dreaming (AmazonUK Affiliate Link).
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Graphic Novels, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews
A Night Out with Kate Charlesworth and Mary Talbot