House of Wonders Book One: Skycruiser review

We begin at a travelling circus.

Soon, our hero Josh finds that Tiny and Tank aren’t the only members of his circus family keen to protect him from space soldiers who are hunting him.

Apparently Josh didn’t know he was living with more than the average group of sideshow freaks. Tiny and Tank take him to safety in a spacecraft and he begins the journey of a lifetime. Josh learns his secret history, why the people of another world are hunting him and what it means to be a hero.

House of Wonders sounds like a Silver Age DC mystery anthology. In fact it’s an independent graphic novel with a distinctly Bronze Age sensibility. There’s an X-Men style message of tolerance, a relatable hero, dastardly villains, colourful supporting characters and a fun running joke involving space-travel sickness.

Yeah, it’s a tad lowbrow, but it works, and it’s not like House of Wonders – the title refers to the super-carny folks – isn’t smart. The character dynamics are great, a big old info dump is elegantly done and the message of tolerance at the heart of the book is nicely expressed – earnest but not preachy.

The opening with Josh-in-the-box could be set up better, and the arrival of Tiny and Tank should be played for suspense, given we don’t know they’re not the hunters. Happily, writer Frank Krulicki quickly finds his feet and this standalone graphic novel, the first of a projected sequence, quickly becomes a confident, comfortable read. Our hero’s superhero name, though, is terrible – Skycruiser. It’s just dropped in casually towards the end, I guess it comes from this moment, when Josh, who has a battery of abilities, tries defying gravity.

Who in the world has ever said ‘sky cruising’ when they could say ‘flying’? It’s very odd. Josh really should get a big moment when he declares himself Skycruiser, complete with logo.

Alberto Crespo’s full-colour art is easy on the eye, and the storytelling is pretty good. I especially like the Skycruiser design, it reminds me a little of Major Victory from DC’s Outsiders series. And Monkey Boy is very creepy, with a distinct Wizard of Oz vibe. Crespo handles the action well and seems to relish the few moments of ultra-violence – Krulicki’s script isn’t all Bronze Age sensibility.

Former DC production veteran Corey Breen does a brilliant job with the lettering – some sequences have balloons filled to bursting with words but he makes them look rather enticing. He also designs the book, and a fine job he does too.

House of Wonders was originally crowdfunded but it’s now in comics shops and, it’s hoped, coming to digital storefronts soon. If you’re in the mood for a fun, clever space saga, this Cutting Edge Comics production could be for you.