The Starlight Calliope

Whistles #1

by Andrew Hussie

Whistles, a clown in the Starlight Calliope circus, was beloved by all. One day an accident nearly cost him his life, and he became exposed to the corrupt underworld of the circus, rife with murder and cannibalism. Forced to flee, he experiences the hardships of the world such as homesickness and prostitution. But his spirit remains bright and optimistic.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Comic Book

120 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2007

About the author

Andrew Hussie is the creator of MS Paint Adventures, a collection of webcomics that includes Homestuck, as well as of several other webcomics, books, and videos.

Reviews

[Alexander Seiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

At its core The Starlight Calliope is a story about the injustice brought about by systemic inequalities, themes that Hussie frequently will revisit in later works such as Homestuck and Psycholonials.
The game is rigged against you and even a successful deposing of the oppressive ruler just brings about a change of flavor. As long as the circus stands the show will go on and the meat will flow. The only way for even a chance on freedom is to burn it all down to ground. It's a shame the author never could finish this work. I highly recommend a read.

[James Sheaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is signature Hussie; Andrew just thinks of the worst possible things that could happen to his protagonists and throws them headfirst into those things. He gives a uniquely warped morality to his stories, where his pure-of-heart hero can also be a mass murderer and a cannibal. The incompleteness of the story isn't such an issue for those who've already read Homestuck, since many of the ideas in Whistles were picked up on and continued there. Whistles is just another delightful dip into Andrew's dark, colourful imagination.

[Meri Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super creepy and weird, which I like. It's definitely not for everyone, though. I wanted to find out what happens next, but I don't think the story was ever continued.

[Page 815 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully weird, absurd, funny and fucked up in all the right amounts and ratios. The whole thing reads like a drunk dream. The world shown is fascinating and unique and characters feel very alive and concrete. It is all too bad then that the second book never came out and some plots are left unfinished. But what is made is pretty damn good.

[Hazel Fabrizio Fabrizio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun, cute, but morbid.
Very interesting concept it is so sad this won't get finished.
I don't know what it is about clowns but between the Post-Scratch Earth with Insane clown posse dual presidency in homestuck, the clown aspects of alternian culture, and psycholonials, the spirit of the clown brings out great writing and characters in The Huss.
Please Hussie finish this some day.

[lamb glass]

I understand why they gave up on this one.

[Gryotharian · Rating 4 out of 5]

man i wish this got finished

[Bernard Booth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disturbing, to say the least.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahahaha, I forgot how funny this is.

It's very hard to review this properly, because it's just so short. The emphasis was on telling dark jokes, and it does that well.