Space Circus #2

Sergio Aragonés packs this second issue of Dark Horse Maverick's Space Circus with a wonderfully chaotic cover — a young boy stands wide-eyed amid a tumbling mob of alien clowns, tentacled creatures, a skull-helmeted figure, and a pink-feathered performer, all spilling across the surface of a planet while a fantastical sailing ship drifts through the starry void above. The sheer density of bizarre, lovingly rendered characters is pure Aragonés, and with Mark Evanier on the script and Stan Sakai lettering, "The Tightrope Walker" has a creative team that clearly knows how to balance heart and absurdist humor. If you enjoy your science fiction with a generous helping of big-top mayhem, this 2000 series deserves a spot in your collection.