The Members of Haly's Circus

Some folks have asked me to do a rundown of the various members of Haly's Circus over the years! I love Haly's Circus, I think it gives Dick an almost fairy-tale like backstory. Circuses may not be as common today, but there's a certain nostalgic romance to them, and it creates a warm, happy time in Dick's life before Bruce took him in. I'll be breaking this up into three sections: Pre/Post Crisis, The New 52/Rebirth, and The Lost Carnival. 

Pre/Post Crisis:

Main Members:

To start out, obviously Mary and John Grayson are two thirds of the Flying Graysons. Their backstory is pretty vague pre-Crisis, but post-Crisis John's family history is filled in to include Romani ancestry (this was a retcon that came about in the 90s). While the comics at the time were pretty culturally insensitive, the idea of Dick having Romani ancestry is not a bad one.

The Titans #16

The third mainstay of Haly's Circus is of course, Mister Haly. His name full was not revealed at first, but he's been called C.C. Haly pretty consistently (the name of the circus is C.C. Haly and Norton Bros. Circus). Over the years, Dick returns to the circus at various points, and his interactions with Mr. Haly are similar to that of an uncle/nephew relationship. Interestingly, Mr. Haly is one of the few people to figure out Dick's identity as Robin, and later Nightwing.

Detective Comics #484

Other Members:

Next is Sando the Strongman. Sando is one of the first members of Haly's Circus that readers encounter outside of the Graysons and Mr. Haly. He is friends with Mary and John, and often played tug-of-war with Dick as a child. When he is falsely imprisoned, Batman and Robin help clear his name.

Batman #129

When Dick was a child he made friends with all sorts in the circus, including the clowns. One of these was Waldo the Clown, who Dick ran into several more times in his life as Robin. Waldo didn't stay with Haly's, but he did continue to work in other circuses.

Batman #337

Another clown that Dick befriended was Harry. Harry and Dick would often hang out after shows and go to the movies together. Along with Harry, Dick was also friendly with Margie, the Tattooed Lady. Tattooed Ladies fell out of popularity once television became a thing, but for a time they were performers who defied gender norms by showing off their bodies (and tattoos) in scant clothing.

Batman #436

Some characters from the circus only appear in one issue. Haly's has had at least two jugglers, one when Dick was a child, called Palmer, and another named Paolo who Dick recognized when he returned to the circus after quitting as Robin.

Star Spangled Comics #114

Nightwing #102

The Flying Graysons were the most popular act in Haly's Circus, but they were not the only acrobats in the troupe. For a time, a solo act by the name of The Prodigy traveled with Haly's. He was older than Dick, and treated him like a little brother. His career ended however when he was beaten by local boys in one of Haly' stops, and he could no longer perform his act.

Batman #709

After the death of the Graysons, Haly's needed to replace its aerialist act. Several performers stepped up over the years, including a new family who used the stage name "The Flying Graysons" in honor of the originals, Cleveland Brand (Deadman's brother), and a young woman named Alyssa.

Detective Comics #484

Nightwing #103

Nightwing #88

During Tim Drake's debut story, A Lonely Place of Dying, Dick returned to Haly's for a time. There, he reconnected with old friends like Harry the clown, Jaques, and Soose, who appear to be in charge of the roustabouts and circus workers. Dick also meets Samson the Strongman (not to be confused with Sambo) and Pedro "the dwarf" (this is what he is called in the comic, I believe the proper term is "little person"), Samson and Pedro try to frame Harry for the death of another member of the circus, Wilhelm the Lion Tamer. Thankfully, Dick is there to set things right.

The New Titans #60

There are other members of the circus who either are unnamed or have minor appearances. At one point Haly's had a Fortuneteller and Fat Lady, who felt close enough to Dick to call him family. Lorna Hill was in charge of hiring new talent during the period when Dick was no longer Robin, but before he was Nightwing. Mr. Poteet was another member of the circus during Dick's first year as Robin, possibly in charge of the workers. Another member of the circus who Dick seemed to know was Irving, who worked for Haly's after Dick was already Nightwing.

Robin Annual #4

Nightwing #102

Robin Year One #4

Nightwing #88

The Animals:

Haly's Circus also boasted an impressive collection of animals, some of whom are named. There were at least two elephants, Elinore and Zitka, both female, and friends of Dick as a child. They also both remembered him when he visited later as an adult. Zitka even saved him from a burning tent.

The New Titans #60

Nightwing #88

Haly's also had at least two lions, both of whom Dick knew as cubs, and both of whom Dick had to tangle with as an adult. Their names were Gunther and Kimba.

The New Titans #60

Nightwing #103

Finally, Dick was also friendly with a monkey named Jimmie.

Nightwing #103

The New 52/Rebirth

Main Members:

In the New 52 and Rebirth, much of Haly's Circus' history changed. To start, John Grayson was no longer Romani, Mary Grayson (or Marie Lloyd) was. She had been a member of the Cirque Romanes de Paris before meeting John Grayson, joining Haly's, and changing her name.

Nightwing vol. 4 #32

Nightwing vol. 4 #7

In the New 52, Dick's paternal great grandfather, William Cobb, was a member of Haly's Circus as a knife thrower. He was eventually selected for training in the Court of Owls as a Talon. In this continuity, the Court had a deal with the Haly family to select special children from the circus to be trained as Talons. C.C. Haly was aware of this, and Dick was also supposed to be trained as a Talon, but his parents died and Bruce Wayne took him in before he could be taken.

Nightwing vol. 3 #8

Growing up, Dick had 3 childhood friends: Zane, Raya, and Raymond. He would reencounter each of them as Nightwing. After Bruce took him in, the court selected Raymond to be their next assassin, and he became Saiko. Zane became a hitman called Feedback, using an implant in his brain to induce fear in his victims, and Raya became Raymond's lover and accomplice.

Nightwing vol. 3 #3

Nightwing vol. 3 #2

Nightwing vol. 3 #3

The last key member of Haly's was the man who grew up with Mary Grayson, named Richard. He had been with her in Paris before following her to Haly's. She had been the only person brave and kind enough to show him compassion when he had leprosy, and even stole medicine for him. As a result, he felt indebted to her and fell in love with her. Due to his medical condition and lack of treatment, he lost the sense of touch, and had an act under the name "Mr. Numb." Eventually, he became the international thief and villain, Raptor.

Nightwing vol. 4 #32

Nightwing vol. 4 #1

Other Members:

Aside from the frankly shocking number of villains Haly's Circus produced in the New 52 and Rebirth, there were other, regular circus folk. Bryan Haly was C.C. Haly's son, though he was aware of Saiko's identity. Jimmy the Clown was, thankfully, unaware of any villains, and seems to be a similar character to Harry the Clown from the Pre/Post Crisis timelines.

Nightwing vol. 3 #1

Similar to the previous versions of Haly's, after the Graysons died, new acrobats were needed. One was Marc, a catcher brought on shortly before Dick visited the circus after becoming Nightwing. Another was Christina (as well as her parents) who were hired after Dick became the owner of Haly's Circus.

Nightwing vol. 3 #1

Nightwing vol. 3 #14

There were other, minor members who appeared only once, or were mentioned in passing only. These include Tombo (another little person), a Bearded Lady, and a fortune teller, Madame Mystique (Missy to her friends).

Nightwing vol. 3 #3

Nightwing vol. 4 #8

Nightwing vol. 4 #3

Another former member of the circus was a mute girl named Mary, who was an aerialist in 1946. She was taken by the Court of Owls and trained to be a Talon. She eventually fought in the Night of the Owls against Batgirl.

Batgirl #9

The Lost Carnival

The Lost Carnival was a one shot graphic novel set outside of continuity, telling a story of Dick Grayson before he was Robin. It adds to the mythos of Haly's Circus, though it is not canon to any timeline (what makes this most obvious is Dick's age in the book).

Lost Carnival had the usual mainstays: The Flying Graysons (John and Mary, it's not clear which, if either of them, is of Romani descent), as well as Mr. Haly.

Lost Carnival also featured a separate Ring Master, who goes unnamed. Typically Mr. Haly is the Ringmaster, but in Lost Carnival he's simply the owner.

As for supporting cast, Lost Carnival added three new characters: Lodz, the Circus magician, Willow, his apprentice and niece, and Jonesy, the leader of the worker crew who set up the circus camp and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Lost Carnival is a nice one shot that explores what Dick's life might've been like had his parents not died when he was so young. The story still implies he will eventually become Robin and Nightwing, but he is definitely older in this story than he is usually depicted in the circus, and is the friends Lost Carnival adds to the circus are welcome additions.

Conclusion

And there you have it folks, every named or speaking member of Haly's Circus I could find, including animals, from 1940 to 2020. I didn't list every member of the circus on panel, but I tried to find all the named and unique ones. There are countless workers, clowns, and "scene dressing" characters, as well as unnamed animals, such as horses, tigers, and more elephants. The circus changed drastically between the warm, happy time before Robin in the Pre/Post Crisis timelines, to the dark, sinister place of the New 52/Rebirth, which spawned some of Nightwing's greatest villains. No matter how it changes, Haly's will always be important to Dick Grayson's history, and will always color his character going forward.