On pieces of childhood

You know great art when you feel it, and my how you feel the sadness in this piece.
You can almost sense the back story and I imagine it would be like a Grimm Fairytale with some chilling moral at the end.
The stark simplicity of the line drawing with the black background of crumbling (city/life/childhood you choose) buildings with the central character in white emphasising the boys’ loneliness.
Both figures are well realised and are characters in their own right, they have you wondering about their past deeds and how they relate to one another.
This is an excellent illustration that would not look out of place in a rather expensive Fairytale compendium.