Wednesday, September 7, 2011

FREAKSHOW #3 & Trade Paperback Reviews Hit!

With both the third and final issue and the trade paperback collection of FREAKSHOW on shelves nationwide, we've gotten some great critical feedback on the full saga! Here are some of the things the critics have had to say!

AIN'T IT COOL NEWS: Server and Lanzing have crafted a masterful mystery with their series...The Freaks (and indeed, the entirety of the series itself) are an intriguing blend of classic comic book genres. There’s the obvious superhero influence (especially that of X-MEN) in the protagonists’ abilities (as much a curse as they are assets…again, shades of X-MEN) and their code names. There’s the science fiction element in the scenario of the chemical weapons and the quarantined city, though this also crosses over into the horror genre, bringing to mind such killer virus films as “28 Days Later” and “I Am Legend.” The horror elements are pushed further to the fore in the characters of Psychosis and Rot, both of whom look like they could have stepped out of any number of midnight movies. These disparate elements could have easily made for a thematically jarring read, but Server and Lanzing blend them effortlessly into a backdrop for the characters—which is really what FREAKSHOW is all about.

COMIC BOOK THERAPY: Freakshow progressed at a steady pace from the first issue, increasing in violence and accelerating in cadence until it reached an epic final issue filled to the brim with huge panels of artfully detailed gore and, more importantly, a thick, juicy slab of perfectly cooked writing...It's hard to fill a whole page without revealing any major plot details, because the story is linear enough to leave no loose ends. There's a major plot twist in the end, as there always should be, and it's as exciting to read as it is heartbreaking to fully grasp...I promise, you will not be disappointed.

THE FANDOM POST
: There is just an outstanding amount of praise to be thrown at this book. A lot of superhero books try to pull off the outsider or “why me” angles and a number of them fall flat as a lot of those powers bring on some responsibility but not a large percentage of those in the stories are burdened with abilities that mark them as clearly either more than or less than human depending on one’s perspective. In Freakshow the characters can’t escape and hide in normal society due to their appearance. This is then made double in its painful toll as the event that gave them their appearance came at the cost of everyone and everything they had known and they band together like the circus acts of old for community as well as protection.

Hit the links for their full reviews! And thanks to everyone for their coverage and their support! To get *your* copy of the FREAKSHOW trade paperback, contact your local retailer or click here to order a copy directly from Things from Another World!