Fantastic Freaks #1: Race Against the C!ock is a comic written by Michael Bardo & Michelle Lodge with illustrations by Michelle Lodge and colors by Fahriza Kamaputra. Frank goes on a journey around town searching for his missing…member. This is a supernatural comic that takes place in the modern world with a lot of comedy, references, and violence. The main man for this tale is Frank, he is a Frankenstein’s monster who likes to joke around and party. The leading lady is Jackie, she is a friend of Frank with pink hair who reluctantly agrees to assist in the search. There are many other supernatural/fantasy creatures and monsters like werewolves, witches, and octopus women. The story begins with Frank waking up befuddled, shocked, and confused as he realizes his dick is missing. This leads to him freaking out and stumbling around his apartment and eventually he falls out the window. The violence here is graphic with bloody gore and hard, sometimes gruesome hits. The pacing is steady with some fast scenes and the tone is like that of 2000’s sex comedy movie. There are many dramatically and violently intense moments. The dialogue here is conversational and vulgar with a lot of comedy and insults. There are no word-heavy pages here. This is an exciting debut issue that blends the comedic with the supernatural while featuring big personalities and a unique premise.

            The art here is detailed and mostly cartoonish with a focus on lighting. The color range is very wide with a good variety on each page. The majority of this story takes place in a city but there is natural scenery like mountains, a beach, and some toilet paper-covered trees. The location changes between three main spots with travel in-between. Some of these places are apartments, others are seemingly more religious. The backgrounds here usually show the surroundings like garbage and home décor with gradient colors tending to appear on the walls and outside of the foreground. The expression level here is very high as the looks for most of these characters change on a panel-by-panel basis. Some of the emotions seen here are shock, fear, confusion, anger, annoyance, irritation, and rage. The faces are decently drawn and they can get animated which leads to the different expressions coming across very clearly. The creatures here can look like animals, some look like aliens, and others look like the stuff of nightmares. The violence here is mostly physical and it can get environmentally destructive. It also gets very bloody and gory with many gruesome attacks. The action scenes come in bursts, flow well, and have a decent amount of panels. This being a sort of sex comedy there are lewd shots and multiple characters in revealing clothes.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes, if this is up your alley.

“Would I like this?”

If you like supernatural stories starring a Frankenstein and one of his female friends that have them searching for his missing penis in a comic full of sex-based and crude comedy, violence, and references to other media then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

R. Violence, nudity, sexual situations.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“I hope the little guy is okay…”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michellelodge/fantastic-freaks-issue-1-race-against-the-cock/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 24

Violent Pages: 11, for 46% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 4, for 17% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 3

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 5

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 1

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 4

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”