On the Comic Booked Scene! – Freakshow #1: Release Party

Besides housing one of the coolest R2-D2 units in town, Golden Apple Comics has long since been one of the best places around to not only find you favorite Comics, but to find their creators as well.

I arrived early, eager to meet up with fun-loving and easy-going fellow geeky mind, David Server, co-writer of the unique Comic Book brilliance that is Freakshow.

The Freakshow Comic Book team consists of Comic Book Co-Writing duo of David Server and Jackson Lanzing, as well as Joe Suitor, their faithful and supremely talented Comic Book Artist.

Each member of the team was beyond ecstatic to be there, and they weren’t alone, their good friend and Freakshow Variant Cover Artist Darick Robertson was also thrilled to be in attendance. Darick Robertson of course it the long-time Marvel Comic Book Artist and Co-Creator of such flawless Comic Book works as The Boys and Transmetropolitan, which I highly recommend reading if you haven’t had the chance yet.

My own experience with Robertson was amazing, full of down-to-earth charm he seemed as delighted to have a member of Comic Booked in attendance as I was to be there. One of my best memories of that night was the way that mid-conversation he didn’t even miss a single happy beat as he pulled his variant from the shelf and signed it for me on a playful whim. I loved it, Darick Robertson clearly knows how to leave just the right impression in the minds of his loyal Comic Book fans with out even trying.

If that small but flawless tale wasn’t proof enough, later that night Robertson actually took the time to sketch a beautiful piece for a passionate fan while once again not missing a single beat in his Comic Book signing.

So talented…

Robertson also took the time to randomly draw up Jackson Lanzing’s dear and smiling girlfriend Christina a lettered sign declaring her table hotness. A title which only bred more smiles and cheers of concurrence.

This sort of down-to-earth and easy-going atmosphere continued on well into the night, with Server’s killer cousin Jen snapping happy pictures of everyone there for their beloved family and friends to remember and share. David Server, Jackson Lanzing, and Joe Suitor were all clearly stoked to be there. Server and Lanzing could not stop grinning and joking amongst one-another and I even caught Suitor smiling a few times, which he informed me he doesn’t do often. I’m guessing that means he was having the time of his life and who can blame him.

Yes. The Freakshow release party was indeed a party. Complete with drinks, Jello Shots, and baked goodness galore.

So warm was this room, and so great was the beaming enthusiasm coming from Robertson, Suitor, Server, and Jackson that when it was idly tossed out how “meta” it would be if someone could draw them right now, I just had to comply. The look of genuine sheer delight on these guys faces was more than worth. Truly, truly great guys.

By the way, if this becomes a Comic Booked tradition, you now all know where it started…

Oh yes, such a celebration was well earned by the Freakshow team. Not just because they’re great guys, but because Server, Lanzing, and Suitor truly poured their very hearts and souls into both their tale and their journey.

A truly inspirational team, the brilliant gentlemen of Freakshow are the proof many of us need in that in the Comic Book Scene, if you truly believe in something, believe in yourselves, and never give up you can make it yourself.

Yes. Yes you can, and the people will love you for it.

The tale of Freakshow is a brilliant tale of dark intensity that delves into both your mind and soul with its gripping need.  It begins with the death of a Superhero, and goes on to create a new sort of team in a new sort of world. This is the sort of team and world that darker Comic Book minds like my own have always wanted, and Server, Lanzing, and Suitor deliver both these things to us flawlessly.

Oh Yes. Suitors’ art sucks you in while Lanzing and Severs’ united tapestry of words and characters keep you there.  Truly this is a Comic Book work deserving its mad selling-out pace as it spreads like wildfire nationwide, even if the Freakshow team humbly attributes this to them being next to the massively explosive Fantastic Four #587 Issue.

While there is no doubt in my mind that this was sure to help, I say they can also more than attribute this surge of Freakshow love to the perfect way Robertson and Suitor handled those captivating Freakshow covers. Those brilliant covers combined with Server and Lanzing’s dancing prose and character depth would keep any like-mind in its thrall after just a brief  skim through.

This is a Comic Book theory I was given further evidence too as my Cousin Matt arrived home later that night, took one look at both covers, skimmed through the one on top, and then promptly set down on the couch to read. To briefly continue this amusing anecdote, the Darick Robertson Comic Book cover on top turned out to have been printed with four pages cut together at the tip. That’s right, it’s now even more rare than we thought, and I thus love it all the more.

The look on Matt’s face when he was forced to pause and ask me for the Suitor Freakshow issue is all the evidence you as a reader would had needed to know that you need to buy this Comic. Also, the fact that he only picked up the Robertson issue because it was on top is all the evidence you need to know that Server, Lanzing, and Suitor are here to stay.

Yes. Freakshow is a wonderful piece of Comic Book perfection, and I simply cannot wait to come back here after Issue Three and give you all a full tiered Comic Booked Review to reward your interest, and convert the rest of you should we have any stragglers.

In the meantime, I was fortunate enough to sit down with the Freakshow trio of David Server, Jackson Lanzing, and Joe Suitor after the party.

Here is my two part interview, with Joe Suitor on the left, David Server on the right, and Jackson Lanzing keeping it warm in the middle. Truly, these guys love what they do, and we can definitely love them for it.

So, the next time you see Freakshow in stock at your local Comic Book store pick it up. I promise, you won’t regret it. After all, it’s pretty much just a brilliant Freakshow invitation to come party with all the rest of us, and if you already are, why not invite your friends too?

Us freaks really ought to stick together. – N