Review: Freak by Matt Lesniewski
Blurb:
Oni Press is proud to present, in the tradition of Faceless and the Family, Eisner Award–nominated creator Matt Lesniewski’s carefully crafted tale of rejection, loss and loathing—now in hardcover for the first time.
Who hasn’t, at some point in their life, felt misunderstood, outcast . . . alone? This is the constant conflict and plight of our eponymously named protagonist. Everywhere he travels, he is met with violence and disgust. But will his trip to the big city, where he hopes to go unnoticed amongst the masses, be any different from the places and experiences he’s had previously?
Enter the unique and visually expressive mind of writer-artist Matt Lesniewski in his debut graphic novel, which received a 2020 Eisner Award nomination.
Review:
Being hated for being different is, unfortunately, a reality for many. And often, the prejudice remains unexplored or unjustified. Is it inherited, passed down ignorantly by generations because they refuse to take a step back and reflect? Is the hate towards being different just a twisted subset of natural selection?
A lot of such existential questions came to me when reading Matt Lesniewski’s uncomfortable read of Freak.
What I liked:
The artwork is the standout winner in what makes this book so captivating and evocative. The detailed textural art is equal parts beautiful and cluttered—and I mean this in a good way. The world of Freak is a dystopian future. But, instead of exploring the world and why it has become that way, Lesniewski drives focus towards our lead. So dehumanized he is for his ugly looks that even he has forgotten his name. He just goes by “Freak”.
As ugly as the freak is to look at, the world around him isn’t any better. The streets look full of trash and debris, the buildings stand uncomfortably close to each other, the crowds passing through them with apathy. Yet, they do not seem to express their dissatisfaction with having to live in such a dystopia. Their anger finds a target only when the Freak comes into the picture. Almost as if the world they live in doesn’t approve of dissent but turns a blind eye towards discrimination. This aspect of the book really hit home for me, especially given some recent controversies surrounding problematic comments made on an online comedy show. The arguably small issue took precedence over the millions of systemic, institutional, societal, economic, and cultural issues that continue to be ignored by our leaders. Almost like the masses and the media were taking out their frustration on these comedians because voicing dissent against larger problems isn’t exactly allowed in a post-truth world. If I didn’t know better, I’d assume that the fictional city in this graphic novel was inspired by some corner of my home city that Lesniewski happened to visit and had a bad experience in.
Another aspect I really liked was the lack of character depth. The refusal to get into the characters’ minds and personalities created this distance between reader and story that worked in favor of the graphic novel. It’s easy to empathize with someone you understand, but could you do the same for a random stranger you know nothing about? The lack of justification for peoples’ actions makes you think, and that, I believe, is the point of The Freak. This isn’t a story about how to overcome discrimination. It’s a tale that shows the reader a mirror to society, forcing them to ponder over the very nature of what makes society discriminate against certain sections.
SPOILER ALERT:
Lastly, what I liked about the Freak—and what stayed with me days after—was how the Freak does not change despite being given a marginally better life. He finds a group of likewise ugly and ostracized ‘freaks’, all of whom seem to love and accept him for who he is. They don’t demand anything from him, except that he give up on his anger towards the world and live peacefully among them. Sadly, the Freak isn’t able to cope with this warmth, instead resorting to go back to the outside world and take revenge. Of course, we don’t see that revenge, we just see him get caught and asked to leave forever.
What does this ending even mean? Is this Lesniewski’s rejection of the rehabilitation over punishment argument? Or is he trying to highlight a deeper issue that plagues our society? Hate and discrimination are all too common across the globe. When people grow up in toxicity, it’s not easy for them to break their unhealthy patterns of coping. So is the case with the Freak. Was the community too quick and harsh to judge the Freak? Or did they give him enough time to integrate, only to realize that he’s too far gone? The Freak even feels safer in the threatening outside world because of its familiarity, so maybe they were justified in letting him go? After all, you can’t save everyone. Especially when they don’t want to be saved.
There are a lot of folks out there who will never know a warm hug or a welcoming community. They might very well end up being a menace to society, but that also begs the question—who is responsible for them? The unwelcome society that made them that way, or their failure to learn to integrate? Or the system that seems to ignore such folks because they simply don’t care?
What I didn’t like:
To be honest, the ending felt a little incomplete. At the moment of finishing the book, I did not like it. Days after, I am still pondering over it, which makes me believe the open ending was by design. I liked that he doesn’t integrate into the community because that makes for a more thought-provoking finale. However, the way it was handled felt a little rushed, compared to the rest of the story. That could be the reason why I didn’t like the ending the first time around. Besides, the open-ended nature of the graphic novel might not sit well with some folks.
Conclusion:
The Freak is an absurdly evocative and visceral experience. The artwork especially does a fine job of transporting you to this dystopian world of discrimination, hate, and anger. A mirror to some of the worst aspects that still plague human society.
TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: Artwork, thought-provoking narrative, philosophical questions raised by the ending
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: some mixed feelings about the ending
