The stereotypical freaks

I absolute adore graphic novels, and as a music business student, The Stereotypical Freaks is something that is right up my alley.

The Stereotypical Freaks focuses on two friends signing up for a local battle of the bands contest, recruiting two new members, and forming life-changing friendships.

I wasn't expecting a lack of colour whilst reading this, as the cover itself was engaging and colourful. To start with I thought it could have benefitted from being coloured, however the further I got into the story, the less it mattered, and the less I noticed it. This truly is a powerful story of friendship and overcoming stereotypes and other people's ideas of what you should be and who exactly you are. Jacoby's story was truly heart-breaking and added a nice spin on what could've been a stereotypical story that's been told before. The dynamic between the four was great, and whilst it was made clear that Tom was the main character, it was nice to see the friendship between Jacoby and Mark and Jacoby and Dan explored as well. I loved that although we only saw glimpses of some of the characters, they all felt well-rounded and realistic.

I absolutely loved the recommended listening at the start of each chapter, and it added an extra element to the story listening to these songs whilst reading (also I adore most of the artists mentioned, I mean, who doesn't love Led Zeppelin and The Who, so definitely no complaints from me on that front). I also appreciated that the characters weren't afraid to cry, again bucking popular stereotypes of males being unwilling to cry.

The only thing that let The Stereotypical Freaks down was the character of Jealinthe. I understand that she was the reasoning for Tom signing up for the battle of the bands competition, however I felt this was really her only purpose (I know she was also used as a metaphor for overcoming fears, however other metaphors were also used, so this wasn't entirely necessary). Dan and his enthusiasm could have been the reason for Tom signing up and it wouldn't have felt any less authentic. As this was a story of friendship, it probably would have felt more authentic that he would have signed up for him. At times, the dialogue also felt a bit awkward, however it was easy to overlook this as most of the time it flowed nicely.

This is a touching tale of male friendship and the power of being able to do what you love and overcoming your fears.