Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A bunch of teen hero sidekicks, trained only to fetch coffee for their big-name bosses, are left to save planet Earth when the senior heroes suddenly disappear one day in the comic-book series Superfreaks by Elsa Charretier, Pierrick Colinet, and Margaux Saltel.
Unlike Superman, who comes from a different planet, or other popular superheroes in the comic-book world who were ‘experiments gone wrong,’ the superheroes of Superfreaks are created by a mysterious van that simply appears on Earth one day and starts shooting beams at random, granting special powers to whoever is hit by its light. This essentially spawns a whole new religion, with the van becoming the planet’s new ‘God’ or savior, and the superheroes, of course, the guardians of Earth, fighting crime and all that.
Narrated by an unknown voice, whose identity is only revealed toward the end, “Superfreaks” begins with some exposition, letting readers know that it’s been 50 years since the ‘van’ began spawning generations of superheroes. But over time, the senior heroes grow insecure, greedy, and refuse to train or step aside for newer generations. You know, a little like the corporate superheroes in “The Boys”, more interested in fame, glory, and money than actual heroism.
The primary protagonist of Superfreaks is a sidekick named Blue Aura, a powerful but grossly under-confident teen hero whose only job is to run errands for her boss. “Be small,” she keeps telling herself, despite being a big girl capable of amazing things – held back only because the adults around her constantly belittle her. That’s true for all her peers, who are never allowed to do anything meaningful. So, when all the top heroes vanish, the media calls the younger generation “clowns” (well, not in as many words) who are incapable of saving the day. To make matters worse, a massive alien spaceship begins attacking Earth. Its primary goal? To steal the magic van! Blue Aura and her superpowered friends must band together to stop the alien threat, even though no one, not even their own families, believes in them.
One of my favorite scenes in Superfreaks is when a reporter interviews a priest about the ongoing alien crisis inside a church. Instead of a statue of Jesus at the altar, there’s a replica of the van. Yes, it’s the cult of the van that’s captivated the earth as one of the biggest religions in this alternate universe. Even the media representation was funny in the series, with some anchors being too loud and borderline mean in their criticism of the younger heroes. To make things worse, a faction of ‘evil’ superheroes immediately start causing trouble for the surviving team. Luckily, the van creates a new superhero called ‘Savage’, adding a helping hand to the good guys in times of crisis.
Superfreaks is a cutesy, chaotic comic book series with an upbeat Teen Titans energy, even though the characters themselves aren’t particularly memorable. Its biggest flaw is that the creators don’t give each hero a distinct introduction. And for a five-part comic series where each issue is under 30 pages, the plot tries to cram in too many characters, making it hard to keep track of who’s who or register their personalities.
If the artwork had been sharper, I would’ve probably enjoyed Superfreaks a lot more. But the coloring and design style ended up being more distracting than engaging (and I’m usually a super fan of colorful, glossy comics). Although, some of the character designs in the comics were cool, especially that of Blue Aura’s. I could see some readers enjoying the artwork more than the plot, it just wasn’t to my liking.
Friendship, team-work, and self-love are some of the primary themes of ‘Superfreaks’, with almost each teen battling with their self-esteem and relying on each other’s support to defeat the alien spaceship. There’s some hint of romance in the plot too, although panic and fighting dominate page space.
The climactic chapter introduces a surprising twist in the tale, which finally explains the origin of the van and it was quite out of the box. At the same time, the details are slightly sketchy, with the creators rushing the flashbacks and letting readers fill in the blanks. But just like all good superhero tales, the ‘Superfreaks’ do manage to save the day in a very unconventional way, upsetting a lot of naysayers, but winning themselves a new generation of admirers.
Rating: 3 on 5. ‘Superfreaks’ is also on Kindle Unlimited.
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