2 out of 5

A fun idea is made difficult to read by its execution.

Freaks & Gods, I imagine, had a pretty good elevator pitch: Quantum Leap, with Kirby comics. Chris Dreier puts three sci-fi / fantasy pulp types – an Egyptian Frankenstein demi-god, a universe-mixed man-and-woman-in-a-single-body space adventurer, and an Arthurian werewolf with an evil-sensing sword – into an issue by issue righting of wrongs, as the trio is transported via “Dark Tunnel” to various worlds, hoping the next trip will be one to their various homes…

It’s a quirky setup, told with Golden Age dialogue bravado, and avoiding being too nostalgia-baiting by, ironically, employing characters from the public domain: our freaks and gods interact with villains and heroes pulled out of old-ass comics, restating their origins with a little asterisked editor’s reference to whichever issue.

At a high level, this works, one world-ending event at a time, relying on fisticuffs with some preposterous baddie, while Chris builds in details about each leads’ past, and this Dark Tunnel-led quest for home. Leaning into this would’ve been plenty for a miniseries. But… something holds us back from that, and by the time of the fourth issue in this collection, which drops some “it’s all connected” type developments, we get a sense of the mixed focus that’s maybe holding the series back. Not that such connections are unwelcome, and at least building up something of an ongoing rogues gallery is smart, but it solidifies the feeling that the story is being somewhat rerouted before it every really picks up steam, and this maybe plays into how all of the characters talk kinda the same – excepting their era-appropriate language, none exactly have separate personalities from one another.

Also part of that talk: there’s way too much of it. This unfortunately, is what tanks the books, alongside some editing and layout woes. Pages are just filled with words, and they don’t end up being necessary. Statements are repeated, or expressed with a lot of gobbledygook lanugage; character back-and-forths feel disconnected, like no one’s really replying to the other person, and just reciting exposition. Some of this is, of course, part of the Golden Age shtick, but that crosses a line into being off-putting when panel after panel doesn’t add much to the narrative. Furthermore, we’re plagued with many typos, adding to the lack of readability at points, and the sequence of the dialogue bubbles is haphazard; reading order is a struggle. These are a lot of roadblocks for reading a comic.

The art comes in to support the vibe of pulpy energy, though. Giuseppe D’Elia handles issues 1, 2 and 4, finding a line between a kind of EC comics intensity and Kirbyisms, with some further stylistic tics that remind me of a Nick Dragotta-type: solid, but fluid figures and animation. Joel Cotejar, on issue 3, has a cleaner inking style and maybe a slightly more classic look, but the two artists sync well. And setting aside my criticisms of Dreier’s writing, the coloring in the book – by Chris – pops, printed cleanly by 215 Ink (although I’d say the paper stock on this trade is almost annoyingly thick). So the issues do look great.

But man, it’s the presentation issues that drag it down. Any one of these – the typos, the reading order, the exposition – could be okay on their own, but the combo (and the continual presence of all of them) is a bit much. Solid idea, fun in moments, and then somewhat of a physical drag to read.