''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' is an
underground comic about a fictional trio of
stoner characters, created by the American artist
Gilbert Shelton
Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and '' Wonder ...
. The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''
The Rag
''The Rag'' was an underground press, underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas from 1966–1977. The weekly paper covered political and cultural topics that the conventional press ignored, such as the growing antiwar movement, the sexu ...
'', an
underground newspaper
The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group.
In specific rece ...
published in Austin, Texas, beginning in May 1968, and were regularly reprinted in underground publications around the United States and in other parts of the world. Later their adventures were published in a series of comic books.
The lives of the Freak Brothers revolve around the procurement and enjoyment of
recreational drugs
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or plea ...
, particularly
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. The comics present a critique of
the establishment
In sociology and in political science, the term the establishment describes the dominant social group, the elite who control a polity, an organization, or an institution. In the Praxis (process), praxis of wealth and Power (social and politica ...
while satirizing the
counterculture
A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...
.
Fat Freddy's Cat appears in many of the stories, spinning off his own cartoon strip (which appeared as part of the Freak Brothers comic page, in the manner of older comic strip double features) and later some full-length episodes.
An animated TV series adaptation, ''
The Freak Brothers'', was released on
Tubi
Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...
on November 14, 2021.
Publication history
The Freak Brothers first appeared in ''
The Rag
''The Rag'' was an underground press, underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas from 1966–1977. The weekly paper covered political and cultural topics that the conventional press ignored, such as the growing antiwar movement, the sexu ...
'', an
underground newspaper
The terms underground press or clandestine press refer to periodicals and publications that are produced without official approval, illegally or against the wishes of a dominant (governmental, religious, or institutional) group.
In specific rece ...
published in Austin, Texas, beginning in May 1968. Their debut was in an advertising flyer for a winter 1968
film short called ''The Texas Hippies March on the Capitol''. Freak Brothers strips soon became popular and, thanks to the
Underground Press Syndicate, were regularly reprinted in
underground papers around the United States and in other parts of the world.
The Freak Brothers' first comic book appearance was in ''
Feds 'n' Heads'', self-published by Shelton in the spring of 1968 (and later re-issued in multiple printings by Berkeley's the
Print Mint). They also appeared in the first two issues of
Jay Lynch
Jay Patrick Lynch (January 7, 1945 – March 5, 2017) was an American cartoonist who played a key role in the underground comix movement with his '' Bijou Funnies'' and other titles. He is best known for his comic strip ''Nard n' Pat'' and the r ...
's ''
Bijou Funnies''. In 1969 Shelton and three friends from Texas founded
Rip Off Press in San Francisco, which took over publication of all subsequent Freak Brothers comics. The first compilation of their adventures, ''The Collected Adventures of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', had its first printing in 1971 and has been continually in print ever since.
A weekly ''Freak Brothers'' comic strip was
syndicated by Rip Off Press to
underground and
student publications in the 1970s, along with the related strip ''
Fat Freddy's Cat''.
[Fox, M. Steven]
"Rip Off Comix — 1977-1991 / Rip Off Press,"
Comixjoint. Retrieved Dec. 5, 2022. In addition to those strips, new adventures appeared in magazines such as ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'', ''
High Times
''High Times'' was an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing d ...
'', and ''
Rip Off Comix''; these too were collected in comic book form. Shelton continued to write and draw the series until 1992, in collaboration with
Dave Sheridan (1974 – 1982) and
Paul Mavrides (1978 – 1992).
The majority of the comic books consist of one or more multi-page stories together with a number of one-page strips; many of the latter have a one-row skit featuring
Fat Freddy's Cat at the bottom of the page. Issues #8-10 contained only the long-form story "The Idiots Abroad", which ''
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' listed as #44 of the "100 Greatest Comics of the Century." The UK newspaper ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' said of a 2003 reprint of the story that, "The graphic quality is, even in slightly muddy reproduction, astonishing. Depictions of various European cities recall
Hergé
Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...
in their accuracy and detail ... As for the subject matter, considering the dates of composition, it has hardly dated."
Characters
The Freak Brothers are not siblings. They are a threesome of
freaks (similar to, but distinct from,
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...
s) from
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
.
* Freewheelin' Franklin Freek, although laid-back, is the most street-smart of the trio. Apparently he has always been on the streets and it appears that he is several years older than the others. In one story he reveals that he grew up in an orphanage and never knew his parents. Tall and skinny, he has a big bulbous nose, a waterfall mustache and a ponytail. He wears cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. In one strip, he runs into an ex-girlfriend who has a child that bears a striking resemblance to him. He does his best to evade them and is relieved when she does not recognize him. In another strip, when he meets his own (possible) father, the same plot is inverted. Depending on the level of colorization used in the strip in question, Franklin's hair is red, blonde, or light brown.
* Phineas T. Phreak is the intellectual and idealist of the group. He has enough mastery of chemistry to create new drugs and takes an avid interest in politics. Of the three, he is the most committed to social change and environmental issues. He is from Texas and while his mother is relaxed and open-minded, his father is a card-carrying member of the
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and ...
. He is the hairiest of the brothers—tall and skinny with a thick bush of black hair, a beard, a nose bearing more than a passing resemblance to a
joint
A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...
, and glasses. He is the stereotypical left-wing radical, bearing a superficial resemblance to
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponent of the ...
or
Jerry Rubin.
* Fat Freddy Freekowtski is the least intelligent of the trio and is most likely to be preoccupied with food. He is moderately overweight, with curly yellow hair and a mustache. His compulsion to eat is the subject of several of the adventures of the group. Fat Freddy frequently gets "burned" during drug transactions; when he does "score" he typically manages to lose the drugs in various ways, such as by dumping them out of a shopping bag in front of a cooling fan, which then blows them out the window onto a police car. Fat Freddy comes from an unexceptional large family in Cleveland. In ''The Idiots Abroad'', Freddy visits the Polish village of Gfatsk, where everybody happens to look like him. He is driven away by an angry mob as soon as they hear the name Freekowtski.
Other recurring characters include:
* Dealer McDope, one of the trio's dealers. He is often mentioned in the strips but rarely appears in person. The character was initially created by
Dave Sheridan for the Rip Off Press title ''Mother's Oats Comix''.
* Hiram "Country" Cowfreak, a hippy who grows vast quantities of
marijuana
Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
at his isolated farmstead. He is referred to as the Freak Brothers' "cousin".
* Norbert the Nark, an inept
DEA agent who is continually trying, and failing, to arrest the Freak Brothers.
* Tricky Prickears, the star of a comic book within the comic that the Freak Brothers enjoy reading. He is billed as "The Freak Brothers' favorite law enforcement officer". Tricky is a blind, deaf and reactionary detective and the character is a parody of
Dick Tracy, to the extent that Shelton drew his stories in a different style, resembling that of Tracy's creator
Chester Gould.
* Governor Rodney Richpigge, a stereotypically rich, corrupt politician whom the Freak Brothers hold in general contempt. The governor's son is a cocaine dealer.
Fat Freddy's Cat
Fat Freddy's Cat is a fictional orange
tabby cat
A tabby cat, or simply tabby, is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a Cat_coat_genetics#Tabbies , coat pattern distinguished by an M-shaped marking on its forehead, stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, around its leg ...
, nominally belonging to Fat Freddy.
While the Cat is usually featured in a small '
topper' strip below a Freak Brothers strip, he has had independent appearances and storylines of his own. His two running jokes are Fat Freddy is too lazy to name him, and he suffers neglect and abuse from the Brothers' lifestyle.
Single line segments appeared in student newspapers in Australia in the 1970s.
Fat Freddy's Cat first appeared in 1969 in
underground newspapers as a character in ''The
Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' strip. He soon gained his own small
spin-off topper strip, in imitation of the early ''
Krazy Kat
''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an US, American newspaper comic strip, created by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Journal-America ...
'' strips below ''The Family Upstairs'' by
George Herriman
George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip ''Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience a ...
. Some full-size stories also featured Fat Freddy's Cat.
Many of these strips have been collected in comic book form by
Rip Off Press in a series of ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' compilations and later ''The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat'', which ran for four small size issues in the 1970s. ''Fat Freddy's Comics and Stories'' (
one-shot, 1983) also included several stories about the Cat.
''The Adventures of Fat Freddy's Cat'' were reprinted and expanded (starting over from #1) in six comic book size issues in the 1980s. They included new longer stories about the Cat. A seventh edition was released (in the US only) in 1993. After the demise of the underground newspaper, the Cat continued to appear in various comic books. His last appearance to date was in a 1990 strip reprinted in ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' #12.
The Cat is much smarter than Freddy, and while sharing many of his preoccupations such as drugs, food, sleep and sex, his stories also feature a fair amount of defecation. Like
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...
(whom he predates) he is laid back, but in his personal habits and outlook he is more like the Freak Brothers. However he tends to regard the Freak Brothers with amused contempt, frequently expressed by defecating in inappropriate and inconvenient places, such as stereo headphones.
Like Calvin of ''
Calvin and Hobbes
''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was Print syndication, syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly described as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin a ...
'' he has a fertile imagination. He is apt to tell tall stories to his three "nephews". One storyline features him playing the role of "F. Frederick Skitty", an undercover agent sworn to stop the distribution of "Tee Hee Hee", a drug that turns people into
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
s. Another story involves a scheme by Fat Freddy to replicate
Dick Whittington
Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...
's success and sell the Cat to the (fictional) small, oil-rich nation of Pootweet to deal with mice.
The New Zealand band
Fat Freddy's Drop
Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...
, whose debut album won the 2005
Gilles Peterson Worldwide Winners Award, were named after the comic. The band's debut single was recorded under the influence of LSD that had been printed with
blotter art of Fat Freddy's Cat, and the band liked the name.
The popular 8-bit computer game ''
Jet Set Willy
''Jet Set Willy'' is a platform video game written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time.
The game is a sequel to '' Manic Miner'' pub ...
'' has a room named "We Must Perform a Quirkafleeg" in honour of this strip.
Fat Freddy's Restaurant in
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Ireland, described as "Galway's favourite restaurant", is extensively decked out with arcana and other memorabilia relating to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat.
The
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
novel ''Scam Artists of the Galaxy'' (2020) contains a location named Fat Freddy's Restaurant with a supercilious mostly orange cat. This novel's sequel, ''Election Matters: Life on Universityworld'' (2022), sees the cat and one of its kittens appear.
Fat Freddy's Cat is voiced by
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Her breakthrough came in with a leading role in the comedy film '' Girls Trip'' (2017), which earned her several accolades and was included on ...
in the animated series ''
The Freak Brothers'', which debuted in 2020, and is commonly called Kitty by Fat Freddy.
This version of the character is female and is capable of conversing directly with the Freaks whom she once again has a habit of insulting and belittling. She can apparently handle weed much better than them, though this did not prevent her from having the ultimate high that sent them from 1969 to 2020.
Storylines and themes
Drug use is the predominant theme that runs throughout all volumes of this title. The protagonists "live in a state of blissful torpor relieved only by bursts of paranoia or stimulant-induced frenzy." Marijuana is the most frequently mentioned, but numerous other
stimulant
Stimulants (also known as central nervous system stimulants, or psychostimulants, or colloquially as uppers) are a class of drugs that increase alertness. They are used for various purposes, such as enhancing attention, motivation, cognition, ...
s and
hallucinogen
Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mo ...
s are mentioned as well.
Heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
is usually missing from the list. In one adventure, Franklin is shown to turn down an offer of "smack" when hitching a ride.
Food is a recurring subject. These stories most often involve Fat Freddy and his marijuana-induced "munchies" (increased appetite). The squalor engendered by the Brothers' indolence is often highlighted; several strips feature the household's
cockroach
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests.
Modern cockro ...
population, ruled over by a
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
. Several stories satirize
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
s, particularly the
U.S. government. These stories invariably show
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
s and their agents as
corrupt
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
, incompetent, or both. The theme of foreign travel is sometimes explored, most notably in the three-part ''Idiots Abroad'' series.
It is common for the storylines to begin with an air of realism, but rapidly descend into comic
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
.
Classic Freak Brothers stories include:
* ''Grass Roots'': The Brothers find a year's supply of
cocaine
Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...
and move to the country with the proceeds. They snort it all in two days. The Brothers are joined by a trio of hippie women who join them in their misadventures: the dilapidated farmhouse, Freddy's run in with a hillbilly moonshiner, the rumor of gold on the property, and Phineas running for sheriff.
* ''Chariot of the Globs'': Fat Freddy's Cat is
abducted by aliens.
[''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' #4 (Rip Off Press, Nov. 1975).]
*''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in the 21st Century:'' The Brothers experience life in the future.
*''Knock 'em Dead:'' The Brothers form a punk band.
* ''The 7th Voyage of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: A Mexican Odyssey'': The Brothers holiday in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, are thrown in jail and escape with the help of
shaman
Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
Don Longjuan, in an oblique parody of the
Carlos Castaneda books.
* ''The Idiots Abroad'': The Brothers are split up attempting to travel to
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
hoping to score cheap dope down there, yet none of them manages to reach
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
; Fat Freddy accidentally joins a group of nuclear terrorists in Scotland before disrupting the
International Workers' Day
International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...
military parade in
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, USSR and being subsequently sold to slavery in Africa; Franklin is almost killed by a native apocalyptic South American cult before joining a group of pirates; while Phineas ends up in
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
and becomes the world's richest man after founding a new religion.
Film and TV adaptations
In 1978, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers appeared - unauthorized - in the full-length
pornographic film
Pornographic films (pornos), erotic films, adult films, blue films, sexually explicit films, or 18+ films, are films that represent Human sexual activity, sexually WIKT:explicit, explicit subject matter in order to sexual arousal, arouse, fasci ...
''
Up in Flames''. The story involves the brothers' attempts to raise cash to make their rent deadline (the trio being in danger of being evicted from their apartment). Fat Freddy gains employment at a local food store run by graphic artist
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...
's character
Mr. Natural.
In 1979,
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to:
* Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate
** Universal Pictures, an American film studio
** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex
* Various theme parks operat ...
paid Shelton and Rip Off Press $250,000 for the rights to make a live-action ''Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' film. Shelton received the bulk of the money, which enabled him to live part-time in Europe. Meanwhile, the Universal-produced ''Freak Brothers'' film never made it to the production stage.
In 2006, the company Grass Roots Films began production on a feature-length
clay animation
Claymation, sometimes called clay animation or plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine cl ...
film based on the series, called ''
Grass Roots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
'', co-produced by German distribution company X Filme. In 2013, work on the film stopped.
An animated television series adaptation titled ''
The Freak Brothers'', based on the characters and set in modern San Francisco, was released on
Tubi
Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...
on November 14, 2021. The series was preceded on May 6, 2020, by a mini-episode titled "Kentucky Fried Freaks". The series features
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy Harrelson (born July 23, 1961) is an American actor. He first became known for his role as bartender Woody Boyd on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1985–1993), for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in ...
,
Pete Davidson
Peter Michael Davidson (born November 16, 1993) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He began his career in the early 2010s with minor guest roles on ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', ''Friends of the People'', ''Guy Code'', and ''Wild 'n O ...
,
John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...
, and
Tiffany Haddish
Tiffany Sara Cornilia Haddish (born December 3, 1979) is an American stand-up comedian and actress. Her breakthrough came in with a leading role in the comedy film '' Girls Trip'' (2017), which earned her several accolades and was included on ...
as voice actors for the three Freaks and the cat respectively.
Courtney Solomon and
Mark Canton serve as executive producers, with
Jeffrey Scott Edell
Jeffrey Scott Edell is an American entrepreneur in the entertainment, media, and tech industries. He currently serves as the CEO and Chairman of MeWe, a global social media and social networking service that utilizes Web3.
Jeffrey Edell is best ...
serving as Co-Executive Producer, alongside
Adam DeVine and
Blake Anderson who also provide voice acting. The series is animated by Pure Imagination Studios and Starburns Industries studio, which also worked on ''
Rick and Morty
''Rick and Morty'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated science fiction Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadvent ...
''. In May 2022, the series was renewed for a second season. The series will be released on digital on April 17, 2023 by
Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to:
Gates
*Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey
*Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...
.
In popular culture
Fat Freddy's Drop
Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...
, formed in the late 1990s, is a
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, band that took its name from the ''Freak Brothers'' comics. According to the band, individual doses of a certain type of
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...
popular in Wellington at that time had the image of Fat Freddy's Cat printed on it. Dropping — common slang for taking LSD — Fat Freddies became the inspiration for the band's name.
Director
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. Often described as one of the most preeminent writer-directors of his generation, List of awards and nominations received by Paul Thomas Anders ...
said the look of
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix ( ; ; born October 28, 1974) is an American actor. Widely described as one of the most preeminent actors of his generation and known for Joaquin Phoenix filmography, his roles as dark, unconventional and eccentric charact ...
's lead character, Larry "Doc" Sportello, in Anderson's 2014 adaptation of the
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), th ...
novel ''
Inherent Vice
''Inherent Vice'' is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon, originally published on August4, 2009. A darkly comic detective novel set in 1970s California, the plot follows sleuth Larry "Doc" Sportello whose ex-girlfriend asks him to i ...
'', was based in part on Freewheelin' Franklin Freek:
Sports
The
ultra supporters of
Serie B
The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...
Italian football (soccer) team
Ternana Calcio, from the Italian Umbrian city of
Terni
Terni ( ; ; ) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria, in Central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera (Tiber), River Nera. It is northeast ...
are called "The Freak Brothers". Like many Italians ultras, they are linked with the political left.
Places
Fat Freddy's Restaurant, in
Galway
Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...
, Ireland, has
arcana and other memorabilia relating to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat. There is also an inn in
Olongapo
Olongapo (), officially the City of Olongapo (; ; ; Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Olongapo''), is a highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 260,317 peo ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, called "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Stagger Inn".
Science
At the
Le Havre Normandy University, Claire Bowen analysed the timeless appeal and current relevance of the Freak Brothers comics in the American couter culture of the 1970s Chiara Polli at the
University of Messina conducted
semiotic
Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of semiosis, sign processes and the communication of Meaning (semiotics), meaning. In semiotics, a Sign (semiotics), sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feel ...
studies of a selection of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
translations of the Freak Brothers Comics, using
isotopies as a key tool in the analysis of comics in translation.
Bibliography
''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' series
Almost all of the titles in the series have a title in words. Issues #0–7 and #12–13 are in black and white; issues #8–11 were produced in both color and black-and-white editions.
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 0: ''Underground Classics'' #1 (Jan. 1985)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 1: ''The Collected Adventures Of...'' (1971)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 2: ''Further Adventures of those...'' (Mar. 1972)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 3: ''A Year Passes Like Nothing'' (1973)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 4: ''Brother, Can You Spare 75¢ for the...'' (Nov. 1975)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 5: ''Grass Roots'' (May 1977)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 6: ''Six Snappy Sockeroos'' (June 1980)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 7: ''Several Short Stories'' (1982)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 8: ''The Idiots Abroad, Part I'' (1984)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 9: ''The Idiots Abroad, Part II'' (1985)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 10: ''The Idiots Abroad, Part III'' (1989)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 11 (1990)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 12 (1992)
* ''Freak Brothers'' No. 13 (1997)—black-and-white reprints of stories from ''Thoroughly Ripped'' (Rip Off Press, 1978) plus a new cover and one story never before printed in the U.S.: "The Plant"
* ''Fifty Freakin' Years with the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' (Knockabout Comics, 2017)—new strips by Shelton, as well as his written introduction
Compilations and collections
Several compilation titles have been published that merge several of the original titles into one book.
* ''Thoroughly Ripped with the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat!'' (Rip Off Press, 1978) —full-color collection of stories from ''
High Times
''High Times'' was an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade. The magazine had its own book publishing d ...
'' magazine published from Dec. 1976 to Sept. 1978 (as well as one story from ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...
'' magazine). Book came in two editions, one of which included a
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
called "It's a Raid".
* ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers in Grass Roots'' (Rip Off Press, 1984) —full-color reprints of material from comic book issues #5 and 7.
* ''The Complete Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', Volume One (
Knockabout Comics, 2001) —reprints comic book issues #0–7 and 12
* ''The Complete Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', Volume Two (Knockabout Comics, 2004) —color reprints comic books issues #8-11 and 13. (Note: according to the reverse title pages, the second volume has the same )
* ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers Omnibus'' (Knockabout Comics, 2008) —collection of the entire series, including some stories and covers done after publication of the "Complete" books. Includes everything from the two books above, except for the covers of ''Rip Off Comics'' 15 and 21, which do not show the Freak Brothers.
* ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2022-?) a 7 volume hardback collection of the complete FFFB and Fat Freddy's Cat.
References
External links
Rip Off Press, Inc., publishers of the Freak Brothers comics in the U.S.Knockabout Comics, publishers of the Freak Brothers comics in the U.K.at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
. Archived from th
originalon April 13, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, The
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