Freaks of the Heartland

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Originally published: 2005.

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Hit-and-miss art; solid bare-bones story. submitted by eknapp on December 4, 2012, 9:22am Trevor has never left the rural farm in the rural valley that he shares with his timid mother, domineering father, and freakish-giant younger brother Will. When a neighbor's pig is killed and Will's father subsequently decides to end his younger son's life, Trevor and Will escape and try to leave the valley. Before they get far, they uncover the grisly secret that the valley's families have hidden for years.

Freaks of the Heartland is a short book, a surprisingly quick read, with great big panels. The art is mostly gray and taupe, which is meant to evoke a kind of Great Depression era aesthetic, I think. It's beautiful at times--when setting the scene or showing panoramic views--but action shots and close-ups of people tend to look like big confusing smears.

The story, which is simultaneously heart warming and heart breaking, is where Freaks shines. It's minimalist, stripped down to the bare essentials; there's a lot more that could be told, but does it need to be? The ending is perfect and went a long way toward redeeming the confuzzling illustrations in my mind.