FREAKSHOW
Real Name: Kevin
Identity/Class: Human mutant (depowered);
Genoshan citizen
Occupation: None
Group Membership: "Excalibur" (Book/Annika, Broadband, Callisto, Dark Beast/Hank McCoy of Earth-295, Shola Inkosi, Magneto/Max Eisenhardt, Omega Sentinel/Karima Shapandar, Professor X/Charles Xavier, Wicked)
Affiliations: Chimère's gang (Hack, Hub, Purge), Luna Maximoff, Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)
Enemies: Appraiser, Cassandra Nova, Genoshan Magistrates, Inhuman royal family (Black Bolt/Blackagar Boltagon, Crystal/Crystalia Amaquelin, Gorgon, Karnak, Medusa/Medusalith Amaquelin), Major Lazer and O*N*E, Mystique (Raven Darkholme), Sentinels, Stripmine, Unus' gang (Caiman, Glamour, Hub, Lightning Rod, Shocker/Randall Darby, Toad/Mortimer Toynbee, Toad-In-Waiting, Unus/Gunther Bain)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Hammer Bay, Genosha
First Appearance: Excalibur III#1 (July, 2004)
Powers/Abilities: As a mutant metamorph, Freakshow could psionically rearrange his molecules, even altering their composition at will. This way, he could transform into a variety of monstrous shapes. These creatures were usually several times larger than he was: from a towering, six-legged monster to a dragon creature capable of winged flight. He has also transformed into a beast mostly resembling a crustacean, a stone-like strongman and even an Asgardian troll. While in monster form, Freakshow retains his intelligence and ability to speak. It's not been revealed where he drew the extra mass from, nor has it been established if Freakshow could mimic actual people in the same way shapeshifters like Mystique or Changeling could. Empowered by the Terrigen mist, the depowered Freakshow regained a version of his shapeshifting powers that was more powerful but also very unstable. The limits of these temporary powers have not been tested.
Height: 5'2" (by approximation)
Weight: 105 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
History:
(Excalibur III#1 - BTS) - Among the many millions of mutants living on the African island nation of Genosha was a young boy who could transform his body into large monstrous creatures.
(Excalibur III#1 - BTS / New X-Men I#115 - BTS) - Freakshow was in Genosha when the island nation came under attack by Cassandra Nova's Sentinels, slaughtering millions of Genoshan citizens.
(Excalibur III#1 - BTS / X-Men: Earth's Mutant Heroes - BTS) - The boy survived the onslaught. He started to live in the wreckage of Hammer Bay where he befriended another teenage mutant survivor, Wicked, a girl who could summon ghosts.
(Excalibur III#1) - Freakshow and Wicked witnessed the arrival of X-Men's former leader Charles Xavier. He had come to Genosha to help rebuild efforts, inspired by the death of his longtime friend Magneto (who turned out to be the imposter Kuan-Yin Xorn). Although the teenagers tried to hide themselves, Xavier's telepathy picked up Wicked's thoughts. He asked her to come out of hiding, Freakshow decided to stay behind and see what would happen. Wicked commanded her ghosts to Xavier to carry the heavy casket Xavier had brought (containing Kuan-Yin Xorn's corpse, weaponry and other items Xavier needed). However just then the two noticed a group of mutants running towards them. They were part of Unus' gang. Xavier realized the mutants meant to harm them and used his telepathy to freeze them in their tracks. This led to Unus confronting Xavier and Wicked, but the fight was cut short by Freakshow who was telepathically instructed by the Professor to intervene. He turned into a giant monster and swallowed Unus whole, much to Wicked's amusement. With the immediate threat dealt with, Wicked and Freakshow helped Xavier carry the coffin to a nearby abandoned compound where the real Magneto was waiting for Xavier.
(Excalibur III#2) - Wicked and Freakshow went for a walk. However, lugging Unus around in his belly gave Freakshow a massive stomach ache. Wicked reassured the boy the pain would pass. The two then noticed a tentacled woman (Callisto) enter Xavier's compound and decided to check it out. There they saw how Callisto was about to kill Magneto with her knives, Wicked decided to act. Wicked summoned several ghosts that grabbed Callisto and carried her outside of the compound. But when Callisto broke free and threw her knives at the ghosts Wicked's empathic link to the spirits caused her to feel their pain. She screamed in agony, leading Callisto to come to her aid. Freakshow misunderstood her intentions and was ready to attack. However, his stomach acted up, causing him to cough up Unus. The heroes were delighted to see the humiliated villain beat a hasty retreat, covered in Freakshow's stomach contents. Callisto carried Wicked inside the compound to see Magneto and Xavier. Once Callisto ordered to check if Wicked was doing well Freakshow alerted Wicked to the fact Magneto was actually there, the former ruler who had supposedly died in the attack on Genosha. Wicked immediately grew enraged, blaming Magneto for failing his people. Magneto gave her his word it would never happen again after which Xavier explained they could try to build something even better. This promise led to the unofficial formation of the Excalibur team.
(Excalibur III#3) - The following day Wicked and Freakshow were out for a walk when they spotted Callisto in the distance using her tentacles to carry Xavier. Wondering why they were in such a hurry, several parts of an airplane came crashing down, almost killing the teenagers. The debris belonged to an airplane carrying both Omega Sentinel Karima Shapandar and the telepathic Shola Inkosi who were kept in stasis pods. Wicked and Freakshow dodged other falling parts but when they thought the ordeal was over they were stunned by the arrival of a large group of Magistrates, descending from the sky ready to kill every mutant in sight.
(Excalibur III#4) - Wicked and Freakshow were so stunned by seeing the Magistrates they couldn't move. The quick thinking Callisto intervened and saved the teens from certain death. They watched Unus' band of mutants attack the Magistrates, with Caiman biting off his opponent's head. Callisto decided to join in, just as they were joined by the mutants Hub and Purge. After they teleported away, Wicked and Freakshow helped Callisto fight the Magistrates. However, they were about to lose until the newly freed Shola Inkosi took out all their opponents with a telekinetic forceblast. Meanwhile Magneto and Xavier found Prime Sentinel Karima Shapandar and successfully bypassed her Sentinel-programming. Rid of her Sentinel-programming Shapandar joined the fight and defeated the last of the Magistrates. Xavier took the soldiers prisoner, which didn't sit well with Unus who took his team to confront Charles in his beachside headquarters. Unus demanded that Xavier handed his prisoners over to him, claiming there was no law on the island. Xavier, flanked by Magneto, Callisto, Karima and his young allies, told off Unus and made him turn away. Later that night Wicked and Xavier's allies gathered as Xavier asked them to help him and Magneto run Genosha.
(Excalibur III#6 (fb) - BTS) - "Excalibur" came under attack by Stripmine and Appraiser who'd been hired by an unknown client (in reality the Dark Beast) to destroy three X-Corps buildings around the rim of the Indian Ocean (Mumbai, Singapore and Nairobi) in order to disable the global Cerebra network in that specific part of the world. As a result, the X-Men would be unable to monitor the situation on Genosha allowing the pirates to capture Xavier's crew.
(Excalibur III#6) - While most of Xavier's allies had been captured by Stripmine and his men, Freakshow was still on the loose. Freakshow was chased by two of Stripmine's Asgardian trolls. Right as Freakshow tried to transform himself into a monstrous creature he was shot by the trolls. Thinking Freakshow to be dealt with the trolls began to make fun of the mutant boy, unaware his transformation was complete. Turned into a towering centipede-like monster Freakshow attacked the trolls, breathing fire. Freakshow then grew wings and as a dragon-like creature he picked the trolls up into the air with his giant claws. However, the Asgardian four-armed trolls had arms to spare and grabbed their guns and shot the boy mid-air. Freakshow returned to his normal, human form and fell to the ground, ready to be captured. But just in the nick of time Freakshow recollected his thoughts and transformed himself into a muscular stone-like man and hit both trolls in the face after which he successfully escaped them. Unaware the shots were no ordinary rounds but bullets filled with nannites, controlled by Stripmine.
(Excalibur III#7) - Freakshow successfully reached Xavier unaware Omega Sentinel and Shola had already been taken prisoner by Stripmine. Magneto immediately used his magnetic abilities to remove the bullet and destroyed the microscopic nannites. In an effort to rescue their friends from Stripmine and his trolls they decided Freakshow should infiltrate the group, after which the teenager transformed himself into one of the trolls. Freakshow pretended to deliver Xavier and Callisto as his prisoners, but Dark Beast easily saw through the ruse. He grabbed Freakshow thinking to have defeated Xavier, while failing to notice several ghosts appearing from the floor. The apparitions freed Omega Sentinel who quickly ended the fight by threatening to kill Dark Beast.
(Excalibur III#8) - Determined to rebuild the nation of Genosha Freakshow and Shola were put to work as well. While Shola leveled the last of the ruined buildings Freakshow, transformed into a large creature that ate his way through the ruins leaving behind clean, arable land. Magneto also introduced two new members to their team, the mutants Book and Broadband. Later that evening, Broadband entertained his new friends by tapping into the Indian ocean satellite, pirating the latest US hit TV shows. A little while later, he picked up a live newsreport about the destruction of Avengers Mansion and replayed it for his newfound allies. Magneto, busy constructing new settlements, heard the news and was so concerned for the fate of his children Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch that he used his magnetic powers to generate a wormhole that took him directly to New York City to investigate matters. Some time later, when Freakshow and the others were sleeping, Magneto returned with the unconscious Scarlet Witch.
(Mystique I#23) - Learning Mystique had attempted to assassinate Xavier (forced by Shepard to save her friend Shortpack) Freakshow, Wicked, Shola and Omega Sentinel joined to hunt her down. Mystique, however, managed to escape Genosha.
(Excalibur III#10) - Freakshow watched from a distance as Callisto and Karima got into an argument over Callisto's decision to send Dark Beast, Wicked and her spirit forms out on reconnaissance. A mission that ended with a severely injured Dark Beast and a traumatized Wicked, suffering because her spirit forms were shred by the Sugar Man and his allies.
(House of M I#8 - BTS) - Freakshow was one of the many millions of homo superior who lost their powers when a reality altering spell cast by the Scarlet Witch reduced the number of gene active mutants to a mere 300 worldwide.
(New Avengers I#17 - BTS) - Freakshow's mutant energies joined with those of the other depowered mutants, creating the Collective, a massive force presence that ended up killing, among others, most of the members of the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight.
(New Avengers I#18 - BTS) - S.H.I.E.L.D. analyzed The Collective's multiple energy signatures and managed to identify Freakshow's, along with 50+ other victims of M-Day.
(Son of M#5) - Thoroughly depressed about losing their powers, Freakshow and the other members of Charles Xavier's Genoshan inner circle were approached by Quicksilver and his daughter Luna Maximoff. Recognizing the speedster as the son of Magneto, they eagerly listened to his promise of returning their mutant abilities through inhaling the mists of the Terrigen crystals he stole from the Inhumans. Wicked was the first to take a whiff of the Terrigen vapors followed by Freakshow. Both quickly regained their powers, Freakshow instantly transformed into his monster-like appearance. Seeing the two of them the others quickly followed and used the Terrigen vapors. Their abilities, however, backfired on the teenagers as Freakshow appeared to be stuck in his monster-like appearance unable to speak. Moments later, Magneto arrived with an injured Callisto, whose mutations had gotten out of control after Quicksilver exposed her to the Terrigen process. Father and son fought for a while until Luna broke up the battle and Magneto left. While the group decided to get Callisto to the nearest hospital Freakshow was still stuck in his monster-like form.
(Son of M#5 - BTS) - The newly empowered teleporter Hub took Callisto to a Manhattan hospital, but her powers were so faulty it took her a full day to get back, almost drowning by accident on the way. When news of weirdly re-empowered mutants reached O*N*E director Lazer, he sent out a strike force to Genosha to investigate the matter just as the Inhuman royal family arrived on Earth to reclaim their stolen property.
(Son of M#6) - The Inhumans eventually learned their crystals were on Genosha, instantly traveling there courtesy of Lockjaw. Freakshow surprised everybody when he attacked the Inhumans, fearing they would take away their source of power. The conflict was interrupted by Lazer and his forces. They took out Quicksilver with a tranq-dart.
Lazer took control of the situation, offering Freakshow and the other Terrigen afflicted ex-mutants medical aid. Now clearly suffering from unwanted side effects, the group agreed to get help. Freakshow silently joined while they boarded a O*N*E helicopter and left for parts unknown.
Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Igor Kordey (see comments), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks).
Allegedly, the effects of Terrigenesis were only temporary. Freakshow presumably returned to his depowered state soon afterwards.
Freakshow was designed by Croatian artist Igor Kordey who had been hired to draw Excalibur. Kordey had finished much of the first two issues before he was fired and replaced with Aaron Lopresti. This is what Kordey had to say about the experience in a May 2004 interview with The White Space:
Hi Igor, let's start with latest bad news, your removal from Excalibur books! What did it happen?
They fired me "suddenly", four months after I was officially appointed as Excalibur artist and already finished the first cover, the book and half of interiors. Their official explanation was that my style doesn't fit to their "core" books. Judging by new cover made by other artist, circling the comic-websites just two days after i got fired, this decision was not so sudden, it was planned before. They just let me working to keep my mouth shut.
Did you speak with Chris Claremont about what happened? What did he tell to you?
He was very surprised when I told him about what's going on. He didn't have any idea about new decisions. Management likes to keep people in the dark and treat them like sheeps. People may say about his stories whatever they want, but they suffered mostly because awkward editorial interferences.
Don't you think that your style is too far from superhero mainstream comics?
You know what, I think they don't deserve me. Yesterday on ComiXfan I saw preview pages for Excalibur, same story, but done by other artist. and there is my comment (again a Croatian proverb): jumping from horseback to donkey. More and more i have a feeling that i was throwing pearls before swine. I actually got permission to show my cancelled penciles on my website after first Excalibur book is published, in may; then you'll see what i'm talking about.
Kordey indeed published the pages to the first two issues of Excalibur on his website, and what a difference indeed to the work Lopresti had done afterwards. I personally love you can see the work is a continuation of his work on X-Treme X-Men. Callisto still looks exactly like she did when part of the Arena and Wicked is a far more feral-like girl wearing a giant monster-like mask to cover her face. Freakshow is more or less the same as how Lopresti drew him only far more muscular.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Freakshow has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Excalibur III#1, p19, pan9 (main image)
Excalibur III#1, p20, pan3,4 (eating Unus)
Excalibur III#2, p16, pan4,5 (puking)
Excalibur III#6, p11, pan7 (fighting Asgardian trolls)
Excalibur III#7, p19, pan5 (Dark Beast sees through Freakshow's ruse)
Appearances:
Excalibur III#1 (July, 2004) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#2 (August, 2004) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#3 (September, 2004) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams & Andrew Pepoy (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#4 (October, 2004) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#6 (December, 2004) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#7 (January, 2005) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#8 (February, 2005) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Mystique I#23 (March, 2005) - Sean McKeever (writer), Manuel Garcia (pencils), Raul Fernandez (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Excalibur III#10 (April, 2005) - Chris Claremont (writer), Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Greg Adams & Brad Vancata (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
House of M I#8 (December, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Oliver Coipel (pencils), John Dell, Scott Hanna & Tim Townsend (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers I#17 (May, 2006) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (pencils), Joe Pimentel (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers I#18 (June, 2006) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato Jr. (pencils), Joe Pimentel (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Son of M#5 (June, 2006) - David Hine (pencils), Roy Allan Martinez (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Son of M#6 (July, 2006) - David Hine (pencils), Roy Allan Martinez (pencils & inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 04/02/18
Last Updated: 04/02/18
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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