Kids who aren’t perfect, don’t get straight A’s, drive a cool car and couldn’t possibly get a date with a cheerleader or the homecoming queen.

 

Jacoby Nukik is an exchange student from Canada, with a spirit and wisdom well beyond his age. Jacoby and three other, very disparate, high school seniors come together to compete in their school’s Battle of the Bands. They are The Stereotypical Freaks, and their world is coming to life in a new graphic novel from Sea Lion Books.

 

 

The main character, Jacoby was inspired by a real life teen, John Challis, says writer Howard Shapiro.

“John was a teenager dying of cancer who faced his death with courage, dignity, and a never-quit attitude that changed how I went about my daily life. So much so, that I was inspired to create Jacoby to help honor John’s memory and his message of ‘Courage + Believe = Life.'”

The Stereotypical Freaks is about the Battle of the Bands that the main characters enter, but at its heart it is a story about friendship, the power of music and how we deal with loss. The power of music brings them together… the power of friendship, creativity, and determination takes them on a journey that will inspire the rest of their lives.

The story line is vividly detailed in the artwork of Joe Pekar. Artwork with “an otherworldly ability to infuse characters with feeling and emotion simply by their body language, the look in their eyes or their facial expressions.”

Click here to view full size PDF

http://multiverse-magazine.com/m_upload/Freaks.pdf

 

The graphic novel will be released in Fall of 2012. Two additional books are planned for the series. Readers will enjoy, root for, and identify with The Stereotypical Freaks.