[Meeting…] Federik Freak

Reading time: 5 minutes

Name

Federik Freak

Other aliases used

Federik Freak Sotomonte, Federik Freak Alvarado, Federik Freak del Valle-Inclán, etc., etc., etc.

First appearance

Thursday #1557 (2007)

Creators

Ruben Fdez

Table of Contents

The most stereotypical geek in the “world world”
In good company
Conclusion and recommendations

There are many new words that are becoming more and more frequent today. One of them is the term geek. Although it refers to those who show an excessive fondness for certain hobbies or simply to those who have "strange" lifestyle habits (apparently "normal" hobbies such as football, adoration of famous people or alcohol do not count, although they also become excessive and sometimes lead to equally strange or ridiculous behavior), it is also used very lightly when disqualifying someone regardless of what is meant.

Aside from all that, it is not uncommon to see parodies that take many of these clichés to the extreme. The television series The Big Bang Theory (2007) is a good example, but in Spain we have another one, and it has a comic strip character as its protagonist, which is what we deal with in this section. I talk about Federik Freak, by Rubén Fdez.

The most stereotypical geek in the “world world”

Federik Freak is the geek par excellence. In reality, there is little that can be said about this character because his adventures lack any coherence, let alone a minimum of continuity (even his second surname constantly varies). What is clear is that it brings together all the clichés associated with geeks raised to implausible levels. Physically, he is a type redhead with glasses, with a pimply face, of a stocky build and without a neck. Regarding his age, on one occasion it is mentioned that he has thirty five years. It's a character unsociable, immature, obsessed with his hobbies and mentally unbalanced. It is also known about him that he is virgin, as he insists on reminding us with some frequency.

[Meeting…] Federik Freak — Like a good geek stereotype, Federik shows an obvious inability when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex.

Based on these basic characteristics, our character will be involved in surreal situations whereblack humor abounds everywhere. And such a brutally eccentric character allows the story to delve into all the nooks and crannies of the geek world, which is parodied in all its facets.

In good company

The only people he interacts with regularly is his very small group of friends. So much so, that it is made up of only two people. That doesn't mean they don't have their tensions and sometimes openly get along badly. It could be said that his best friend (since he is the one who goes out the most) is Froilán, the morbidly obese. This character is also quite geeky, and as he said in one of the strips, he only exists so that the protagonist has someone to talk to. The other is Benjamín el Gotiquito, the typical depressive and suicidal gothic. Lastly, we have “green gorilla that follows Federik everywhere and that only he can see and hear”, whose name already says it all.

Conclusion and recommendations

Federik Freak is a geek whose weirdness has been elevated to such a point that it is impossible for anyone, no matter how bad they are, to fully identify with him. Of course, it touches on so many areas of geekism, as well as habits and manias inspired by real events that we probably do see an oversized reflection of ourselves in some of it.

For those who want to have a first contact with Federik Freak, you can buy one of the weekly deliveries of Thursday, or if you are not very well off, you can read some of his strips for free at the web of said magazine or in the blog by Rubén Fdez., as well as on other websites. If you like the humor that is used (obviously, there will be those who don't like that type), in the compilation volumes Onanist Live-style (2010), For you, who are a virgin (2011) and Be a Social Piranha. ask me how (2013) You will find lots of comics. The first two came as a supplement with the magazine, and the third. published by the publishing house ¡Caramba!, it is an independent volume that can be found in bookstores.