The Freak challenges our preconceived definition of normalcy.  When freaks are feared and believed dangerous, the community ostracizes them. Human society lacks the tolerance to integrate the extraordinary into its midst. Monstrous births, like comets and eclipses, presage dire events. Madmen spout unnatural opinions and behave irrationally. Curiosity only overcomes fright when freaks can be viewed in relative safety, such as inmates in an asylum, as preserved specimens in curiosity cabinets or as exhibits in carnival sideshows. Conversely, when freaks are feared and deemed useful, the people revere them as prophets and miracle-workers. The ancients consulted these seers, such as the Sibyl of Cumae and the Pythia of Delphi; deciphering their mysterious utterances revealed not only the future, but divine wisdom. In the Odyssey, Menelaus captures and forces the shape-shifting sea god (~700 BCE: Proteus) to reveal the fate of his brother Agamemnon. Most religions require purification and isolation for its rituals, transforming the participants to transform themselves into the “other” in order to separate the sacred from the profane.

In the Pulp and Golden Ages, this metamorphosis can sever the ties between the past and present. Traumatized by the tragic murder of his family, an adventurer’s (1939: Avenger) face and hair lose all color and feeling, paralyzed and lifeless. He learns to mold his corpse-like visage to impersonate anyone in his quest for vengeance. With the help of a kindly monk, a petty thief (1941: Plastic Man) reforms his way of life after being doused with acid, transforming his body into living rubber.

The writers of the Silver Age extend the freak metaphor to represent communists or mistreated minority groups, exploring the witch hunt phenomenon and its impact on society. Aliens (1962: Skrulls) bent on conquering the Earth, use their innate shapechanging ability to infiltrate the human populace. Talented psychics (1963: Jean Grey and Professor X) found a special school to place young mutants firmly on the right path in opposition to a rival philosophy (1964: Brotherhood of Evil Mutants) that espouses domination of mankind. Over the years, Marvel’s mutants have served as proxies for African-Americans, immigrants and homosexuals, based on writers’ specific themes of persecution and prejudice.

Not content with operating in the fringes or hiding in the shadows, freaks embrace active roles in the Modern Age. A red-skinned demon (1993: Hellboy) rejects his destiny to enslave humanity and investigates supernatural events for the American government. Possessing incredible telekinetic and telepathic powers, a time-traveling soldier (1990: Cable) assumes aggressive leadership of the New Mutants.