The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers: Grass Roots and Other Follies

by Gilbert Shelton, Paul Mavrides, Dave Sheridan

The third release in our Freak Brothers Follies series follows the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers back to their hippie origins! The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers ― Freewheelin’ Franklin, Phineas, and Fat Freddy ― score some sinsemilla from a country cousin, start a softball league to score free drinks, adopt a possessed parakeet that outwits the D.E.A., and inadvertently take in a couple of undercover cops as housemates! The title story collects an epic that ran for over six months in newspapers, in which the Brothers, evicted from their apartment, move to the country to get back to nature ― only to discover that nature doesn’t want them! Meanwhile, Fat Freddy’s Cat adapts much more readily to outdoor living. Then, in a bonus tale, the cat leads the way in the accidental animal rights adventure, “Animal Camp.” Grass Roots and Other Follies is the third release in this special series of seven volumes compiling the complete Freak Brothers comic adventures.  The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comics have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide in 16 languages, and these painstakingly restored hardcovers are the first North American bookshelf editions in more than thirty years. The Freak Brothers , the popular animated series currently streaming on Tubi ― and renewed for season 2, set to release in December 2022 ― stars Woody Harrelson, Pete Davidson, John Goodman, and Tiffany Haddish. Full-color illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2023

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grass Roots is one of the better longer stories in FFFB canon. A series of events lead to the boys purchasing a camper and heading off into the wilderness to build the homestead of their dreams. Naturally, they pick up three female hitchhikers along the way who are eager to join their quest. Homesteading proves more difficult than expected, and eventually too crowded as well. The pacing of the story is perfect, the climactic page amazing, and the conclusion just pitch perfect. It's like a Tall Tale, piling one improbable detail on top of another until the inevitable and gloriously chaotic collapse.

Also among my favorites, the two linked stories: “He Who Hesitates,” and, “The 4th Freak Brother.“ I particularly love the third page of the former: that top tier of the policeman slowly reacting to what has just happened, and that final panel is just wonderful. And that final page of the latter makes me laugh every single time.

This reprint series seems to be only loosely chronological. Shelton did some strips solo, but also worked with two major collaborators: Dave Sheridan and Paul Mavrides. Previous volumes focused mainly on the Shelton/Sheridan material. But this volume starts in on the Mavrides era. His influence on those punk rock kids in “The 4th Freak Brother” is unmistakable.

Classic underground comics! Highly recommended!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember seeing the Freak Brothers comics when I was child along with R. Crumb etc in "comix." But I was not allowed to buy them. So I finally saw this volume at the Library and eagerly checked it out. I was not missing anything. The artwork is very good, but the drug-themed stories are ok at best in my opinion.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny thing: I've never taken a recreational drug in nearly fifty years of being alive. So this series should not really be for me. I am however a fan of Crumb and the undergrounds, so this major run from Shelton has always been on my radar. Only issue of the comic I had read prior to this was Issue 0, which reprinted a health comic in which the bros all come down with the clap that was handed out in a clinic. I presume it will eventually make an appearance in these reprints. As a result, this was all new to me and might as will be my proper introduction to the series aside from any stray stories I read in other anthologies. I dug it.

While it does revolve around stoners and drugs, the humour goes past that with some really wonderful satire holding the strong gags together. I love the art. Shelton (and collaborators, this may be a Disney situation for all I know) knows not just how to draw but how to put together a story with gags and have them work together. It's top notch cartooning, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

This is Volume 4 in the complete series, for some reason Fantagraphics started with Vol 6 and Vol 5 is out so I guess they are going backwards chronologically for some reason which drives me nuts since I'd prefer to read these in order of publication so I'm torn on continuing with Vol 5 or holding out for 01-03. Thankfully, as far as this issue goes, there doesn't appear to really be any callbacks to previous adventures. I'm hoping that holds out.

[Jonathan D McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun

Funny, charming and fantastic artwork. If you like Cheech and Ching movies then these comics will be a sure hit!