Tom "Sawyer"

Tom is the main antagonist of Issue 1# of Freakshow

Despite being in only 20 panels over 23 pages, Tom is the catalyst for the series

## Personality

From what little we see of Tom, he initially appears to be level headed, quiet if somewhat flirtatious and playful. It's unclear how much of this was masking his actual personality, which is cruel and obsessive.

## Appearance

Short back and sides blonde hair. Pale skin. Feminine features. Average to slender build, shorter stature. Looks strikingly like Susan White, to the point of being mistaken for her in photographs and having a career as a "top of the bill" Susan White impersonator

## Background

Not much is known about Tom. In 1955 he worked as a Susan White impersonator and hooker, performing in a club in Berlin. This is where he and Jack Dixon first met. Tom had previously been aware of Dixon, due to his (at the time) ex-association with Susan White. He made a purposeful attempt to get closer to Dixon as to possibly get closer to White, being an obsessive fan of hers. The root of this obsession is unknown.

## Relationships

### Major

#### Jack Dixon

Tom and Dixon met at a club in Berlin during 1955, where Tom was a performer. It can be presumed that he and Dixon kept up some kind of relationship during the two years they knew each other previous to the events of the comic (1957), as they appear close during Issue 1# and Tom is in sleepwear in Jack's apartment as they discuss the case. The nature of their relationship is unknown, but they have engaged in a sexual, potentially romantic, relationship in the past.

#### Susan White

Tom was an obsessive fan of Susan White. It's unknown when this obsession began but it was already unhealthy by 1955. Previous to meeting and threatening Susan White, Tom and Susan had never interacted, Susan being completely unaware of his existence

### Minor

#### Lionel Kane

Tom's first victim. Hired by Lionel Kane to impersonate Susan White during a sexual encounter. Multiple lewd and explicit pictures were taken during the encounter. Following this Tom stabbed Kane multiple times, leaving the knife behind.

#### Ethan

Tom's second victim. Similar to Kane, Ethan hired Tom. He cross-dresses during the encounter but it's unclear whether he was dressed like Susan White, although it is likely based on the obscured photograph we see. This would imply multiple encounters as Ethan is found dead in a stall, in a public bathroom, and the photographs were found at Ethan's home. It is unclear whether Tom stalked Ethan to the location, or they went there together.

#### Jack's Unnamed Partner

Meet once after Tom convinces Jack to let him ride along. Appears suspicious of him, loudly asking who he is at Susan White's doorstep.

## In comics

### Issue 1#

We first meet Tom as he lounges in Jack Dixon's apartment in nightwear. Jack and him discuss the case, Tom seeming surprised that Susan White would do such a thing, throwing out a few casual theories of his own as Jack seems distressed and exasperated by the situation.

Tom manages to talk his way into being brought along to Susan's house as Jack goes to tell her about Ethan's death. He is introduced as "Detective Sawyer" when Susan questions the presences of a third detective.

Inside the home Tom smokes a cigarette and watches the scene silently until Jack receives a call about new details in the case. He says he won't leave Susan but Tom says that he's capable of keeping an eye on her, seconded by an exasperated Susan.

Once back at the precinct the new case details are revealed, photographs found in Ethan's home which are of a similar nature to those found in Kane's, but these images also reveal the person thought to be Susan is actually a cross-dressing man impersonating her. Jack suddenly realises that the person is in fact Tom, who he has left alone with Susan.

Back at Susan's apartment, Tom has taken her hostage, gripping a large blade in his left hand. They are both in women's nightwear and Tom has dressed as Susan, wearing a blonde wig and fake mole above his lip. He explains to Susan that what happened between him and Kane. Jack kicks down the door. Tom reveals that he and Jack were in a relationship, and that he was the Berlin club performer seen at the beginning, outing him. Jack then shoot Tom in the head, killing him.

### Issue 2#

**Mentioned**

Page 10, Panel 6, Susan White to Jack: "I'm not bitter, Jack. Just a little shaken after your psychotic ex-boyfriend tried to kill me last week"

### Issue 3#

**Mentioned**

Page 17, Panel 2, Myles to Jack: "Except for your last case where the culprit in question happened to be a male Susan White impersonator, who fooled you into thinking he was bent in the hope that your then ex-association with Susan would somehow bring him closer to meeting her, and enable him to show just how much of a fan he was by carving his name into her throat."

### Issue 4#

**Mentioned**

Page 17, Panel 2, Susan to Jack: "Young men are more your department, Jack. Preferably cross-dressing psychopaths."

### Issue 8#

**Alluded to**

Page 14, Panel 2, Susan to Leopold ("The Undertaker"): "Another fan trying to act out his pathetic fantasies."

## Trivia

* Later Myles states that Tom is not gay but only pretended to be to get closer to Jack. This was was sourced from a "smut" magazine, but legitimacy is never confirmed by anything other than Jack not directly calling it out as false.
* Tom has no confirmed last name. Jack refers to him as "Detective Sawyer", which he appears to think up on the spot, so it's not known if this is his actual last name. It could also be a joke on "Tom Sawyer", although the commonality of the name in America makes it difficult to deduce.