Webcomic Feature: FreakAngels

I had to do a post about this webcomic, because it has to be one of the very best out there.  It’s rough, it’s emotional, and it’s thoroughly epic.  It’s also, apparently, coming to a close sometime soon, so now’s a good time to start reading.  It’s on an interesting update schedule.  There are 6 pages made a week, but instead of putting them up one day at a time, they’re put up all at once on Friday.  I like it, and it suits the artistic style.

Have you heard of the short story called the Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham?  Probably not.  But it’s essentially about a group of children in a village who, for some reason, are all born at the same time, telepathically linked, and with awesome psychic powers.  The story is a creepy one and has its own twists and turns.  The Stepford Cuckoos in X-Men are taken from here.  Anyway, FreakAngels is a take on this story.  Specifically, Warren Ellis is telling the story of what would have happened if they had been born a little more recently, and had grown up to be a group of troubled twenty year olds.

It’s set in London, in Whitechapel, where they have gathered to start a new life after the world ended.  In fact, here’s the poster for the comic (that’s right, they have a promotional poster):

So yes, the story is in itself, quite epic.  More than that though, the characters are really interesting.  Each of the FreakAngels is well thought out and developed.  They each have their own quirks and flaws, and together they make one of the most dysfunctional families around.  The dialogue is fantastic, and there are loads of golden moments.  Also, they all have different psychic powers.  Yay.  Lots of psychic powers makes for a good time ANYWHERE!

Ellis has really thought this world out well, and this story.  There’s nothing I can complain about in the entire comic.  Not a thing.  The panels develop slowly sometimes, but the fact that the pages update all at once balances that out and makes it work.  I would recommend this comic to anyone, especially any sci-fi fans and ESPECIALLY any John Wyndham fans.  I can’t wait to see where it leads.