Freakangels Week 1

Written by Warren Ellis

Illustrated by Paul Duffield

Published by Avatar

Six years ago, the world ended. Now, in a partially flooded England, KK wakes up next to a boy who she hopes isn’t from Lambeth Road and is told by her clan mate Connor that a girl with a gun is demanding vengeance…

Written by Warren Ellis, published by Avatar and given away for free this is a series that’s designed to prove a point, to take webcomics in a new direction, as well as tell a story. Ellis has been quite up front about the fact that the long form, six page format gives the story the chance to grow naturally and there’s a real sense, even in this first installment of an expansive world and expansive story beginning to unfold. And considering it’s being given away, there’s absolutely nothing to complain about here.

There’s just enough here to snatch the reader’s interest and some moments of genuinely beautiful pacing and invention. The conversation between KK and Conner, somewhere between telepathy and sibling bickering, is carried out in a completely mundane location and implies something totally fantastical whilst KK’s method of transport is nothing short of wondrous, the monstrous off spring of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a gyrocopter.

This is steam punk filtered through Goth and that curiously English apocalypse that writers like John Wyndham were so fond of; broken worlds where people still have sex, still bicker, still lie.

Ellis’ script is economic, laconic and very funny in a bleak, unforced way. KK is a cheerfully spiky lead and her bickering with Conner, and weary horror at her latest conquest establish some interesting ground rules for the character. There’s a lot to be revealed here, both about KK and her world and Ellis’ script brims with confidence, providing the first look at a richly detailed world.

Paul Duffield’s art is deceptively simple and expressive, his characters slightly flawed people trying to be more than they are. KK is a Goth Aerialist who manages to look like a normal person despite her improbable clothes and transport, whilst Duffield’s locations are equally impressive. The flooded London of the series is beautifully simply rendered, bringing the alien nature of it further into focus.

Freakangels is free, it’s being produced by one of the industry’s most interesting and mercurial publishers, features art by one of the best new artists in years and a script by one of the finest English comic writers working today. It reads like a novel, looks like a dream and anyone remotely interested in comics done well needs to read it. The world may have ended but Avatar Comics, Warren Ellis and webcomics are alive, well and evolving into something fascinating.