''FreakAngels'' is a British

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

created in 2008 by Eagle Award-winning writer

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...

and artist Paul Duffield, and published in book format by

Avatar Press Avatar Press is an independent American comic book publisher founded in 1996 by William A. Christensen, and based in Rantoul, Illinois. It was originally known for publishing bad girl comics, such as ''Pandora'', ''Hellina'', ''Lookers'', ''The ...

. The plot focuses on twelve 23-year-old psychics living in

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

six years after civilization in Great Britain is destroyed. The webcomic has received various awards and has been collected in a series of six volumes.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

adapted the webcomic into an animated series in January 2022.

Publication history

Warren Ellis announced the project at the 2007

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

with the statement: "I've written two hundred pages and I still have no idea what it's about… it's retro-punk, it's near future

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

" It was launched on 15 February 2008. New installments were released in six full-colour page episodes every week, a schedule that allows the story the chance to grow naturally. The story grew out of Ellis' question as to what would have happened if

the Midwich Cuckoos ''The Midwich Cuckoos'' is a 1957 science fiction novel written by the English author John Wyndham. It tells the tale of an English village in which the women become pregnant by brood parasite, brood parasitic aliens. The book has been praised ...

had survived and grown to "disaffected and confused twenty-one-year-olds." The story builds on the legacy of

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his name ...

's style of disaster fiction. The series ran for 144 episodes, completing on Friday 5 August 2011. Duffield eventually moved on to his own webcomic project, ''The Firelight Isle''.

Synopsis

Ellis' synopsis of the plot involves characters "living in a post-flood London that they might possibly have had something to do with." The so-called FreakAngels, who possess

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

and many other "special" abilities, such as space-time manipulation/distortion, and pyrokinesis, live in

. As the story progresses, eleven of the FreakAngels are introduced and their role in the community is expanded. For the most part cooperatively they have created a small community of roughly three hundred people with fresh water, watch towers, markets, home-grown vegetables and a medical clinic. Their society is threatened, however, externally from refugee attacks and internally from personal conflicts and crime.

Reception

Brian Warmoth of ''

MTV News MTV News was the news production division of MTV. The service was available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network and an online news team. In 2016, MTV refreshed the MTV News brand to compete with the likes of BuzzFeed and ...

'' stated that ''FreakAngels'' works well because of the combination of the steampunk-styled imaginative prop design and the bleak, post-apocalyptic setting, as well as a well thought-out underlying mystery. However, Warmoth noted the ongoing nature of the comic being detrimental, as the big reveals hadn't happened yet during the review in 2009. Larry Cruz from ''Comix Talk'' praised ''FreakAngels'' "subversive style of grittiness" and described the comic's dialogue as "a cut above prose you’d find in most novels." Characterizing the webcomic as "anti-steampunk", Cruz argued that went against steampunk tropes by setting the story in a post-apocalyptic setting rather than in an "age of science." Cruz stated that Ellis' high reputation as a writer is well deserved, as he "pours his heart and soul into ''FreakAngels''". Critics have also argued that the cavalier treatment of psychological horror and sexual abuse inflicted on some characters is not consistent with the tone or aesthetic of the sometimes "silly and mundane" weekly web comic.

Awards

''FreakAngels'' has won various awards: * Won "Favourite Web-Based Comic" Eagle Award in 2010. * Nominated for "Best Comic/Graphic Novel"

British Fantasy Award The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

in 2010. * Won "Favourite Web-Based Comic" Eagle Award in 2012.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...

: * ''Volume 1'' (144 pages, November 2008, hardcover, , softcover, ) * ''Volume 2'' (144 pages, May 2009, limited edition hardcover, , softcover, ) * ''Volume 3'' (144 pages, November 2009, limited edition hardcover, , softcover, ) * ''Volume 4'' (144 pages, June 2010, hardcover, , softcover, ) * ''Volume 5'' (144 pages, January 2011, hardcover, , softcover, ) * ''Volume 6'' (144 pages, November 2011, hardcover, , softcover, )

Animated series

Crunchyroll Studios Crunchyroll Studios (formerly known as Ellation Studios) was Crunchyroll's in-house animation studio that produced original animated shows for both it and the VRV streaming service until it was shut down in August 2021 following Sony's acquisiti ...

produced a 9-episode animated series based on the webcomic which was released on January 27, 2022.

References

External links

*
Freak Angels
on

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