FreakAngels
February 15, 2008 5:00 PM Subscribe
FreakAngels. Warren Ellis has a new web-based graphic novel starting today, with art by Paul Duffield.
The logo on the jacket was a bit much, but I guess we'll see what that's all about soon enough.
Anyone know of any other ongoing weekly web-based 'graphic novels' that are worth a view?
posted by defenestration at 5:29 PM on February 15, 2008
Anyone know of any other ongoing weekly web-based 'graphic novels' that are worth a view?
posted by defenestration at 5:29 PM on February 15, 2008
Nice art. Shame that it seems to have started with establishing the main character as an amnesiac slut, and I'm wary of what looks like steampunk bullshit.
posted by klangklangston at 5:44 PM on February 15, 2008
posted by klangklangston at 5:44 PM on February 15, 2008
^ What he said.
Still, lots of interesting hints of plot, without it feeling too artificial.
posted by Leon at 6:21 PM on February 15, 2008
Still, lots of interesting hints of plot, without it feeling too artificial.
posted by Leon at 6:21 PM on February 15, 2008
Heh. Of course, being a shameless attention whore Ellis is actually pretty well suited to web comics.
posted by Artw at 7:02 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 7:02 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Shame that it seems to have started with establishing the main character as an amnesiac slut
Yes, sexual purity and finely-honed short-term memory are what I look for in a heroine that rises above the dregs of humanity.
posted by treepour at 7:26 PM on February 15, 2008 [6 favorites]
Yes, sexual purity and finely-honed short-term memory are what I look for in a heroine that rises above the dregs of humanity.
posted by treepour at 7:26 PM on February 15, 2008 [6 favorites]
I'm not sure she's an amnesiac so much as a drunk.
posted by MythMaker at 7:41 PM on February 15, 2008
posted by MythMaker at 7:41 PM on February 15, 2008
I'm not sure she's an amnesiac so much as a drunk.
So, basically another Mary Sue, like all of Ellis' protagonists. Look, it's Ellis with a bowel-disruptor gun! Ellis with breasts and pigtails killing crooked cops! Ellis the gritty urban sorcerer! Ellis the drunk with a water-powered gyrocopter!
Gets pretty tiresome.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 7:52 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
So, basically another Mary Sue, like all of Ellis' protagonists. Look, it's Ellis with a bowel-disruptor gun! Ellis with breasts and pigtails killing crooked cops! Ellis the gritty urban sorcerer! Ellis the drunk with a water-powered gyrocopter!
Gets pretty tiresome.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 7:52 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
The world ended six years ago, yet drunk sluts still go home with strangers. Great start.
posted by wfrgms at 8:02 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by wfrgms at 8:02 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
So, basically another Mary Sue, like all of Ellis' protagonists.
Have you read Crooked Little Vein? Oh dear.
posted by Artw at 8:15 PM on February 15, 2008
Have you read Crooked Little Vein? Oh dear.
posted by Artw at 8:15 PM on February 15, 2008
I hate free webcomics from writers with a long history of good comics, they make me itchy.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:16 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:16 PM on February 15, 2008 [1 favorite]
Have you read Crooked Little Vein?
Flipped through it, got bored. Ellis needs to take a breather, the well's getting pretty dry.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:47 PM on February 15, 2008
Flipped through it, got bored. Ellis needs to take a breather, the well's getting pretty dry.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:47 PM on February 15, 2008
It's definately a regurgitaion of his previous work, but the bits about the creaky middle aged man central character (who smokes like a chimney and swears a lot) meeting and eventually sleeping with the hot young polyamorous cam-girl type were what made me feel kind of queasy.
Of course a freind of mine who hadn't read much of Ellises online stuff, and who had no idea that he was a sweary old man who likes smoking and posting pictures of his cam girl groupies on his website, read it andf quite liked it, so maybe it's an exposure thing.
Me, I keep on reading his stuff in the hope he'll be as strong as he was 1991-2002, but let's face it, it's never going to happen. TBH a lot of my comics reading follows that pattern.
posted by Artw at 9:31 PM on February 15, 2008
Of course a freind of mine who hadn't read much of Ellises online stuff, and who had no idea that he was a sweary old man who likes smoking and posting pictures of his cam girl groupies on his website, read it andf quite liked it, so maybe it's an exposure thing.
Me, I keep on reading his stuff in the hope he'll be as strong as he was 1991-2002, but let's face it, it's never going to happen. TBH a lot of my comics reading follows that pattern.
posted by Artw at 9:31 PM on February 15, 2008
Flipped through it, got bored. Ellis needs to take a breather, the well's getting pretty dry.
Actually, I enjoyed it and I have read Ellis' other work (most of it anyway), and have a good handle on his tropes.
Aside from the still-sometimes-bewildering extremity of the practices mentioned in the book, I was quite engaged by what it was capital-A About. That someone would disguise an examination of what counts as "mainstream" in a world with the Internets in a laundry list of some of the most depraved sex acts imaginable... Well. I liked that.
It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it certainly wasn't boring.
Also, William Gibson gave it one of the most awesome dust jacket quotes imaginable: "Stop it. You're frightening me."
I dunno about Freak Angels yet. Half a dozen pages doesn't seem like enough to really judge whether this will turn out great or not.
posted by sparkletone at 10:08 PM on February 15, 2008
Actually, I enjoyed it and I have read Ellis' other work (most of it anyway), and have a good handle on his tropes.
Aside from the still-sometimes-bewildering extremity of the practices mentioned in the book, I was quite engaged by what it was capital-A About. That someone would disguise an examination of what counts as "mainstream" in a world with the Internets in a laundry list of some of the most depraved sex acts imaginable... Well. I liked that.
It wasn't the best thing I've ever read, but it certainly wasn't boring.
Also, William Gibson gave it one of the most awesome dust jacket quotes imaginable: "Stop it. You're frightening me."
I dunno about Freak Angels yet. Half a dozen pages doesn't seem like enough to really judge whether this will turn out great or not.
posted by sparkletone at 10:08 PM on February 15, 2008
Shame that it seems to have started with establishing the main character as an amnesiac slut
You need to spend some time on English high streets on weekend evenings.
posted by srboisvert at 1:35 AM on February 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
You need to spend some time on English high streets on weekend evenings.
posted by srboisvert at 1:35 AM on February 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Shame that it seems to have started with establishing the main character as an amnesiac slut,
She slept with one person and she's a slut?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:46 AM on February 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
She slept with one person and she's a slut?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:46 AM on February 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
Yeah, way to frame the discussion guys. Amnesiac slut? Where are you from, the 1890s?
posted by Happy Dave at 2:34 AM on February 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by Happy Dave at 2:34 AM on February 16, 2008 [2 favorites]
I'm still waiting for that last episode of Planetary, myself. But this looks interesting enough to tide me over for a while.
posted by AdamCSnider at 3:24 AM on February 16, 2008
posted by AdamCSnider at 3:24 AM on February 16, 2008
Good to know that even at the end of the world there's a sweatshop somewhere churning out fishnet stockings and other slutty-goth accessories.
I've given up all hope of Ellis even approaching good again... But, you know, it's free, (and I do kinda like the flooded London and the steam-punky chopper) so I'll stick with it for a while.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:11 AM on February 16, 2008
I've given up all hope of Ellis even approaching good again... But, you know, it's free, (and I do kinda like the flooded London and the steam-punky chopper) so I'll stick with it for a while.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:11 AM on February 16, 2008
"Yes, sexual purity and finely-honed short-term memory are what I look for in a heroine that rises above the dregs of humanity."
This is how he ESTABLISHES THE CHARACTER. That's where I object, and I think that the point about Mary-Jane-ism is a good one.
And yes, if you establish the character's first, PRIMARY trait as "Sleeps with dudes in blackouts," then yeah, I think that deserves some criticism.
But hey, maybe that's how Brandon and Dave think of women.
posted by klangklangston at 10:24 AM on February 16, 2008
This is how he ESTABLISHES THE CHARACTER. That's where I object, and I think that the point about Mary-Jane-ism is a good one.
And yes, if you establish the character's first, PRIMARY trait as "Sleeps with dudes in blackouts," then yeah, I think that deserves some criticism.
But hey, maybe that's how Brandon and Dave think of women.
posted by klangklangston at 10:24 AM on February 16, 2008
Nah pal, what I think is that you're the one choosing to call the main character an amnesiac slut, not me, and it's a pretty obnoxious way to criticise a comic. Yeah, Warren Ellis writes a lot of pretty samey characters (c.f. the Filthy Assistants in Transmet), but when the first five comments are 'sheesh, drunk sluts etc etc', it kind of torpedoes a non-loaded discussion, because that's pretty silly, judgemental language you're using.
Personally I think most of Ellis's female characters are a) pretty monodimensional and b) largely mouthpieces for him as a writer (like most of his characters really), but choosing to start your cogent analysis with a one liner about their loose morals is just a bit odd, really.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:14 PM on February 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Personally I think most of Ellis's female characters are a) pretty monodimensional and b) largely mouthpieces for him as a writer (like most of his characters really), but choosing to start your cogent analysis with a one liner about their loose morals is just a bit odd, really.
posted by Happy Dave at 5:14 PM on February 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Bullshit. What do we know about the character? She has apparently slept with a guy without remembering it. This is the first and most important thing Ellis chooses to show us. That doesn't bode well for this being a well-developed character, and well-developed characters are one of the main reasons I read fiction.
If you like this and can't mount a defense (or properly attribute the number or tenor of criticisms), you may want to try writing letters to Wizard instead of attempting to snark here.
posted by klangklangston at 9:44 PM on February 16, 2008
If you like this and can't mount a defense (or properly attribute the number or tenor of criticisms), you may want to try writing letters to Wizard instead of attempting to snark here.
posted by klangklangston at 9:44 PM on February 16, 2008
If getting drunk and waking up next to someone the next morning makes one a slut, I know a lot more sluts than I previously realised.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:10 PM on February 16, 2008
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:10 PM on February 16, 2008
Leaving the slut/not a slut thing to one side for a second, starting something with your character waking up is pretty damn lazy
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:40 AM on February 17, 2008
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:40 AM on February 17, 2008
Oh so true. I remember at film school there were 10 films from classmates and 8 of them opened with someone waking up. It's the biggest cliche in the book.
posted by dydecker at 4:26 AM on February 17, 2008
posted by dydecker at 4:26 AM on February 17, 2008
This is how he ESTABLISHES THE CHARACTER.
And yes, if you establish the character's first, PRIMARY trait as "Sleeps with dudes in blackouts,"
Oddly enough, I thought the most important trait was that she seemed to be the leader of some sort of group.
What do we know about the character?
She lives in England.
Last night, she got drunk, picked up a guy, had intense sex (she scratched him) and wakes up and can't remember when or where she picked him up or even who he is. But she was definitely slumming (the lambeth road crack).
She might have some sort of power vis vis the conversation in the window. Might just be technology though.
There's bit of sadness about her, possibly due to being the leader of the group and someone they know had been acting up and is know killing people. Or maybe because she did sleep with someone she can't remember.
She's a member of the Freak Angels, whatever they are.
She get's around via a water powered helicopter.
But hey, maybe that's how Brandon and Dave think of women.
If you like this and can't mount a defense (or properly attribute the number or tenor of criticisms), you may want to try writing letters to Wizard instead of attempting to snark here.
If you're going wind up your points by turning this into a usenet style pissing match, I'll just call it day and you can declare yourself winner of website argument.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:37 AM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
And yes, if you establish the character's first, PRIMARY trait as "Sleeps with dudes in blackouts,"
Oddly enough, I thought the most important trait was that she seemed to be the leader of some sort of group.
What do we know about the character?
She lives in England.
Last night, she got drunk, picked up a guy, had intense sex (she scratched him) and wakes up and can't remember when or where she picked him up or even who he is. But she was definitely slumming (the lambeth road crack).
She might have some sort of power vis vis the conversation in the window. Might just be technology though.
There's bit of sadness about her, possibly due to being the leader of the group and someone they know had been acting up and is know killing people. Or maybe because she did sleep with someone she can't remember.
She's a member of the Freak Angels, whatever they are.
She get's around via a water powered helicopter.
But hey, maybe that's how Brandon and Dave think of women.
If you like this and can't mount a defense (or properly attribute the number or tenor of criticisms), you may want to try writing letters to Wizard instead of attempting to snark here.
If you're going wind up your points by turning this into a usenet style pissing match, I'll just call it day and you can declare yourself winner of website argument.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:37 AM on February 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
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posted by Pope Guilty at 5:25 PM on February 15, 2008