Warren Ellis is the world-renowned creator of such print comics as The Authority, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Ministry of Space, Red, Global Frequency and Orbiter. Paul Duffield is a comics artist who is largely unknown, having, by his own admission, "only ever produced a handful of short comics, and one graphic novel". At least, that was before he started drawing Warren's Freakangels webcomic.

The Plan

Freakangels was a weekly webcomic, with each new 6 page episode released midday GMT on Fridays. It started 15th February 2008. The idea was that it would fit the format of weekly episodes such as would appear in 2000AD, though the content is a lot more adult than it would be possible to get away within Tharg's zarjaz tome. The webcomic is hosted by comics publisher Avatar, who have produced print copies for those who like owning comics over merely reading them. The completed story consists of 144 episodes, totalling 864 pages, which comprise 6 print volumes. Warren occasionally expressed surprise and bewilderment that some of his fans chose not to read the comic on the web, where it is free, but were instead waiting to buy the print version.

The Plot

The concept for Freakangels reputedly grew out of Warren's ruminations on John Wyndham's book The Midwich Cuckoos. In that book the children possess physic powers and are capable of controlling the adults of the village in which they live. Warren wondered what the story would have been like if those children survived to be "disaffected and confused twenty-somethings". Freakangels is his answer to that question.

The story begins twenty-three years after twelve strange children were born at the same moment. These children all had purple eyes, pale skin, and certain physic and telekinetic abilities. Six years ago, after being hounded by the authorities they joined forces and, possibly because they didn't really know what they were doing, broke the world. London is now flooded, though the odd island of civilisation still exists within the city. It is stated in the story that other similar, or considerably more bizarre, problems afflict other parts of the country. The majority of the freakangels, as the twelve called themselves, are now trying to provide a safe haven for the survivors in Whitechapel. The story only rarely steps outside the borough.

The Players