Which, of course, doesn’t actually “end”, just changes from what we know and are used to. That’s the thing I really like about this series (well, one of many things) it’s not a story about how the world ends, but what happens after it ends. This is the story of what happened next.” This comic is intended for mature audiences. The official summary does a better job of stating what this story’s about, so here it is: “23 years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment.

The end of the world was never this beautiful.Freakangels is a free weekly web comic written by Warren Ellis ( Transmetropolitan, Fell) and illustrated by Paul Duffield ( The Tempest, Sojourn). But the greatest feat the story manages to pull off is to create a post-apocalyptic world that stays away from the usual dystopian clichÃ©s. His characters are reminiscent of his earlier works ”“ in particular the female leads, all of whom are tough-as-nails, fast-talking, no-nonsense individuals who party hard and kick butt harder. Yes, Ellis takes us languorously through his end-of-the-world narrative, taking his own sweet time to tell his story, but that is to be expected in a medium that is free of editorial or spatial constraints. Duffield’s computer colouring adds the depth of an animated film to a book that’s otherwise filled with static talking-heads and occasional bursts of action. The first thing that hits you when you open the 145-page collection is the gorgeous artwork ”“ not cartoonish, not superhero-esque, Paul Duffield’s art straddles the line between a detail-ridden traditional illustrative style and the immediacy of a web-comic. The first arc of the series, done in collaboration with artist Paul Duffield has been given a traditional print treatment by Avatar press. FreakAngels is an ongoing web-comic by the writer who brought us memorable sci-fi tracts like Transmetropolitan and Orbiter. When it comes to hard SF in comics, Warren Ellis knows the score. (The whys and wherefores of the twelfth, Mark is a key point as the story progresses.) Strange, because apparently all of them have different powers, telepathy being a common trait of these kids, which served them in good stead when the world ended 6 years ago, and together, all but one of them maintain the semblance of a civilisation among the survivors in Whitechapel, London. The FreakAngels are twelve strange children who were born at the exactly the same moment twenty-three years ago.

FreakAngels, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis