Whitechapel - FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:07:52-07:00

It's Friday, here's FREAKANGELS.

Allllllllergies stabby stabby ack bleh need caffiene damn my eyes GAH. Yeah... that's my morning, so far. You?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:10:48-07:00

Just wanted to say:

What a nasty piece of work he is. I assume from her empty eyes that he has her under his spell. This has actually made me quite angry!

Get well soon Ariana. I'm looking forward to visiting Munich next week for a few days and to catch up with old friends.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:14:49-07:00

The in-out game is a great idea. It's great to see the idea of music and the lack thereof in a post apocalyptic situation. As for the binfacesmash at the very end, I get the feeling it'll develop into a full on fight. Luke doesn't seem like the type to stand for having a human slap him around.

As for me, I just found out that there's an abandoned underground station from the 60's a couple of miles up the coast, so we're heading out to that later. Then the pub, then work at 9am the following bloody morning. Get well soon, Ariana.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:14:57-07:00

This would seem to put the final nail in the coffin of "He's just misunderstood". Alice smashie yes yes.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:16:23-07:00

I must say that I'm warming up to Alice a lot more now. She was on the scale of 'neutral-dislike' at the beginning.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:17:54-07:00

@UrbanAngel - Mm, I agree there.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:17:57-07:00

Not a huge fan of Rap but love Dizzee top bloke and very funny.

Another good installment now back to my cage till next friday

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:17:58-07:00

That, right there, is probably my favourite episode so far.

I can just imagine the wonderful clanging sound that must've made, heh.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:23:22-07:00

That line about Dizze making a raft from the bodies of the so solid crew made me laugh out loud.

And how long is that twat going to get away with using the Push on people?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:30:09-07:00

I love Alice. She's awesome.

@ Encephalo Ray - if it DOES become a fight, Kaz will assure that Luke gets beaten like a rented mule.

I liked his dialogue, though. What a cunt.

Ms. Ariana, hope you're feeling better.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:31:35-07:00

Excellent composition on the last panel, no-one needs to see freakangel junk..

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:36:20-07:00

if it DOES become a fight, Kaz will assure that Luke gets beaten like a rented mule.

Maybe not. We haven't seen a Freak-on-Freak rumble yet.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:37:22-07:00

the worst thing is, i had the horrible realisation of what was going to be there right as caz opened the door.

i love a comic that's not afraid to pull punches.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:45:30-07:00

Yes; Alice is definitely moving up the 'ah shit' meter in a cool way. Luke commits another psi-controlled rape, hummm I feel major conflict and strife coming. Something massive is about to occur.

Paul...page 4 last panel- amazing facials. I savored clicking to the next page and had everything running in my mind as to what would be there. (Of course I was wrong -ha!) But I did now it was going to be good. Excellent work.

Ariana, hope you get better. Allergies suck.

Warren; damn!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:54:28-07:00

aaaaaa hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha

slapstick

gotta love it

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:54:34-07:00

Didn't Arkady threaten to melt his brain if he did it again? Better run Luke... Although exactly where you can run to to get away from someone that can teleport I don't know...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T04:57:34-07:00

It's all going to kick off isn't it?

Arkady *knows* what happened and has warned Luke
We've had Kirk and Karl chatting about what *should* have happened to Mark
Sirkka and Jack also suspect that Luke's been misbehaving.

I think Jack the Ripper is the only thing likely to save Luke now...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T05:18:51-07:00

Ah yes! Nothing like a bit of the old 'in-out'!
I had a premonition of what they'd find as well. The look on Kaz's face on page 4 said it all!

Hmmm! Despite Arkady's threat, Luke didn't seem too put out by having an audience, did he? (at least, not until Alice did her 'talk to the can' act: atta girl!)
Still, narcissists are a bit like that. Maybe he should be renamed 'no hand' Luke?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T05:34:34-07:00

Booo Yaaaah!!! Go Alice,She´s made it into my radar big time now.

It´s an ok morning yet, just waiting for time to pass so I can get off work, get drunk, go to a concert at my fav pub, and show up to work tomorrow to bitch about hangovers.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T05:35:57-07:00

I has soup.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T05:51:29-07:00

He's going to be very unhappy when Arkady finds a way to make his penis disappear.

Though not nearly as unhappy as he'd be if Alice simply reached down and snapped it off like a pea pod on page 1 of #59...

Heh.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T05:54:24-07:00

I'm very happy that Alice hit him the way that she did, which would be in such a way that his junk was obscured as he fell.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T06:03:27-07:00

Luke gets hit in the face a lot, doesn't he? He fucking deserves it, that's why. Slipping some poor sick starving girl a psychic roofie is a new low even for him.

And it jibes with the way to take out a Freakangel - Bonk-Bonk on the Head! I guess Luke's powers aren't attuned to creating defensive shields that would deflect a garbage can lid.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T06:14:52-07:00

Weird that he gets detected by the noise and not the Freak brainwaves like before. Could make a telepath very suspicious that there is shielding all over, which wouldn't be complicated at all.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T06:24:45-07:00

Luke is such an utter cunt though. Remember the flashback bits from earlier comics? quite the little Nietzchian master race tossbag, even back then.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T06:46:22-07:00

Someone needs to quietly off the little prick.

And go Alice!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:03:58-07:00

Honestly, I have to say that Alice and Caz are the Freakangels I'd find myself hanging out with...the others all got their heads in the clouds a bit, or just seem to have their own thing going on...but those two seem to be the most down to earth. Though...Arkady's a bit of loony fun and reminds me a bit of a slightly crazier version of my girlfriend (yeah, my girl's nuts...but that's part of why I love her. :P)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:07:02-07:00

@Doctommunist - I wonder if he was as much a skeevy asshole before Ragnarok, or if his superhuman powers fried his forebrain up and left his nasty little id at the control panels. Either way, they others really should institute a "Luke keeps his fucking pants on at all times" rule. If he violates it then Arkady makes his prostate explode with her brain or Alice blows a kneecap off.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:16:30-07:00

I have nothing to say but this will be very bad for Luke. I was fine when he was just kind of a douche to people. I can handle that.

Rape? Not a fan.

I don't know what will happen, but it will be bad for Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:19:08-07:00

What's wrong with Luke? Whats the sense of having an awesome power if you can't have fun with the insects. It's way to soon into the story for me to start passing too much judgement on the characters, we still know almost zero back story. What gets me is the FA's destroy the friggin world and now some of them are soooo self-righteous. Nothing worse than self-righteous behavior born from immense guilt. I'm not buying that our two "bad characters" are as bad as we are being led to believe. For me there is something rather unsavory about the "bald three". hmmm?

As for Alice...grr..smug lil half-starved mutt....someone will turn her inside out! However, the trash can lid face smash (ala Sonny from the Godfather) was a nice touch for me. Proving the theory that...instinctive ACTION is always faster than REACTION. Apparently even for someone with powerful telepathic abilities.

Can't wait for the next installment!! Grand stuff!!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:19:59-07:00

stopped coughing for the first time in about two days
head not fucked with sinus trouble day
read, loved and gave my thoughts on this episode here

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:23:40-07:00

Go Alice go!!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:28:02-07:00

@Eoullis: no offense but I'm willing to bet my life that right now, after this episode, yes son, you are supposed to be judging Luke right now, and finding him a right prick. If you aren't, then that probably means you're a prick too. Nice little gauge Ellis has crafted for us. Could be wrong. But I doubt it.

I mean, blatant depiction of a clear-cut rape and all? Yeahhh, not finding much moral ambiguity in the situation.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:32:54-07:00

I've loved Alice from the beginning... she is fooking awesome!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:34:59-07:00

Why didn't Caz do anything? Why didn't she sense him using his powers? Tune in next week! Fuck! A whole goddamn week! ARRRGH!

All rapists should be shot. Not tortured, just shot. Not abused, just shot. Take them away and shoot them. Or leave them here and I'll do it myself.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:36:12-07:00

'Whats the sense of having an awesome power if you can't have fun with the insects'

a position of power beholdens one to not abuse it. That means not getting up to things like mind manipulation and rape. Might is not right ffs.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:38:07-07:00

Urgh, Luke. >.< Consent is not a word in his internal dictionary, is it?

Hooray for Alice and Kaz though!

Paul - amazing work with the facial expressions - could really feel the tension between pages!

As for me, well - it's Friday (\o/) and I'm plotting altoid tin related craft shenanigans, providing I can find some spray paint primer.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:38:54-07:00

Alice is wonderful.

I'm a bit confused about the in-out game though. If the crash was world-wide, then wouldn't things be about the same (or worse) all over? Their conversation seemed to imply that people were able to escape the destruction, maybe?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:39:11-07:00

Hey doclivingston,

Prick? I have one you can polish doc. Just to remind you no one was actually raped....its just ideas and lines on paper. We are not dealing with straight human characters here so my judgement is in check. As I said we don't know much backstory ...what luke is doing may be peanuts compared to what is already been done by others.

These posts are not personal expressions of my morality. They are comments about a stupid comic book. You should remember that. I

Also, you juicy douche, I will decide what I am "supposed" to with my literature.

I'd bet a paycheck you would not call me "son" if we were face to face you butt plug.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:39:46-07:00

Go go Alice!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:44:41-07:00

@Eoullis: Riiiiiiiiight.

And, sorry, the way a person interprets imagery of any medium, if it's recognizably depicting human figures in clear-cut behaviors (and Paul does do an amazing job at it, doesn't he?), can tell quite a lot about how that person thinks. Like, say, you defending a person who's being depicted as clearly engaging in sexual activity with someone whose consent isn't given? You know, what is typically referred to as "rape"? That's a good indicator you've got problems.

Again, I already allowed that I could be wrong about what Ellis and Duffield are going for here. But I doubt it.

Thanks for the lulz though.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:48:04-07:00

Eoiullis/jettisoned

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T07:53:22-07:00

First off. Warren, that was an excellent issue. My father has a had an odd obsession with Dizzee Rascal (it's rather disturbing), and page three immediately got forwarded to him, with a bit of context, so he could enjoy it.
The world has definitely stabilized a bit since we started, yeah. But that raises the question (and I'm sure it's come up in the past 57 issues, but I can't check all of them) Who sews things? Who has the time to go and put the freakangels logo on all of the official clothing that the angels and Alice wear? I would think that the freakangels design is tricky enough that hand-sewing it into things would be far more effort than it's worth, especially considering that people need multiples of clothing in not multiples of time.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:02:11-07:00

@CamyLuna - I get the feeling that the crash pretty much wrecked the ability to communicate with anybody that is either out of short-wave or walking range, depending on how resourceful you are. Since it's more or less all from the perspective of Whitechapel residents, they probably have absolutely no real idea of what's going on in the post-crash world outside of a hundred-odd miles in any direction. We probably won't know what's going on in, say, the US unless some bedraggled American washes up on the shores of Whitechapel. That seem unlikely, but maybe we'll get a refugee from somewhere closer like France eventually.

@Vermilious - That's been asked before, and the answer is a stencil and a sprayer filled with dye.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:04:32-07:00

@warrenellis: sorry for my involvement in that. Thanks for not making me accompany him on the way out. I tend to bring out the angry asshole in people.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:04:53-07:00

@Vermillious - I think it was addressed a couple of episode-threads ago. Something along the lines of everyone wearing pre-flood clothes, a can of spray paint used in conjunction with an FA template. Then, if I remember correctly, Warren lost faith in humanity, as apparently things of such complexity are impossible in a post-flood world.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:05:54-07:00

Alice has always been my favorite. YAY ALICE!

Because sure, if canned beans have totally survived, there's no way a can of spraypaint would. Am I opening old wounds? I'll be a good newbie and shut up now.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:11:23-07:00

Just adding to it here... BOOYAH!! Right on, Alice! She is the one who thinks a few moves ahead, so I can't say I'm too worried about her personal safety. No, Luke likes fucking, but now he is fucked himself, I think. Maybe the most pivotal moment FA has shown so far?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:21:14-07:00

Re :clothing in Whitechapel. - Surely, anyone with sewing skills earns their keep. We've seen people eat bread and yet we've never seen the FreakAngels MAKING BREAD - where did the bread come from? Someone fucking made it, obviously. With the new hundred refugees comes new skills - "I used to repair things before the crash." "I used to be a baker." "I used to like to sew." "I used to be Bansky. I can spray stuff on clothes, if you like." (Uh, plus everyone who was in Whitechapel under FreakAngels protection BEFORE the new people came in.)

@ Warren - Do people read the Rules anymore? They should.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:21:43-07:00

Here comes Luke's little lobotocoma... and after he's been given so many chances, too. Terrible thing, when someone close is determined to be an atavistic prick despite your best efforts to the contrary. Especially terrible when it's family. Bet the rest of the FA will feel like total disasters for what has to be done now.

Or pr'aps they needn't. They could just gather, pass the tea wine and watch Alice finish doing the trashcan dance on him. While Arkady narrates her previous effort to rehabilitate the scum and experiences, ah, drinky digressions.

Could be quite a touching scene, actually.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:27:42-07:00

I'm starting to wonder if the Freaks really did do in the whole world, or whether it's just the UK and they *think* it's the whole world.

Maybe it's cause I watched RahXephon again recently...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:38:15-07:00

morning whitechapel? how was my week? well, I took a piece of good advice and sought PROFESSIONAL MENTAL HELP (albeit from myself, with mixed results, as usual) on the plus side, I'm no longer angry. :)

as for this week's installment and the subsequent discussion:
yeah... this is going to be bad. luke's a slimy, immoral prick and he's walked right into whatever's coming for him. in this close-quarter's situation, though, I must confess, I'm a bit worried. if he can gather his composure quickly enough, someone might get hurt. sure, alice is scrappier than him by far, but I don't know about caz. she seems more practical/technical than Freakangels Mind-strong. Luke's obviously got more (on-panel at least) experience mucking about in people's minds. regardless of how this situation plays out (and I am hoping for a little damage to our heroic duo here), luke will be destroyed.

@EncephaloRay while we may not have seen a Freak-on-Freak rumble yet, we have seen Luke gets his ass kicked. (also, looking forward to seeing your photos of that station.)

@Val A Lindsay II

Maybe the most pivotal moment FA has shown so far?

ditto.

my two-cents on just punishment for rape: rapists should have their junk rendered inoperable in the most painful and irreversible way possible and should subsequently be raped by all manner of men and beast until death. vote for me!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:38:32-07:00

See, there's a certain class of people (well... the word class seems more than a little ironic in this instance) who just don't survive here in Whitechapel. Which is why it is awesome.

One of the things I continually enjoy about the leisurely pacing of Freakangels is that there's time to ponder all the little stuff like these games that would seem to naturally crop up in this kind of situation. Dedicating what comes up to a total of two pages to the discussion of the in-out game (points for the horribly fitting title, by the way, which I'm assuming is no coincidence) isn't something you'd see a lot of in a monthly 22 page comic, unless it was somehow going to be integral to the plot. Here, it can just exist, pretty much on its own, for no other reason than that it seems like something people would do in those circumstances.

Also, I always feel terrible when I do one of these comments without mentioning the art, which is only because Paul produces this brilliance on such a regular basis that it's almost just expected. The last panel actually illustrates the discussion about SFX that's happening in the Christos Gage thread. I can't imagine a SMACK or SKRASH doing anything for that panel except obscuring some of the gorgeous art. The motion and impact are already felt very effectively as is.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:43:07-07:00

'Whats the sense of having an awesome power if you can't have fun with the insects'

a position of power beholdens one to not abuse it. That means not getting up to things like mind manipulation and rape. Might is not right ffs.

While he obviously needs a timeout to learn some manners, that first sentence there is a pretty good assessment of Luke's state of mind, I'd say.

It's also interesting to me that Luke's "position" in the Freakangels is that of "pariah/bastard." Thinking it over, I believe that this is a necessary position. Luke's benefit to the group is that he provides a "counter-example" for the rest of the 'angels. Without him, they might begin to slowly slip into the same behaviors he displays but do so as a group, making it much harder for them to notice (or reverse) their slide into evil.

sorry for my involvement in that. Thanks for not making me accompany him on the way out. I tend to bring out the angry asshole in people

While you might've been a little more diplomatic in your own statement, you can't very well bring out something in someone if it wasn't already there to begin with, yes?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:51:49-07:00

Great comic and made even better by WE showing up to say "Eoiullis/jettisoned."

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T08:53:37-07:00

'It's also interesting to me that Luke's "position" in the Freakangels is that of "pariah/bastard." Thinking it over, I believe that this is a necessary position. Luke's benefit to the group is that he provides a "counter-example" for the rest of the 'angels. Without him, they might begin to slowly slip into the same behaviors he displays but do so as a group, making it much harder for them to notice (or reverse) their slide into evil.'

There's something in that I think. Doctor Freak Angel (can't remember her name at the minute) provides the strongest moral compass IMHO.

Karl has the potential to be a similar Voice of Reason, but he's isolated himself.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:00:22-07:00

I think it's a sign of great writing, like the last issue of Crossed in a way, you get lulled into a quiet period where that world seems ok - interesting rebuilding and improvement projects - then you get rape or whatever viciousness Ennis has cooked up next. The contrast between jokey first few pages and the nasty at the end made for a really strong episode. I smell a shitstorm brewing.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:02:05-07:00

I can't imagine a SMACK or SKRASH doing anything for that panel except obscuring some of the gorgeous art. The motion and impact are already felt very effectively as is.

Truth. I think I spent a good five minutes just appreciating the intricate work done on the shadows over the brick wall surface in that final panel.

@Paul, how long did that take? All that detail work is just mind-blowing. ETA: every single week.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:14:37-07:00

I hope this turns out badly for Luke and I'm going to assume Caz has sent out a message to the rest of the group to come and take care of Luke. I think that Caz letting Alice get in a face shot was more of a personal "You deserve some physical pain you fucking asshole before I bring everyone else in to take care of you" thing than needing Alice to do anything.

some people are just no good assholes and there's nothing you can do to change them.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:30:34-07:00

Well, let us hope Caz has sent out call to the others, 'cause there has been previous discussion about Luke's mental capabilities. I believe it was the "FA goes hunting" area of the story, when Jack an Sirkka were cornering Luke and he mentioned how Jack knew Luke could do nasty things to his brain before he pulled the trigger. That's only one example of what Warren's set up about Luke's capabilities. I have a feeling that he is the one FA, besides Arkady, that may have played around with his powers enough to be very good at using them.

On the other hand, in a physical brawl, Caz alone could probably take him, and then there's Alice. Go Alice!

The Art in this episode has me frustrated, because it's too nice (esp. in page 6)! It's art that I'd love to display in some way, but the subject matter is not. lol.
I love the face shot of Luke (page 6/panel 2), I think it's my favorite image of him so far. And I find myself looking closer at things like the shadow of Alice's hair against the brick in the last panel. Thank you Paul.

As for the world outside of their area, there may be some place that's better, but I don't think there's a place that was unaffected... unless Warren is going to pull out some great explaination. If places like.. say America, where fine, wouldn't there have been some investigation, or some contact? They already mentioned there being no radio signals anywhere. So, unless things are going to get even wierder, with something keeping the unaffected people at bay, I doubt any place got off without some sort of crashiness. Though I can certainly imagine places being much worse, or even better.

Thank you gents, thank you Ariana!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:37:01-07:00

@Eoiullis
Luke? Is that you?

@Whitechapel
Fucking Alice ROCKS that shit! And after this episode, my feelings for Luke went down the toilet, and he can now go suck it like his second date depends on it.
ALICE is now my favourite FreakAngel! Oh Alice, we could be best friends!

@Mister Hex
I wondered why Caz couldn't sense it, too, but I'm wondering if it's just Sirkka who can sense things like that, and the others just get a general odd feeling (I remember when Kait mentioned that it felt like a big veil had lifted sometime during the raid).

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:38:30-07:00

Yeah, just had to add...

Paul, you've got me going back over those panels, noticing more and more detail I love. Very impressed. I keep looking at the trashcan, and the movement so clearly depicted with the lid. And the first shot of Alice on page six is fantastic.

I always find it interesting to compare Alice, as we first saw her, with how she looks now (and I'm not just talking about the art here). What a transformation she's had, I like her so much more now.

(edit for typo)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T09:45:57-07:00

@Professor Imagine - Not to be all sensitive & contrarian, but I fail at finding the moral loophole which permits 'just rape'. Rape is rape, regardless of to whom it occurs. Barring consensual BDSM scenarios, rape is torture. Saying the rapist deserves a taste of his own medicine, well-- you might be right, but who can actually make that call? It's the physical & mental violation of another human being, not chinese checkers. Not everyone can, or should, play.

Sorry, it's just something I've heard time & time again and can never get my head around. 'Rapists should be raped'. It's easy to say, but it's not a punishment I can imagine even the grimmest of us wanting to attend. Can't we settle for an old-fashioned barnyard ball-cutting? A quick "You fuckers've banjaxed me junk atop a mouldering stump & stitched the wound with old floss" would suffice, surely.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:08:58-07:00

Besides, those carying out the punishment would be scum themselves...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:38:33-07:00

At the beginning of the episode, I was trying to judge Kaz' reaction to the in/out game, is there even an out? Does Kaz even know? It was a nice bit of banter.
Then when they wandered in on Luke, I was inclined to think, oh, you dirty bastard, honestly, going round using people as sexdolls.
There were, after this, two of the greatest points in recent comics literature.
Lukes rather aloof commentary to Caz, which, I'm afraid, made me laugh, (evil, evil psirapist)
And, Dustbin lid to the face. Oh dear, I nearly laughed out loud, but it would have worried my girlfriend, who doesn't understand this comics thing at all.
Ah, dear god, that was funny,
But, I'm a little concerned that Alice hitting Luke maybe akin to a Yorkshire terrier having a good old nip at a Toza.
I hope for her sake Caz is as tough as she looks.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:40:39-07:00

I still maintain that Caz and/or Alice could take him physically, no problem... when it comes to his mental abilities, however, I think they may be in deep shit.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:43:27-07:00

First thing that came to my mind was "Well, now she's assaulted a freakangel, what are they going to do to her?"

The FAs are a gang after all. And you can fuck with your members all you like, but woe be tide the outsider who fucks with one of your people.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:45:31-07:00

So...I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but Luke didn't look too phased by being found in that alley. If you had a teleporting, psychic, crazy (who's already fucked you up once, mind you) threatening to fuck you up to the extreme if you did something like that, you might be wanting to take some more drastic measures than saying, "Hey, shut the door." I posit that maybe this wasn't rape. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Maybe Ellis is laughing at all of you saying, guess what, you all assumed the same thing as Caz and Alice when they walked through that door. Hook, line, sinker.

Maybe this girl asked Luke to pull his crazy mind shit, I've heard of kinkier fetishes. Now that wouldn't be the most moral thing to do but hey, I'm not saying Luke's moral, just not stupid enough to do something he knows will get him in trouble in the middle of an alley and then not even blink when he get's broken in on.

Or maybe he is that stupid...that's what next Friday is for.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:49:43-07:00

@Winther - I make my own sounds up. Out loud. Then I laugh. And wonder where my life's gone.

@orwells_eyes - They'll probably pat her on the back while taking turns whacking Luke in the nuts.

@steevo - I'd guess that he didn't seem terribly concerned because he's a borderline sociopath. It's fairly obvious that he thinks that he's better than all the plebs down there with their regular brains. Pulling the bait and switch is an interesting concept, though. I think that Alice would probably prefer to have her eyeballs exploded with psychic death-energy than apologize to Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:50:11-07:00

Love that look through the glass - Paul pulls it off beautifully every time.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T10:58:25-07:00

@Steevo

I'm struck at how dispassionate he is, also. It's more like a self-involved prison rape than anything to do with sex. He just seems utterly self-absorbed and nay I can think of anyone at the moment so filled to the brim with hubris.

Well, he' s probably going to get another hobby soon, eh?

edited, grammar

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:05:52-07:00

Yes, he seems like a borderline sociopath, and probably is, but we've seen a lot more of everyone else's point of view and not his...But one thing that has been established is that he's a smart motherfucker, as crazy as you or anyone else might think he is, "Luke...Luke's a clever man. Way back when, he was probably the most intellectual of us." (ep 32, pg 5) He knows what Arkady did to him last time...he should really be more worried than he seemed before getting conked. Also Warren Ellis likes to fuck with people.

The old knock him out before he can even try to explain himself is a classic way to make someone look like an asshole even if he or she is not being one at current moment.

Guilty or not, I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind exploding Alice's eyeballs with psychic death-energy after she slammed him in the face with a trash can lid.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:09:45-07:00

@steevo

Wouldn't he be violating code anyway? Freakangels can't just go around saying, hey I have amazing mind powers! That also kind of confused me early on when Luke was invading girls dreams for his radio show... but maybe that was seen as more harmless since it was anonymous...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:10:53-07:00

@steevo
You have a sliver of a potentially-valid point to work with there, but you're digging hard and I think you know it.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:14:11-07:00

Even if, and that's a big if, he isn't guilty, he still had it coming. He's deserved a good trashcan-lid to the face for a while. I actually prefer the bit where he's simply too sociopathic to freak out about being caught, rather than the idea that he'll turn out inoccent somehow, makes him more interesting as a character in my opinion. Besides, the impression I got was that the other people in Whitechapel don't really know about the FA powers, just Alice, so she wouldn't know to ask for that fetish to be fulfilled...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:14:29-07:00

Yeah, but raping a chick and trying to impress one by saying, "hey, I can control minds." Are on two slightly (read: entirely) different levels. Like I said, I'm not saying he's a good person, just that he knows there are pretty intense consequences for certain actions.

And hell, I mostly posted this to be contrary to everyone else, chances are I'm completely wrong, but everyone else is ready to string him up and we only have half the story.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:20:39-07:00

Maybe this girl asked Luke to pull his crazy mind shit, I've heard of kinkier fetishes. Now that wouldn't be the most moral thing to do but hey, I'm not saying Luke's moral, just not stupid enough to do something he knows will get him in trouble in the middle of an alley and then not even blink when he get's broken in on.

Except that the only "outsider" that knows of their abilities (and survived) is Alice. This girl wouldn't know about his powers unless he told/showed her, which seems unlikely.

Secondly, Luke's tactic actually makes sense if you think about it. Caz's immediate reaction seems to be embarrassment and it's only after a bit of observation that she notices that the girl is in brainlock. Many people's reaction on seeing that would've been "Oh, shit, sorry!" and then to shut the door.

Also, Caz seemed to be warning Alice against attacking Luke, probably because Luke could (and would) kill her with a thought. That said, it's probably hard to think killer thoughts when somebody's slamming you in the face with a steel garbage can lid. Also, it apparently takes a lot more power and concentration to control a mind than it does to create force fields or telekinetically break bones. Figure that psionically speaking, Luke's "hands were full" so he wasn't able to stop Alice's attack. Once he releases the girl, it'll be a different matter.

Of course, it probably won't take too long for Caz to call in Arkady to unleash hell on Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:22:07-07:00

@Paul - Haha. Damn. How can I argue with the artist?! Ok, I'm with the rest of you, rip the bastard's nuts off.

PS. Can you tell I'm bored at work?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:27:49-07:00

@steevo

"She wanted it! I saw it in her id!" Er, no.

The FA are conditioned, with good reason, to expect the worst of Luke. Circumstantial evidence be damned, he nearly went in this direction shortly after he was first introduced.

Arkady razes Luke's brain with a kiss to the cheek. Guaranteed.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:32:58-07:00

Alice fucking rocks.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:35:14-07:00

I think my favorite thing about Freakangels is when Luke gets hurt. I hate him so much. Which goes to show how well written this comic is. I truly hate a fictional character.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T11:54:09-07:00

@Paul - I take it back. I need to argue today, just so I don't yell at people here and get fired...don't want that.

@rev -

"She wanted it! I saw it in her id!" Er, no.

While that made me chuckle, it is nowhere near the argument I was trying to make. And you're kind of skirting my arguments and condemning someone who, because of four frames, you think should die. Unless you're using all previous experiences of Luke to give him the death sentence, which I wouldn't blame you for, but that's not what I'm talking about.

In this instance, we do not have all available evidence. I'm not saying he's innocent, just that there will be more forthcoming, meanwhile everyone is ready to say Luke must die for this.

Also, you have to look at it from a plot perspective. You see it all the time in fiction. Every piece of evidence you get leads you one way and then one piece of the puzzle snaps you out back the other way. Maybe that's not the direction that this is going, but I think Luke has just been too evil so far. He has absolutely no redeeming features, which I have not known to be true of really anyone who I've known thoroughly (Not to say that there aren't cocksuckers that I hate, but I'm sure if I got to know them, even they couldn't be all bad, right?).

@Tammy - I do agree that Alice fucking rocks. Girls with shotguns are hot.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:00:55-07:00

I'm in love with Alice.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:06:27-07:00

I doubt that Luke will get to take a shot at Alice. He'll probably be too stunned by someone not entertaining his superprick act and just cracking him upside the head to do anything. By the time he gets himself together, the others will probably be breaking it up.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:11:27-07:00

So he's bad, she's great, yada yada... but how'd she do it? They've blithely described their powers before as able to take significant action in the space between thought and pulling a trigger. Even assuming that the "screening" he's clearly doing is a two way thing, and so he's unable to read her aggression, her assault still takes physically picking up and swinging the weapon. Luke would have to be either incompetent or a hard core masochist for people to keep hitting him in the face like this.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:12:45-07:00

YAY ALICE!!!

heheheheh....

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:13:53-07:00

there is a difference between having a gun in your face stand-off and a random act of violence

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:23:49-07:00

@steevo
XD fair enough. As long as you know you're out on a justifiably unpopular and highly unlikely limb with the argument.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:23:55-07:00

@steevo -

I don't particularly think Luke should die-- I'm going off the general p.o.v. of the participants, which would quite naturally include their previous experiences, and it's on those grounds this situation will be judged, dispassionately or not. The FA have made themselves the inheritors of the earth. It's their call to make. Society adjudges its population (in theory) according to the best interests of said population and, sad to say, the -cost- of maintaining that pop. Luke will always be a problem, potentially a life-threatening one-- both to the FA and to their human charges. He costs and he's not contributing. He's an established bastard. Of a far weaker water than Mark, no doubt, but it's in the FA's best interests to weed him out. Now's as good a time as any. I'm not saying lynch him, just make an arrest, invent a charge (if you have to), and make it stick. He doesn't need to be a factor anymore. Too much going on as is.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:28:54-07:00

Luke would have to be either incompetent or a hard core masochist for people to keep hitting him in the face like this.

Or extremely arrogant and less than observant.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:31:01-07:00

I started getting suspicious at: "You here something...banging?"

Really interesting to see the intellectual (and not so) debates springing up from this. Even aside from that effect, a really good looking six pages this week, Paul, Warren, Ariana, and crew!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:36:25-07:00

Right, all evidence points toward a particularly nasty telepathically assisted rape. That said, it's been made clear that he can be a right clever bastard, so choosing a location where Caz is likely to be and making a racket leads me to fear the FA's are being played, possibly as a long con. Turning the newcomers against the FA's, maybe?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:42:25-07:00

@Paul - Those are my favorite limbs, cuz every once in a while, even if you don't change minds, you get someone to think about something a little differently...and that's as close to telepathy as I'll ever get anyway. Plus I was unpopular in high school, so I know what it's like for those limbs, sometimes they just need a friend.

@rev - He is a bastard and they should've weeded him out ages ago...but they didn't. I'm not saying the FA's won't, or even shouldn't, jump to immediate actions/conclusions, I'm saying the audience shouldn't. We all have the convenience of being able to watch and see what happens...the audience is sort of the jury of any work of fiction, everyone judges the content and finds them worthy or unworthy. The readers here are all saying guilty, when it is not necessarily so. Very, very likely so, maybe. But not necessarily. Alice was right on when she whacked Luke in the face with a garbage can lid, that's what any of us would've done in a similar situation, I hope anyway. But you are not directly involved, you know that there is someone else pulling the strings of everyone in the story, and that things aren't always going to be what they appear. With that perspective, it is easier to say, ok, how does this fit into the big picture? What's going on here that I'm not seeing?

I feel I might be demonizing myself a bit with my unpopular arguments, so maybe I should point out that I'm just trying to think outside the box. I'm not a killer, rapist with a hook for a penis and a gun for an arm (although that would be awesome...the gun, not the hook). I just like to explore alleys that everyone else has counted out, but are not really completely closed. Sometimes I get mugged in them.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T12:47:55-07:00

I really, really enjoy the comfortable exchanges that occur between characters, but also the issues that emerge from people being pricks.

Also, adding to the chorus, fuck yes Alice! I love it when my gut reactions are followed so closely.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:16:21-07:00

@Warren Ellis

Or extremely arrogant and less than observant.

Yeah, that hubris I observed in the nonchalant look in his face and that last comment, complete with insult. I'm completely at a loss why he, thinker that he supposedly is, would keep his guard down. Some sort of cry for help? We'll find out soon enough, huh?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:27:06-07:00

Right, all evidence points toward a particularly nasty telepathically assisted rape. That said, it's been made clear that he can be a right clever bastard, so choosing a location where Caz is likely to be and making a racket leads me to fear the FA's are being played, possibly as a long con. Turning the newcomers against the FA's, maybe?

Luke seems to be the kind of guy who can't see the trees for the forest. He's brilliant at abstract, abstruce thought. His introduction on the nature of time tells us that. At the same time, though, he's really, really bad at the common-sense things to do with living one's life. I can easily see him spotting a cute new girl, psi-locking her and then leading her down the first alley he saw to fuck her, not noticing or caring that it would put him near Caz.

Also, I'm placing bets on this fight on Alice because Luke doesn't really know how to fight. Alice, on the other hand, has spent the last six years surviving hand to mouth through morter attacks, Mark and who knows what else. I think she beats Luke unconscious and then kills him while he's helpless. Because otherwise, one fine day she's going to take an involuntary flying leap off the Watchtower. More likely though, I figure Alice beats him into helplessness and then tries to kill him but is stopped by the others. At which point we get to see a Freakangel trial of banishment between Alice and Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:28:37-07:00

i stand by my statement that all rapists should be shot. I doubt that statement is controversial.

Luke is an arrogant cunt who is less than observant to who notices or cares. Caz'll be right in there, as soon as she figures out wtf, Luke? Best he's on his ass while she figures that out. Preferably with a broken beak to keep him occupied. (Go Alice!) I sense a Mass Call coming. And then Luke's utterly and truly fucked. As well he should be.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:37:00-07:00

@Taphead - That is a damn fine thought...Luke, or maybe even Mark, running a Xanatos Gambit.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:41:54-07:00

First, @Paul, I agree with the others. I had to sign in just to tell you that the art, particularly the shadow work, is stunning! Fantastic job!

Second, to all of you who wonder why he's so unconcerned, my take on the whole thing was that he *deliberately* wanted to do something drastic, make noise and call attention to himself because he has a plan to hurt Arkady. Then, he couldn't react to Alice in time because he was caught up in being ready for Arkady when she teleported in. If Warren hadn't said something, I'd still think that. :)

Warren, thank you for making Alice just as cool as the Freakangels :)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:46:21-07:00

*ahem*

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T13:53:20-07:00

Hah! Cute.

Good show this week. Looking forward to the fallout.

Still kind of groggy, took a double dose of sleeping med and slept with a few interruptions for about 8 hours, which is epic for me.

And Luke's nonchalant because he's in a dissociative state. Almost a cognitive hemispherectomy/lobectomy. Some rapists slip into them. So do some murderers. Hint, hint. (And so do some politicians....'s what is generally behind actions like Larry Craig's.)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T14:13:07-07:00

@Val A Lindsay II - shouldn't it be "CLANG" instead? ;) very cute!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T14:42:20-07:00

@dotcommunist

Karl has the potential to be a similar Voice of Reason, but he's isolated himself.

don't forget, Karl is the one who supposedly followed Mark out after his banishment and killed him, as agreed in secret by he and Kirk. don't mistake his smug objections to the value-system of his peers (tv, shagging, etc.) for moral superiority.

@revD point on rape-for-rape-punishment. it's an exaggerated and invalid argument. definitely physically removing the ability to commit any further sexual acts would serve the purpose, along the lines of what you're proposing here:

Can't we settle for an old-fashioned barnyard ball-cutting? A quick "You fuckers've banjaxed me junk atop a mouldering stump & stitched the wound with old floss" would suffice, surely.

Luke is a predator and has been from the moment of his introduction. He has exhibited no redeeming qualities and deserves fully any punishment he receives, esp if Alice or someone else gets hurt in the process. I'm starting to suspect the "long con" @taphead suggests. Is it too early in the series to expect a payoff from the Mark storyline, or about time? we've got a gruesome murder mystery keeping "the police" occupied...

I just review volume 3 so far. luke's been making his move since the first episode. sirkka picks up on him "pushing" and actually calls Kait to check it out, which leads to the reveal of the murder. so sirkka's already tuned in... we've all just been distracted.

it is quite possible (and even plausible) that Luke reached out to Mark some way, without the others knowing. though we haven't seen it yet, I'm sure Freakangel's can die. (unless, maybe, they can't. maybe Karl did kill Mark...) if Mark's there with Luke, Caz is in serious trouble.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T14:55:31-07:00

Hey can I act like I want here or will I be banned for behaving in a manner collectively frowned upon.

WHat I want to do is reply with defiance, relate to the character I relate to and potray myself as twice as bad as I actually am.

Worse possible opinion I can have is to play devils advocate. There is no right and wrong, the only thing that matters to biological organisms is the continuation of biological organisms. However I believe that you can over look the long term benefits of ethical morals with that sort of attitude. SO let's not assume that it's ok for these Freakangels to use every power in their "package" to procreate.

That being said there are still a lot jumping to conclusions. First of all what about the poor kid at the beginning of this whole epic saga. How do we know that the kid that KK slept with wasn't coerced with...

Economic promises, psychic pushes, alchahol which inhibits decision making etc.

Anyway. It's considered unfair when a man uses his intellect in romantic situations. I don't know why we don't admit this double standard.

All us hypocrites need rescue.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:00:57-07:00

I think he is letting himself get hit in a passive aggressive attempt at showing them their own hypocrisy. He saw what KK did with the boy from across the water etc. Whatever. Hi Miss, I have psychic powers, I can control your actions if I want, this is my power set, do you want to interact with me?

Yes.

Done.

Anything that happens after that is what happens, one way or another when you interact with a powerful human. Self control has it's limitations, believe it...
or not.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:10:03-07:00

I think it all boils down to extreme narcissism with Luke. He truly believes he deserves to be able to do whatever he wants, and truly believes nobody will stop him. He might even be wanting the attention of getting caught in the act because of how narcissistic he is, as he wants to be the center of attention, whether positive or negative.

I also feel the long con thing. The whole bait and switch too, sure. But as it stands, right now the situation is clearly being presented as a very easy reason to hate the guy, so I'm just going to let that hate soak in. If the switch comes, all the better that I eat up all that bait now.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:17:21-07:00

Prof Imagine said:
'don't forget, Karl is the one who supposedly followed Mark out after his banishment and killed him, as agreed in secret by he and Kirk. don't mistake his smug objections to the value-system of his peers (tv, shagging, etc.) for moral superiority. '

yes, but in some ways he shows a higher degree of moral behavior (perhaps) than his peers- in that he acts to remove the threat/badness alongside kirk. That's a whole can of worms as to wether he acted righteously though :)

@ doclivingstone
'I think it all boils down to extreme narcissism with Luke'

That would fit his master race arrogance displayed in those flashbacks, yes.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:19:40-07:00

My guess is that Luke was expecting any interference to come in the form of a psychic assault from Caz, and that poor mundane Alice was simply completely beneath his notice.

He hasn't even acknowledged her presence at the time she lids him.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:27:18-07:00

Hey can I act like I want here or will I be banned for behaving in a manner collectively frowned upon.

See if you can do it without calling people names. The Rules are really pretty simple. Your tone suggests that you'll find your own way out, though.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T15:35:22-07:00

By the way, this is one hell of a thread.

I love stats so here you go. 108 comments in the first day? The last one to break 100 in the entire week was ep 22 with 103, that didn't break the 100 barrier until 6 days later. And as far as I saw, the only one with more comments than this one was ep. 1 with 165, but that was still getting comments after 6 weeks. That one "only" got 106 in the first day. New FA record right here. Good discussions guys. Hell, we'll probably break 120 before it changes to tomorrow. Wait...unless it's 11:30 there in England. I can never remember how the times work.

And Warren, you can leave this week knowing that rape is a much bigger discussion starter than bloody, Jack the Ripper murder. Aren't we all happy to be humans?

Edit: Numbers were from before I posted, so there are obviously more than 108 on the first day now...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T16:27:51-07:00

One of my favourite episodes of all time! Alice's actions in the last panel brought a huge smile to my face, as did Luke arrogant 'you may have forgotten what this is' dry wit. Even if he is an amoral rapist bastard, he still makes me smile!

Oh, and surely he's a huge masochist. He loves being hit in the face... that's what really turns him on. Doggie style in an alley is just a warm up for this boy :D

Fucking hay fever right now is destroying my life. Bet the FAs don't get hay fever.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T16:38:07-07:00

@Prof Imagine

re: Sirkka, I've been thinking much the same thing, that this "volume" is going to play out amazingly well as a whole

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T16:49:14-07:00

@Graizur "I think he is letting himself get hit in a passive aggressive attempt at showing them their own hypocrisy"

From what I've seen of Luke he's not that slick, and he's not capable of passive-aggressive anything.

@steevo "you can leave this week knowing that rape is a much bigger discussion starter than bloody, Jack the Ripper murder."

I find that WONDERFUL. But then again, I am also afeard to mention other, past references to Jack the Ripper in the script because it really implicates someone I want to like a great deal but cannot...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T16:52:56-07:00

Well I didn't read ALL the 50+ comments since I posted here this afternoon, but in case no one else said it...

@Orwell's eyes
Well, now she's assaulted a freakangel, what are they going to do to her?
Didn't you catch the very beginning of issue 1? This is her second offense.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T16:54:31-07:00

@diello - I figured Caz would have Alice's back on that. They tend to their own, and Alice is an honorary FA...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T17:00:05-07:00

Hate to be the one to say it (and I'm dodging arse eels here) but ... with great power comes great responsibility. 'Nuff Said on the rape stuff. Luke's a cunt, we all know that. No more defending him, eh? Unless you want to.

Paul's work IS fabulous, isn't it? M'sieur Duffield, take a bow. I like to read FA and then read the thread and then read it again. And ONLY THEN go back to the comic for a close reading. (Close-CLOSE Reading is for the Trades.) Wonderful colours. Beautiful plumage.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T17:54:20-07:00

Ooh! Bin lid to the face! Nice one Alice...incidentally, are we all assuming that Luke's not the ripper?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T17:59:22-07:00

I really never get tired of seeing Luke get hit in the face. :)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T18:01:52-07:00

I have really mixed feelings about this particular device. It's not uncommon-watch a rape, then see the rapist get beaten down. (Rob Roy comes to mind, because I almost watched it last night.) On the one hand, knowing how often real rapists get away with it, there's a certain catharsis to be had in watching imaginary-rapists get the crap beat out of them, especially when it's a woman laying the smackdown, and doubly so when it's a character like Alice. (Alice is a Horseshit Free Zone. The world needs more Alice.)
On the other hand, I made the mistake of reading the comic first thing this morning, with nothing to distract me afterward but data entry. I felt a bit like I was the one who got hit in the face with a trashcan lid, it was so disturbing and painful to look at. Especially the close up of the victim's face, slack-mouthed and white-eyed.

Which, of course, means we're getting a damn good piece of art for free.

Thank you, Paul and Warren.
Also, Paul and Warren, you bastards!!!

Really looking forward to next Friday. I may have to back and re-read all the comics now, because I'm pretty sure I missed a lot of foreshadowing re: Luketheunbearabledouchnozzle.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-12T18:45:18-07:00

@Diello

@Orwell's eyes Well, now she's assaulted a freakangel, what are they going to do to her?
Didn't you catch the very beginning of issue 1? This is her second offense.

Admittedly, now she IS an honorary Freakangel, and as has been seen, they're allowed to assault him.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T05:14:04-07:00

I was going to write a long and winding comment about my theory that Luke wants to be hated because he's guilty of the apocalypse they caused... but I think I'll keep that to myself.

eh Nice work anyway guys.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T05:35:09-07:00

wow...he so deserved a garbage can lid to the face...

some douches do tend to be bigger douches when they feel guilty about being a douche in the first place...:P

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T08:25:33-07:00

Wow... so many comments. I might as well come back and state a better opinion, as I'm tired of spending the last two days arguing the potential meltdown of my other hobby (Magic: The Gathering. Yes, I'm a comics-and-Magic nerd. Not exactly in the stereotypical sense, but there's some truth to that stereotype, too...)

Okay. Luke. I sort of understood Luke. He wanted to be a little more because, well, he is a little more. I liked him for being surly and a little (okay, a lot) full of himself. There's always at least one black sheep in any family or group or gang. Luke was that guy. For a long time, Kirk and Karl seemed to be on about a level with Luke, in my opinion. I saw them as generally good guys, but capable of some pretty bad shit if pushed hard enough. In Luke's case, he just wants some time with the ladies and would like the general populace to respect him because he's a smart guy with brain powers. I was pretty pissed at him for nearly manipulating his ex into some non-consensual sex.

But this time, catching him in the act of actually doing it? Deal breaker. When he was just kind of an asshole with a big ego, I could handle him, and even found him a little amusing as a thorn in the side of the rest of the Angels. But now we've crossed a pretty big line, and Luke is not amusing to me.

I think that this particular arc may involve the actual institution of a judicial system for Whitechapel itself. Someone just got murdered. We've got at least one confirmed rapist. How does the gang deal with it in an adult way? Does Whitechapel turn into a police city-state? Martial law and all that? (Given what I have gleaned from Warren's other work, I'm guessing not, but it will be fun to see the conversation take place with so many good characters making their arguments.)

So many postapocalyptic stories deal with how shit falls apart; this is one of the few that deals with it being reassembled. I think that's part of the reason I like it...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T08:58:57-07:00

I get the feeling that the Luke business is going to supercede the Jack the Ripper stuff fairly quickly. The Jack the Ripper thing seems like a slow burn thing that'll go over several volumes.

Awful as his actions are here, I feel sorry for Luke because of what comes next. And I'm not talking about the Alice shitkicking, either. I'm talking about him futilely begging for his life from his brothers and sisters and them executing part of their family. Because that's what has to happen next. Part of "growing all the way up" is applying punishment and stopping criminal behavior. And it's not like they can put Luke in jail or simply banish him. Jail's won't hold him and banishing him just creates another Mark, or creates victims of anyone else Luke runs across. So he has to die and his family has to kill him. And that's going to be awful for everyone.

Hmm, wonder if there'll be CRYING in Whitechapel after all...?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T09:01:22-07:00

I'm worried what Arkady'll do if she finds out.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T09:21:47-07:00

@rootfireember - Agreed. While KK is certainly capable of the emotional outbursts, and Kait is a bit of a loose cannon with a gun, I think 'Kady--for all her introspection and intelligence--might have an outburst that will have some pretty dire consequences.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T09:45:47-07:00

Happy Trash Can lid...
Wonderful lovely art...

Thanks to all for fabulousness (bit late for the show, I spent yesterday lounging under cats and taking a rug out of my apartment. very wonderful, very necessary). It's getting on to summer but the weather hasn't got the memo yet.

Also - creepy creepy to see the girl with no working eyes in her sockets - temporary, yes, but deeply disturbing also. well imaged.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T12:42:16-07:00

I have caught up from the beginning in the past few days, and instantly loved Alice - I have a soft spot for Manchester girls, it would seem - and I've been skeeved off by Luke pretty much since his first scene. Needless to say, to see Alice give him a face full of bin lid was mighty satisfying. The shit's hit the fan, now, we just have to wait a week to see where the splatter lands.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T12:47:55-07:00

BINFACE!!!!!

now this is an idea..... how about lady said to Luke, "hey can you fuck me whilst messing with my mind?" maybe she wasn't comatose maybe she was seeing the sex as colours? or from his perspective? they have a boatload of powers and they aren't all mindwipey. she might just be a groupie who wanted a full Freakangel allybang experience.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T12:51:18-07:00

We need a girl cosplaying as Alice, carrying around a trashcan lid now.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T12:59:18-07:00

@ Alastair - except ... the general population doesn't know about the powers and all. Alice is an Honorary FreakAngel, on account of being messed with by Mark. (She also is the only one without the hard-K sound in her name.)

Somehow, I doubt this girl knew what she was doing. It'll be interesting to see what SHE does when she 'wakes up', pants around her ankles, with no memory of how she got there.

I too worry about Arkady's reaction to this. Also, Jack and Sirkka are ready to dump Luke. Kirk, Karl and KK, especially, will not be impressed. Miki will just shake her head. And Kait ... Kait'll just shoot him. The correct response, ya ask me.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T13:06:52-07:00

@Alastair - I have a feeling this will be Luke's excuse. "She totally wanted it, and it was totally consensual" even though, given Luke's track record up til now, it probably wasn't.

@roo - I will DEFINITELY be avoiding the blondes in ManU jerseys at cons now. Not because I'm a rapist fuckhead, but because I just don't want to get whacked in the face when I don't expect it.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T13:10:29-07:00

@mister hex, true the general populace doesn't know but he seems pissd off enough to start blowing cover. maybe he brags to the ladies and most tell him to fuck off cause... well he's a lying untrustworthy prick but you're in a new town, this guy pulls you aside and says, "i can make you see stars" he's charming and seems a little dangerous so she says "go for it" i dunno. this just seems like a little too obvious and i'm expecting the rug to be pulled out with a "fuck you! you assuming little shit!"

i think he's raping her i really do! BINFACE made me cheer, but i also don't trust warren.... or paul.... or most of you

kidding! i kid!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T14:44:01-07:00

@Root
I was going to cosplay with my boyfriend as KK and Spider for the next con, but maybe we can go as Alice and Luke instead (that way my boyfriend won't have to shave his head, and I won't have to get a team of brutes to hold him down while I marker up his body with tattoos ;)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T14:51:13-07:00

@diello

See I've been considering cosplaying as Spider from the first issue of Transmet. Mostly so I don't have to shave my hair off. I've yet to work out the tattoo issue though.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T15:20:01-07:00

I think Luke needs to be castrated. But honestly that was funny, I mean it's the last thing I expected. I thought maybe a dead body hanging upside down and knocking on the wall from the wind or the White Chapel Ripper trying to lure them. It's also funny that as mentioned before about the two playing "In-0ut game" and having Luke and a poor girl playing their version of the "in-out game" too.
Actually I'm kind of surprised that none of the other guys (as far as we know) don't use their telepathic influence on girls to, especially since there's no internet (if you know what I'm getting at), but then again they're seen as guardians amongst the people so the hero complex works to get them girls too I guess.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T17:10:42-07:00

they're seen as guardians amongst the people so the hero complex works to get them girls too I guess.

Along with boys as well, I'd imagine.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T20:08:13-07:00

@Ken Keisel Did you mean you're surprised the other guys aren't rapists? See, the thing that Luke is doing is controlling someone's mind and taking away her ability to withhold or give consent. This means that "using telepathic influence" is rape. While the other Freakangels are all sorta crazy, and some are self-absorbed and trigger-happy, there are only two who are actively evil bastards: Luke and Mark.

Also, unspoiler because a bunch of folks brought it up, but the girl in the last panel isn't consenting or fulfilling a fetish. There's a scene where you can see Luke taking her over, and Sirkka picks it up. She tries to sick Kait on him, but that's when Kati found the Ripper victim. So, the theory of "oh, it's a fetish" isn't working in this instance.

Which doesn't meant that Sirkka can't likely to wonderful things to a sex-addled brain. But it does mean that Luke has been granted superpowers and seems to think the best use of them is raping and victimizing women who are already traumatized, starving and broken. *sigh* Not surprising, but can episode 59 just be many, many panels of Luke being beaten and tortured in various ways? Maybe can he cry?
Please?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T20:12:06-07:00

@Ken, Also, I thought it was hilarious, too, until I got a good look at that close up of her face. Sneaky, sneaky bastards writing this comic, killing the funny with horror.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-13T21:23:10-07:00

This highlights a perspective on Alice, as well. Recall that when she first arrive in FA 2 she's in the street and ranting in fury about how she's going to kill the Freakangels, but she doesn't actually shoot Conner when he shows himself. Also, when she first awakes after KK's "canteen bombing," she holds a knife to Conner's throat before Sirkka and KK cleanse her of Mark's programming. Both times she spent a lot of time talking instead of action, probably because even then she was subconsciously fighting Mark's programming. However, in this case Alice doesn't really speak except to acknowledge Caz's observation of the mind-controlled girl. She just grabs the lid and WHAANNG! I think when Alice is really focused on something, she doesn't really bother with a lot of works. As I recall, she was the same way in Volume II when she got the rope and went to relieve Kirk so he could participate in hunting the Freakangels' attackers.

A silent, determined Alice bodes ill for Luke's continued well-being.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T06:42:27-07:00

I think that the sheer visualisation of "Some young blonde being f*cked by a freakangel" Hit a chord with Alice. Having been recently used as a tool by Mark, I think some good visceral "Actual physical target to smack out at" was a good indicator to her swift action. It was the closest she'd get to twatting mark... for a while maybe.

Now, because I love a challenge.. Lets see how Luke's not a raping bastard..

Does Luke put her "on pause" the moment the door opens? In which case, he'd have saved her some major embarrassment..
Well, I mean, She's still been seen bent over a bin taking it like an alleycat, but she wouldn't KNOW she's been seen..
I like the idea of her coming to luke's defence, and to explain all.. mere moments after his castration.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T09:28:12-07:00

It looks like rape, probably is rape, and if so should be dealt with via some form of brain frying. At the least.

But maybe he's just filling her head with some kind of ecstatic sex visions? Maybe Sirka's stable look exactly the same when she's training them to wank in public? Speaking of which, doesn't there seem to be a conveniently high number of sexual submissives in Whitechapel?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T09:51:56-07:00

On the "pause button" theory - I'm fairly certain there was a previous episode in which Luke was leading said girl into the alley - Either his or her eyes were glowing, which suggests the use of his power beforehand.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T10:09:34-07:00

It's Luke doing the Push on her, as seen in previous eps. It's him being a rapist cunt.

I think he's pushed it to far this time. It won't be arkady giving him the frighteners this time round. /speculation

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T10:27:28-07:00

We don't know that Arkady isn't the only one that actually has the capacity to deal with him alone, remember when it was pointed out that he pretty much views everyone else as insects? I think that maybe included the other FA. I can't see this being a one sided showdown, it doesn't make for good drama.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T13:10:04-07:00

Another great episode with lots of implications to chew over. Sometimes I tie my brain in knots second-guessing the story, but for me that's the fun of a well written, well characterized story.

And the question this episode has me asking was not 'Is it rape', but 'How smart is Luke?'

The previous stories have established his character as one of those highly intellectual instigators who comes up with the pogrom but leaves it for others to follow through on.

So is Luke really that arrogant and out of touch, or does he indeed have a plan? Arkady didn't notice he was doing this and if he was deliberately screening from her he should have been a lot more upset at getting caught by a fellow FA. But then again, Luke's a fairly sloppy thinker when it comes to his 'inferiors'. So, just as a theory:

It's not an uncommon tactic of those building a power base to use sexual favours to accrue followers. Could Luke have been using his mind-rape to supply sex-toys to normals he felt he could use?

This comes to mind mostly because of #57's brief psyche profile on the murdered guy, he seems pretty much the henchmen type and somebody really didn't like him a lot.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T17:42:41-07:00

(Side note: I just got caught up a half-hour ago. This is fantastic, I'm currently hunting down hardcover editions. Well done Warren and Paul.)

Luke is a very puzzling creature. He's getting smacked around constantly, the best moment in my opinion being the bin-lid to the face we just saw (bwah ha ha), but back somewhere in book 2 he said that he could take Jack's pistol apart the moment he applied pressure to the trigger. Why can't he see that Alice is coming at him with malicious intent and a metal lid to bash his face with?

I make it a habit to explain away potential plot holes with characterization, so I think this is another example of Luke's arrogance that the rest of you have touched on...he's so wrapped up in asking Caz for privacy in the most snobbish manner possible that by the time he notices "oh hey lid in mah face" it's already crushed his nose. Anybody else have thoughts?

Also, I didn't want to use the term "plot hole" because it sounds nasty and accusatory but I don't know an equivalent phrase.

EDIT: I believe @Tanuki and I are thinking along roughly similar lines. At least, parallel ones. He can't be that stupid...can he?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T17:45:54-07:00

Not only is he still running his gob at that point, and not only does he perhaps mouth off at Jack without good cause (why take him at his word?), but also obviously he wouldn't expect a lower animal like Alice to dare hit him with a bin lid.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-14T20:54:21-07:00

@ warrenellis

Can the Freakangels "screen" and also use other powers at the same time, sort of like using a sound supressor with a firearm? I'm thinking no, but I also recall that Kaitlyn seemed to put up a screen right before partially animated the slashed corpse.

Along with Luke being an asshat, it also occurred to me that he couldn't take the bin lid apart because his psionic "hands" were full if were screening and mind-controlling (which takes more energy) at the same time.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-15T09:05:49-07:00

Alice also chose a good weapon in the bin lid - i.e. a big single hunk of metal. A gun on the other hand is complex and *can* be taken to pieces.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-15T13:38:12-07:00

Maybe the girl wanted to have some one else at the reins. It's not like their powers are a secret. She is basically interacting with a god. Or better yet what if every normal human goes glassy eyed while having sex with a freakangel and this is the first time we've seen it.

I mean the only way that this theory could have no merit if people NEVER like being in some ones thrall while getting it on.

You play with fire you're going to get burned. I am actually going to go out and say that if God gave a select group of humans the power of controlling the thoughts of others then moral judgements would be significantly altered. I wouldn't hold those people to the same ethics/standards as every one else since ethics/standards come from practicality, not complete ideals/morals.

One man with the power to mind control people could and would dominate the gene pool, as shown in The Filth. All Luke would have to do is walk away into the sunset and have his freedom out among the wild things.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-15T14:12:05-07:00

@Graizur luke is not even capable of feeding himself in whitechapel, ostensibly the most stable post-crash community. he's introduced, pantsless, sleeping in a doorway and bitches on multiple occasions about needing something to eat. a superiority complex such as his rarely develops from actual superiority.

also, let's not forget, he practically admitted to nudging the mortar into the FreakCave while screening the hostiles from the other 'Angels. Luke is out. if he's not destroyed, he becomes Mark's ally, if they're not already in cahoots.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-15T22:33:03-07:00

It's not like their powers are a secret.

Yes, it is. It's very much like their powers a secret. See?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T00:01:12-07:00

My money's on Luke being both a psychopath and a sex predator. The coming showdown should be pretty interesting.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T00:53:04-07:00

Here's a few things about Luke that, to me, screams bloody rapist:

First of all, look at the girl's face. She's not being given images. She's gone. There's currently nothing there.
As others have mentioned, she was seen to be put under the influence earlier on, or it was alluded to.
I've read the entire comic since I joined the forum on friday, and I cannot remember a single instance where Luke seems to show any indication of depth beyond "worst kind of bastard".
No, she's not likely to know about his powers. Even beyond the embedded page, there's one later where they straight out say that Alice is the only one who knows about them, and it's often alluded to as well.

My bet is that he'll end up getting himself a taste of Freakangel justice as they decide not to let him leave like Mark did, or he WILL leave like Mark did and perhaps even join up with him to come back later for revenge. I have a strong suspicion that he'll have a go at Kirk at some point, judging from their first appearance together which seemed highly portentous.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T01:08:17-07:00

@everyone yeah just looked back, shes gone.... but i'm still cautious, i don't trust warren

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T01:40:56-07:00

Look - Luke's being a total dick. Even if he wasn't a waste of meat space, Luke isn't productive or helpful. But let's say it's part of Mark's master plan to alienate the others against Luke as to take over his body when he gets brain fried.

So I say give the bastard a tinfoil coffin and the ladies he has raped blunt sticks. ...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T02:57:44-07:00

I'm looking forward to the day when the others start to revolt. Some will realise that the Freakangels are in charge and they won't understand why, not knowing about their powers. Even if they did know about their powers, at that moment it won't matter anymore. They will start to question their authority and impose their own views on how the new society should be run. There are so many issues that the Freakangels will have to agree upon and I don't get the impression that they'll run it like a democracy - they seem almost arrogant that they know the best for everyone else and will decide amongst themselves. This will make the Freakangels reassess their position and perhaps question themselves as to why they decided upon certain things. Hopefully a great debate will ensue. Hoorah!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T03:19:50-07:00

@UrbanAngel I think you're right. There are enough indications just in the way Alice speaks to them (the pulley rope system and the energy cells, for example) that there are definitely things the FAs haven't thought of and that those things could easily end up being points of contention for the people of Whitechapel. Now, we have the dead guy who's being hidden from the public and Luke raping some girl, and the shit is about to hit the fan.

There's bound to be a revolt at some point, and I think the third part will culminate in a major threat from the inside.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T06:02:59-07:00

Luke's a bastard. Yep.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T07:05:40-07:00

Again: To do that, he wouldn't have to completely obliterate her mind. Look at her!
Honestly, it's like saying "Oh, she was begging for it!"

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T08:14:56-07:00

And consider that he may be doing all this while her leg is still injured, and she technically needs the crutch.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T08:31:58-07:00

@ Paul Duffield

You know that was one thing that's been bugging me - where's her crutch? I kept looking for it but never saw it drawn in.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-16T08:38:55-07:00

You know that was one thing that's been bugging me - where's her crutch? I kept looking for it but never saw it drawn in.

On the ground.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T11:07:59-07:00

Just to ensure our prompt delivery of FREAKANGELS this week ...

Warren, your truck is in the mail.
Paul, I'm having yours flown in.
Does Big Bill Christensen drink Red Bull? This is starting to run into money ...

EDIT TO ADD - THIS TRUCK IS FOR ARIANA.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T12:34:14-07:00

Looking at the expression on that poor girl's face, it's obvious: she's completely in cuckcoo land. I doubt she even knows where she is, or what's going on. The way in which her mouth is hanging open suggests a kind of unconciousness. Given that Paul is so meticulous with the way in which he draws things, and that I'm sure he would have paid particular attention to the expression on her face in this dramatic moment, I think it's pretty hard to ignore the signs that Luke is having her without consent. She's seems to me to be be in the mental state of a coma victim, or someone who is asleep. Either that, or worse, conscious but mentally taken over like a puppet.

Either way, it doesn't take a genius to see that Luke is being a particularly bad boy today. And I don't see why he needs to resort to mind-rape anyway. He's a handsome looking guy. I wish I was half as good looking as him (apart from the split lip) :P

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T14:43:19-07:00

I dunno, Dee... I wouldn't normally go for a guy with a bin lid in his face... Granted, I don't normally go for guys PERIOD, but I'm liable to! He resorted to mind-rape after his previous relationship went tits-up. When he started mind-bending his ex, he said something along the lines of "Why didn't I do this before?!" and I think that's where he got the "idea", though he was already a dickhead of immense proportions.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T15:51:58-07:00

Yeah, that's an in-out game, all right.*

That would have been the perfect place for a Captain America "WANK!" sound effect. I now officially loves me some Alice.

* That page made me twelve, and it was wonderful. No apologies.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T19:12:05-07:00

All I have to say is....if we end up with a skip week then I might have to do something crazy, like abandon the interwebs. I mean it guys, don't think that I won't.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T20:40:25-07:00

Actually was so busy I forgot Freakangels last Friday. Wow. I shouldn't be so easily stunned - the filp from silly-but-grim conversation to skin-crawly rape scene still startled.

Looking forward to the couple of episodes I'll have when I get back from my trip. Maybe I will start waiting for the trades...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T20:48:09-07:00

just being a devil's advocate because sometimes things are not always as they seem.

are we sure it's Luke that is controlling her? Is it possible that another Freakangel is trying to frame him? Maybe Mark is still alive and looking for an ally?

just total and complete speculation on my part

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-17T22:02:34-07:00

@ warrenellis

Makes sense. It was just wierd that after its introduction we never see the crutch again. However, looking at subsequent pictures of the girl and Luke, the angles are such that we wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

@ LBA and other "rape-skeptics"

As to LBA's theory, why can't Luke sense the massive level of control suddenly being placed on the girl he's having sex with? Caz clearly sensed it once she saw her. Heck, even Alice was able to deduce what was happening upon viewing the girl's demeanor. It would take a massive effort involving surveillance, split-second timing of the control and the ability to screen out other Freakangels. Plus the ability to do all of this all at the same time. It seems unlikely, to say the least.

As for the "the girl was into it" arguments, what's the payoff? Warren's the storyteller, remember, so what's the payoff in that particular story? Presumably the idea is that while Alice is beating the shit out of Luke, Caz awakens the girl who protests Alice beating up her "new boyfriend." So, Alice and Caz are embarrassed, while Luke and the new "new girl" are pissed at Alice. Or worse, Alice actually kills Luke and then we learn that she's killed an "innocent" Freakangel. So, Alice feels bad, but the others, helped by Caz, come to the conclusion that it was basically an accident due to circumstances and life moves on.

The first track sounds like something from some asshat sitcom. The second from some asshat Lifetime movie. Hell, the second one is even worse because it involves the death of a Freakangel. Such a thing should be momentous and moving, not fodder for some cheap tension.

Aside from all that, both tracks violate what was set up to be a theme in the book at the end of the last volume - that of "growing all the way up." Part of growing all the way up is holding people accountable for their actions. Even when those people are family.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T00:34:48-07:00

of course there are about 10'000 other possibilities than just those 2

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T06:38:05-07:00

of course there are about 10'000 other possibilities than just those 2

There are indeed. But aside from the pretty obvious context that Luke is, in fact, mind-raping the girl, I can't think of any other possibilities that make sense. Or at least pass the "Well, Jesus, that's just stupid." test. You know, where you read something, turn it over in your mind and finally say "Well, Jesus, that's just stupid." I've had many reactions to Warren's work. Joy, Anger, Sadness, Excitement. But I've never read something of his and thought it was stupid. And I don't expect to now.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T06:47:25-07:00

I think we're all going to be surprised at what happens.

And I can't believe anyone DIDN'T think that was rape.

Why didn't Caz do anything? That question is still bugging me.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T06:53:34-07:00

Just re-read it. Caz makes a face as she sees what he's up to. Alice makes a face too but whereas Caz's is kind of "oh, dear", Alice's expression is PURE HATRED.

Caz says "Alice ..."
Alice says "I can fookin' see ..."
Luke says (and this is the important bit) "I realize, Caz, you may have forgotten what this is but I'd like my privacy back now."

And then bin-lid.

Caz was going to say something else. WHY DIDN'T SHE DO ANYTHING?!

*whew* Well, we'll find out tomorrow.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T15:40:23-07:00

If it doesn't turn out to be Luke using the Push on her as a mid/body rape I'll eat my trilby, sans condiments.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T20:06:38-07:00

Caz didn't do anything because Luke was prepared to fight her. He addressed her directly, and let her know he was spoiling for a brain-fight, but he was too arrogant to realize that Alice posed a threat. Caz and Alice, either consciously or instinctively, immediately recognized this -- Caz was going to tell Alice to act, but Alice was already in action.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T20:26:50-07:00

Caz didn't do anything because Luke was prepared to fight her. He addressed her directly, and let her know he was spoiling for a brain-fight, but he was too arrogant to realize that Alice posed a threat. Caz and Alice, either consciously or instinctively, immediately recognized this -- Caz was going to tell Alice to act, but Alice was already in action.

I have to disagree with much of that. I think Caz sensed Alice's anger and was warning her to stay back since Luke would have no problem hurting or killing her. Caz wanted Alice to stay back out of the way so Caz would be able to protect her from Luke. However, it's quite likely that Alice isn't the one who needs protection...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T20:34:59-07:00

@ Jonathan - Quite very much possible.

So. KK shags boys from Lambeth Road. Jack loves Sirkka who shags anything. Connor has a crush on Alice. (You KNOW he does!) Luke is a rapist. Kirk is celibate BY CHOICE. (Or Karl. I always get them mixed up. The one up the tower. The one growing strawberries probably doesn't have a girlfriend, either. But he could get one, if he wanted.) Kait is probably also celibate, as her one-woman war-on-crime leaves no time for a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Or whatever. It's a distraction. (You wanna fuck? Are you Quincy? Then Fuck OFF.) Miki, I'm sure, would love nothing more than to curl up with a good book and a nice boy but there's work to do, so no dice. Arkady's got better things on her mind than sex. (Like teleporting! And Chikkenz!)

And Luke is a rapist.

Why doesn't Caz remember what sex is?

You all realize : this is Warren Ellis we're talking about. We could all be monumentally disappointed with Caz by this time tomorrow. What if he's got something on Caz? (Luke, I mean. Not Warren.) Maybe she looks the other way at his ... indiscretions. (Again, Luke's indiscretions. Not Warren's.) Maybe she'll cover it up for him. (Luke, not Warren.) In return for him honoring their "deal."

Then again, maybe not. Can't wait for tomorrow.

EDIT to fix one typo and to fix syntax.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T21:36:07-07:00

Huh. Well, something has to prevent an orderly trial followed by firm yet rational justice -- surely that won't happen. Luke might well have something on Caz, but it would have to be an Ozymandias-level secret to get Alice to play along. I hate to think about Caz threatening Alice and forcing her to shut up, but I guess it's more likely than an orderly trial.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T21:45:18-07:00

@Mister Hex let's hope this doesn't mark the start of a cascade of whitechapel slash fiction.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T21:45:22-07:00

I can't think of anything that would make Alice keep quiet except for Caz and Luke actually altering her memory by force. Which would probably be noticed by Sirkka.

Actually, their is a pretty obvious secret that they're all keeping from Alice - that the 'angels were the ones who wrecked the world. Recall that when he ran into Kirk, Luke threatened to out them all.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T22:24:42-07:00

Scant hours away now.

@ johnjones - Yes. Sirkka's been monitoring Luke since the mortar attack. Wait'll she talks to Arkady. (Does Sirkka LIKE Arkady? Do they get along?)

Gonna be something comin' down the pipes soon.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-18T23:20:42-07:00

Hey, Tanuki, let's face it, none of the Freaks exactly scream heterosexuality. Jack of the Fishnets? Methinks the sailor doth protest too much.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-19T01:19:37-07:00

I've been a silent fan for about a month (I've read everything up to Ep50 in one day). That bit with Alice and Caz passing the door had me guessing. Alice's face - I totally thought she was going to kill someone, or die trying. Loved the lid-2-face smash

Luke needs proper handling. I say cover him in honey, generously roll him about on a pile of candy, let it sit for a bit to stick, then chuck him into a withering mass of sugar-deprived ants.

I hope Sirkka and Arkady have a field day with this ^-^

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-20T17:45:49-07:00

Mildly off topic.
@ Hex "And then bin-lid"...it makes me chuckle to think of a bin lid being used as a verb. A part of me hopes this lid becomes a trend.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-21T23:24:40-07:00

Not to dredge it all up again, but I can't help myself, I'm a child. I've been gone on vacation for nine days (and good lord does it suck trying to catch up on these forums after a break), so I only just now get to tell you all, I got an HILARIOUS e-mail from that fellow Eoullis that Warren jettisoned a while back for (among other things) calling me a "juicy douche". Apparently, I am to beg on his behalf, because I was clearly in the wrong, having personally attacked him for simply expressing an opinion, and that the actions I took against him were "very similar to witch-hunting, bible thumping, self righteous nazism."

Word is born. If this guy's actually following through with his claim that he's going to continually e-mail Ellis, Ariana et al, until he gets "justice", then I am truly sorry for setting off the crazybomb.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0058

2009-06-22T05:28:35-07:00

Jesus Christ. Ellis and Ariana will eat him for a minor snack.