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Freakangels: We haven't heard a lot from the other Whitechapel residents.

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  1.  (6469.1)
    We haven't heard a lot from the other Whitechapel residents.

    I'd love for there to be a way of explaining this other than "the rest of the residents are drones", but this is the way the author seems to have written them. I'm a new fan who's just read through the series, but I don't recall any real conversations with ordinary humans (sans Alice) since the earliest episodes. Well, none that ended on a friendly note, anyways. Even when they took the starving scavengers in, it was more or less a demand, no discussion involved (not like there could have been any discussion, most of those people seemed pretty far gone)

    Probably just an over-site in the storytelling; its easy to get wrapped up in the main plot line and forget the random character interaction that adds to the spice of life in a story.

    In a real world situation, even if the people of Whitechapel had come to terms with the freak angels and accepted them, its highly unlikely they would all just roll over and smile at every idea their purple-eyed superiors came up with. Where is the institutional structure to govern a populace that size? How do they trade? Who makes them get up, put on orange jump suites and walk around doing... something... presumably useful? These structures of a world don't need to be explained in detail, but referring to them or using them as plot tools are what makes a story more believable.

    Also, the freak angels can't hide their purple eyes, but they've kept their powers hidden from the general populace? :/ Kind of weird how these purple-eyed people just seem to run everything, and how all the citizens just defer to them automatically. I guess you could explain that it whitecastle had some weird religion where the "purple ones" took a sort or priestly or demi-god kind of role, but from what we've seen from the characters thus far, I can't believe they'd assume such a role without most of them dissolving into a puddle of guilt.

    The story just has potential and its been a fun read, but it feels like this new world hasn't been very well thought through.
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      CommentAuthorAriana
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009 edited
     (6469.2)
    Funny thing: The story seems to be titled "FREAKANGELS" -- not "Tales of the Other Whitechapel Residents."

    I mean, sure, I get what you're saying, but I think you might also have skimmed over some points in the story -- I specifically recommend you revisit the Market scene early in chapter one, KK and Caz's discussion of where they got their Tea Wine, lines here and there where each of them have mentioned the townsfolk...
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      CommentAuthorSlick
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.3)
    This comic is called Freakangels, I think the one you're looking for is called The Adventures of Those Other People Who Live In Whitchapel With The Freakangels. You could try googling it.
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      CommentAuthorSlick
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.4)
    Too slow
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      CommentAuthorAriana
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.5)
    Too slow
    And too mean! Heh. I can see how if you just read through in one marathon go, you might forget every other Whitechapeler we've seen, except Janine and the latest girl -- since we're right in the middle of one of those stories.
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      CommentAuthortexture
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.6)
    I'd also point out the timescale - very little time has elapsed really, but a lot of action has taken place. So it's perhaps unsurprising we haven't come across too many minor characters yet, or at least not in such a way as to make them other than a mass of people...

    where is the institutional structure to govern a populace that size?


    Quite a lot of the plot so far has been about infrastructure - social (security, abuse of power) and economic (use of resources, division of labour)... for me, the background society of FreakAngels feels very real. We're only just beginning to scratch the surface, true - but that appeals to me as a reader. It's why I read comics - all comics, whether online or on paper. I like to see a complex, engaging world emerge piece by piece, over time. I look forward to meeting some more Whitechapel residents, but if that takes five years or five episodes, I'm coming along for the ride.
  7.  (6469.7)
    Probably just an over-site in the storytelling; its easy to get wrapped up in the main plot line and forget the random character interaction that adds to the spice of life in a story.

    I can almost 100% guarantee you that it's not. It's far more likely that they're simply not integral to the narrative that Warren wants to tell. Why would he waste pages on characters that won't move the current story along in any meaningful fashion?

    It's not like this the character roster is particularly small, there are plenty of Freakangels and he's focusing on their story. Maybe someday he'll do something on other characters but it would be fluff and out of place in the current story arc.

    It's certainly not an oversight, it's likely a conscious decision and quite frankly a good one. All writers should be taking a scalpel to their work and cutting anything unnecessary out.
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      CommentAuthorruzkin
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.8)
    As much as I love Freakangels with all of my body, I have to agree with Rayne. I remember the Transmet issues that really brought the world to life were those where Spider stepped outside his circle of politics and went out to talk to all the new scum hanging around the streets, and took the time to absorb their stories.

    That being said, Transmet starred six really major characters, while FA is rocking eleven. And yes, the story has only been going for ten days, really - two days up until the mortar assault, and then a week since then. There's a LOT of time left to explore the lives of the other, non-FA empowered Whitechapelers. Be patient.
  9.  (6469.9)
    Heck, I thought we were the Whitechapel residents...
    • CommentAuthorFan
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.10)
    > I'd love for there to be a way of explaining this other than "the rest of the residents are drones"

    The amount we've seen of them is imo just the editing/focus of the story: it's not that they're drones, it's that they're not the subjects of the story.

    > In a real world situation, even if the people of Whitechapel had come to terms with the freak angels and accepted them, its highly unlikely they would all just roll over and smile at every idea their purple-eyed superiors came up with.

    I once thought that. But here:

    * The first two panels of http://www.freakangels.com/?p=99&page=2
    * The last panel of http://www.freakangels.com/?p=48&page=3
    * The last two panels of http://www.freakangels.com/?p=37&page=5
    * The last two panels of http://www.freakangels.com/?p=57&page=4
    * The last two panels of http://www.freakangels.com/?p=30&page=6

    I reckon that the FAs are a good thing for Whitechapel: and you count your blessings and don't argue with a good thing. Also, they're very low-maintenance.

    > Also, the freak angels can't hide their purple eyes, but they've kept their powers hidden from the general populace?

    No rational person ever suspects anyone of abnormal powers.
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      CommentAuthorMrSmite
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.11)
    It's been established now that the Freakangels came in as conquerors, bringing with them a degree of law, order and stability that hadn't been remotely present before. So in effect, the populace acquiescing to their new self-elected village council is believable, especially since the FA are largely benevolent.

    From a craftsmanship perspective, you can argue that the extras are largely window dressing and cardboard stands to further the story when necessary, but it's been fairly implicit that there's a story to be played out rather than just an environment and social experiment to explore. And given the strict limitations of the medium, as opposed to something like an hour-long television show where you can dedicate a 5-second spot for an extra to nod and follow someone's instruction. And this is with a comic where we get six pages per week when the average high-output webcomic does five.

    And if you've ever watched Lost, then you might have an idea of what happened when the suits at Disney asked the same questions as you, and how phenomenally brilliant and successful that situation turned out.
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      CommentAuthormister hex
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.12)
    Well, the residents can't possibly be drones because the First Law of the Freakangels is "You don't mess with their minds unless there's a gun to your head." So there's that. They kicked out Mark and killed him, one of the main plot-lines, perhaps THE main one, for transgressing this unwritten law. They even nailed his head to the floor (metaphorically) for it and look to be in the process of applying the same extreme sanction to Luke (you remember Luke? Rapist chap? Who in his very first pantless appearance was conducting a lecture about the nature of time in the dreams of Twelve (12) randomly-chosen local people.)

    There's a market, so people have jobs. People like to have jobs. Some people are dressed in rags (or like Luke, are pantless) so I imagine a nifty jumpsuit would be pretty high fashion.

    As to
    t feels like this new world hasn't been very well thought through.


    ...I respectfully disagree.
  13.  (6469.13)
    Luke is pantsless very much so by choice, hex. It makes his day easier.
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      CommentAuthordiello
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.14)
    Okay, so, the ONLY thing regarding the other residents that has been bugging the shit out of me since chapter 1... who the hell is NOAH? Sirkka mentioned that Conner hadn't been laid since Noah was a boy. And then Noah is never mentioned again. I'm a little curious about Janine's life since her finale with Luke, but I really want to know who the hell Noah is. Has it bugged anyone else?
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      CommentAuthorAriana
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009 edited
     (6469.15)
    who the hell is NOAH?
    Oh, honey, no. No I don't think so, no. NOAH as in the guy from the bible who built the ark. As in: it's been since before the great flood, right?

    (N.B. If Warren writes a Noah character into the very next episode, that doesn't mean I was wrong, it means he's that sort of bastard.)
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      CommentAuthordreujnk
    • CommentTimeJul 29th 2009
     (6469.16)
    I personally think that the reason we haven't heard much from the Whitechapel residents is that the main characters, for the most part, keep to themselves.
    They basically say it themselves.
    They don't want the people to rely on them. They never wanted to stay too long there, so why would they go out and get so involved with the community, especially if they don't want their powers being discovered.

    I mean of course they socialize in certain situations, but it seems really minimal, for a good reason.
    They don't want to be a part of the greater community, and they don't want to be found out.

    And then, they all seem to avoid copious interaction with the others chose, whether it be out of guilt, or just that they, as people who experienced the end of the world from an entirely different perspective than everyone else, feel isolated and somewhat disconnected from them, to chose professions that keep them somewhat away from the bulk of the residents of Whitechapel, as well as each other.

    Karl is always up in his garden, Kirk is up in the watchtower, KK and Connor for the most part keep to themselves. Sirkka has her harem/religion thing going on, but doesn't really seem to leave her home. Caz has her engineers, but it doesn't seem like she really associate with any of the other residents. Luke is kind of a vagabond, and Jack is on his boat. Arkady keeps to herself and does her mentalist thing. Miki is a doctor, and probably has the most interaction with others in that regard. Kait works as the sort of Secret Police, and thus again, would sort of keep to herself.
    • CommentAuthorFan
    • CommentTimeJul 30th 2009
     (6469.17)
    The FAs may be close to each other mentally (too close sometimes, to the point of wearing a tinfoil cap), even when they're physically distant from each other.

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