Whitechapel - FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:08:49-07:00

It's Friday, and we're back with Episode 63: In which we learn Kirk's aim is off from expected by about eight-to-ten inches up or down.

Good morning, everyone. How are we all, today? I am... decidedly not dead. Yes. You?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

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

I do not even want to think about the last week. I'm merely glad it's over and will shortly collapse into blissful unconciousness.

Excellent! Luke is still with us and Kirk is respecting the rule (such as it is) of FreakAngels Law and not taking things into his own hands. Nice way to keep Luke's powers 'otherwise occupied' too.

As for the second shot, was it to maintain Luke's state of distraction or just because he was pissing Kirk off? And was that a cock-shot, or merely in the upper thigh (it's a bit hard to tell).

Looking forwards to the trial!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:15:09-07:00

This is what I've been looking forward to. Luke's not stupid. (And the skip week bullet WAS in canon and will make an awesome splash in the trade.)

Last panel was pure awesome.

I am a fine, fine human being. Oh so fine.

Thank you, Ariana. And uh, everybody else.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:17:44-07:00

In his penis!? Did Kirk just shoot him in the penis? Bloody hell, that's not cricket.

I was sure this episode would involve someone getting killed rather than just temporarily maimed. Wow, I'm loving FA more than ever. The trial should be amazing, although I'm sure Kait's Whitechapel killer is likely to strike again in the meantime.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:26:37-07:00

Yeah, my money on a great coup-de-théâtre before the end of the trial, and not a sorry excuse for a deus ex machina, that's for sure.

Ouch, last bullet must have hurt.

Hey Ariana, glad you're not dead because wede need you and your skills! Cheers!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:29:06-07:00

Great episode well worth the wait, I’m starting to wonder how much physical punishment can a FA take? I’m sure we will find out one day.

Great week for me, birthday on Tuesday, finally got a colorist for my project, finally making some headway with the pitch and best of all my eldest Son Jamie learnt to say “Love you daddy” I know I know gay but I was well chuffed.

I will stop with the soppy stuff now promise

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:42:56-07:00

I don't really comment at all, but I have to say that that was just fucking awesome. Just how many bullets does he have left? I mean, can we look forward to "AAAAAAJESUSCHRISTSTOPSHOOTINGMEAAAAADAMMITFUCKYOUFUCKYOUAAAAAAOWOWOWOWOWWHEREDIDYOUGETTHATOTHERCLIPOHFUCKAAA..."?

I have to leave for work in twenty minutes. It is there where I will decide if I am dead or not.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:46:37-07:00

Oh man oh man oh man this is genius, genius.

Okay, here's Jack in 61:
"KK did her nut, said the girl had a right to her experiences and you can't just hide them away.
"And Sirkka said: what experiences? I've made it so it never physically happened."

And here's Luke in 63:
"And in fact, Sirkka proves that we can live richly and not hurt ordinary people at all."

Luke is correct, of course. I don't think you can agree with Sirkka that the experience is totally gone and therefore immaterial, and also disagree with Luke's assertion that he has not caused his rape victim any harm.

Now the goal becomes to find the holes in the reasoning of Luke and Sirkka, or to accept that there are none. Morality becomes shit when you separate actions from consequences.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T04:48:43-07:00

Heh, seeing someone being shot in the leg shouldn't be that funny! Looking forward to Freakangels Night Court, particularly Luke's thoughts on Sirka. I've got quite a few questions about that lilttle harem of hers that I'd like to see answered.

I am good thanks, because it is Friday, and I'm on a training day at work. All being well, I'll be in a pub by six, enjoying a pint of victory.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:01:54-07:00

Luke showing himself up as the master-race scum he is. I hope that was a cock-shot.

the art was as good as ever. Particularly enjoyed the sly grin on his face as he cracked the 'you haven't got a leg to stand on' gag.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:03:41-07:00

Luke is correct, of course. I don't think you can agree with Sirkka that the experience is totally gone and therefore immaterial, and also disagree with Luke's assertion that he has not caused his rape victim any harm.

That's... an interesting take on the situation. One response would be to ask Luke if Kirk has harmed him. If the wound is completely healed, was there harm? Luke would probably say yes. And yet, the situation is different. Not only is all physical evidence of the victim's rape gone, so is the mental/spiritual evidence. For the girl, it really is like the rape never happened. Except that it did happen and evidence does exist. It exists in the minds of Alice and the other Freakangels, who won't be able to help treating the girl differently because of the rape. Really, the only way to fully eliminate the rape would be to remove all memory of it from Alice, Luke and everyone involved. I think that Luke is going to "get away" with this, and I think that Sirkka is going to be the reason why.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:18:10-07:00

I hurt too much to be dead, therefore I must be alive. I'm so glad it's Friday.

But I do feel better after reading that! Hee hee! Kirk's my favorite this week!

I do hope there's plenty of puncturing of Luke's arguments at the trial. They're as full of holes as he is right now. And I keep wondering what Miki's going to say/do. She's the only one we haven't seen since Caz and Alice found Luke. I'm sure she'll have a very strong opinion. Though I really have no idea what it'll be.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:20:10-07:00

It's an interesting moral issue, but overall I don't think the ability to remove psychical and mental trauma WITHOUT CONSENT should be exercised. And as you suggest JJ, this may well be the get out for Luke

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:31:57-07:00

I hardly ever comment on anything anywhere, so that should tell you something.

It's Friday and I don't have to work, so there.

This episode made me say "I fucking love this goddamn comic."
I was furiously dismayed by the last skip week, but this week fully made up for it.
RAWR!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:34:36-07:00

Warren Ellis: Doing Andrea Dworkin Proud.

Paul the steaming blood, brilliant. This whole episode was a nice cold cup of coffee in the AM.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:45:39-07:00

"One response would be to ask Luke if Kirk has harmed him. If the wound is completely healed, was there harm? Luke would probably say yes."
Ooh! Ooh! Well, there *was* harm done to Luke, because if he hadn't been spending his time healing himself, he might have been able to kick Kirk's mental derriere and escape. The harm done is time lost, which applies equally to Luke's victim. Perhaps the consequences of her lost fifteen minutes are not so dramatic as "escaping arrest," but they are *her* minutes and they were stolen by Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:46:17-07:00

I'm sure he just shot Luke in the other thigh.

I HOPE it was the other thigh...

Okay, so when Luck talks about the ability to "destroy entire countries and possibly even the world with the power of our thoughts" is he talking about each by themselves, or as a group?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:48:17-07:00

Not dead either. Just remembered a time when I was really depressed and it seemed like everybody was looking through me and trying to walk through me like I wasn't there, and for a good fifteen minutes I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe I was dead and a ghost and people literally couldn't see me. Better now though.

My first thought about Luke's line that "Sirkka proves that we can live richly and not hurt ordinary people at all" was about her harem - only then did the mind-wipe thing register. His master race complex is indeed showing - but presumably he'll argue that the others' attempts to use their power for the good of the "ordinary" people of Whitechapel who can't look after themselves is "white man's burden" paternalism (and how clever of Warren to make its strongest advocates Miki and Caz, who aren't white).

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:59:27-07:00

This was fucking awesome - i don't know whether it was the skip week splash, the art or the words*, but this week has been one of my favourites!

*fuck it - it was all of it!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T05:59:41-07:00

I'd like to echo orwells_eyes praise for Paul's bloodwork. Truly excellent - almost photorealistic at points. And the backgrounds and colouring too - WOAH. The little bit of graffiti on the wall next to Luke ('I WANT TO DIE') to the Metal Hurlant / Moebius textures in the mildewed wall... and Paul's linework - reminiscent in a really hallucinatory way of many half-remembered and much-beloved 80s cartoons, but with a dreamlike Manga sheen... this comic looks absolutely beautiful in every way, and keeps getting better and better.

Warren - unflinching as always. Every moment of violence earned. Win.

My week? Serving pints to the drunken citizens of Leith, and listening to Plague Language. Finally named my new netlabel project too - look out for BLACK LANTERN MUSIC soon, with lots of free music. Which is nice. (And no, its nowt to do with Blackest Night! *sigh* )

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T06:11:10-07:00

I fucking LOVE Freakangels.

I haven't posted in forever but today I just have to. This arc has been amazing, and this week was awesome. The artwork is great as ever, with the steaming blood. I just loved seeing Karl shoot Luke like the scum he is, let him justify himself, then shoot him again.

My opinion: what Luke and Mark did, and what Sirkka does, have NOTHING in common. Sirkka has in no way used her powers to hurt anyone, and has in fact helped them when she could. Whereas Mark and Luke use their powers for rape and slavery.

Using Sirkka's action as a defense may be a legal technicality, but that's all it is. One of the advantages of a post-apocalyptic world is you don't have to put up with bullshit legal technicalities. Just shoot him and be done with it.

This comic rocks.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T06:20:15-07:00

"My opinion: what Luke and Mark did, and what Sirkka does, have NOTHING in common. Sirkka has in no way used her powers to hurt anyone, and has in fact helped them when she could. Whereas Mark and Luke use their powers for rape and slavery."
But what Sirkka and Luke did are functionally equivalent in that there is no effect of their actions in the body or memory of the other party. Luke hasn't really "hurt" anyone because, as Sirkka said, she made it so it never happened. I think you have to look elsewhere to find the problem, and I'm not sure Sirkka's actions are defensible.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T06:27:57-07:00

Dammit Warren, here I come looking for simple action, violence and a good story and you give me... well you give me that and also deeply troubling, thought provoking questions about morality, power and social constructs.

and the artwork is outstanding as always.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T06:52:41-07:00

Dis-App-OINTedd. EDIT: But, well, in a good way.

Apart from that, I am tired, dangerously caffeinated and harbouring a terrible urge to sadistically injure Information Technology Personnel. Beginning to understand that this is the default state for all office jobs. Otherwise, doublplusgoodfine; head full of ideas, quivering to get them down on paper.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T06:53:07-07:00

I will have to ring you back about being dead or not...

But yes, FreakAngels, incredible.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T07:03:28-07:00

impresive oh yes
after last weeks agrevating skip(i had to re-read my transmet collection to get me through)i logged in with hope in my heart and was not dissapointed,am looking forward to the trial next week oh yes

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T07:04:12-07:00

I knew it... and the thick plottens..

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T07:14:44-07:00

Very nice.

Glad that Like will be around to annoy us some more. Look forward to the Night Court

This week, exceedingly tired as we've had a builder in all week. On the plus side we now have hot water in our house after 8 weeks. And by tonight we will have heating.

This weekend I build a kitchen

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T07:33:52-07:00

I like. Thank you, Warren!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T07:43:46-07:00

I am disappointed. I feel it would have been much better had Kirk just splattered Luke's brain across the wall. More viceral, and somehow more in keeping with Krik's no bullshit manner.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T08:00:11-07:00

Lovely lettering, Ariana, as usual!
And good job for the boys, too.

I can't wait for the trial. What will Luke say in his defense? Who will agree that if what Luke did was wrong, then so was what Sirkka did? I am so riddled with possible outcomes in my head that I can't even explain a single one.

But I am glad Luke didn't get killed right then and there.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T08:48:19-07:00

Regarding whether the rape "happened" or not - I think JohnJones

Except that it did happen and evidence does exist. It exists in the minds of Alice and the other Freakangels, who won't be able to help treating the girl differently because of the rape. Really, the only way to fully eliminate the rape would be to remove all memory of it from Alice, Luke and everyone involved.

said it just about perfectly.

There is always more than one victim of rape. It's ripping out the guts of the way society works and the way people relate to one another, and it harms society and human relationships as a whole. Put another way, if you rip a strand out of a tapestry, you damage the strand AND the tapestry. It's a crime against an ideal, not just a person. I don't seek to diminish the harm it does a rape victim, I'm just saying that there are shock waves from such an event. And even in a world where you can erase someone's memories, you still can't stop ripples by removing the stone from the lake after it's been dropped.

Whether the girl he violated remembers it or not (and I think the jury's still out on that one), the Freakangels + Alice will remember it, and they'll still be damaged (or at least affected) by it. They will still be the victims of Luke's actions.

I bring this up simply because I don't think Luke can get out of this one, and that's my reasoning for why he won't - because the people judging him are the only ones left who were harmed by his actions. I REALLY don't want to start up another rape debate, since that got a recent thread closed, and I'm not going after the people who are playing Devil's Advocate for Luke - usually I'm the one defending the un-defendable, so I get where you guys are coming from!

And, of course, THANK YOU to Mecha Warren-Paul-Ariana, for this issue, and all the others like it. Freakangels is always what gets me out of bed (on a Friday, at any rate...)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:05:18-07:00

I love the simple changes in Luke's expression in the last two close-ups; The brow unfurrowed, the lips slightly slackened just simply made the last page build up brilliant. That's the stuff that makes good comics. Thanks for the work, Paul.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:06:26-07:00

Great episode! loved the art and detailing as usual. I'm very glad to see that Luke didn't get killed. Me thinks what comes next might give us an interesting glimpse into the minds of the F-angels: how they interpret due process and such, who thinks he should die, who protests (if anyone does). We shall see. Whatever comes it's sure to be chock full of awesome goodiness.

If they do let him live but perhaps tinker with his noggin a bit, I wonder if he'll join Mark in his quest of fuckery.

Not dead...zombie-like is a more accurate label. A few cups o morning coffee should help a bit. Thanks.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:09:56-07:00

Sweet Internet Jesus, those are some good bullet holes. I can practically smell those panels.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:16:49-07:00

Hmmm. I am going to reserve my opinion on this weeks episode, and wait for next weeks episode.
I am ok. I have new pens.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:43:53-07:00

Well that was satisfying. Well, enough. My dad has a friend in the house much too early in the morning (9:20am) watching a train video. Loud. Ugh. Wrong.

My week has been ok. My sunburn from Saturday is not peeling, which is annoying but livable. The wonderful thing about not working is that I can hang out with my friends any damn time I please. My schedule is beautifully open. I got to hang out with one of my friends and the family she lives with last night - the kids are very adorable.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:51:43-07:00

Good issue.

This weeks been fine mostly. I've been cracking on with writing Moon Station 5, had my birthday, read books, and drank coffee.

I refuse to speculate on what's going to happen next week or in future weeks as I'm happy just watching and waiting.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T09:58:00-07:00

Yes, I'm alive - and I have a fast-growing addiction to playing X3 to prove it :P Sometime I may even leave the house again!

I'm so wonderfully impressed with the art this week (although I worshipped it already) - the light-shine on the blood, for example, was absolutely gorgeous, considering it's a messy bullet wound. While I'm disappointed that Luke's still alive (can't blame a girl for hoping, huh?) I'm glad he'll have to face up to what he's done.

Luke may even have wanted to be considered dead, now I think about it. He knows that Karl thought that Mark was dead - "I saw his body drop into the water; I felt his brain die." - when he actually isn't. If they all assumed Luke was dead he would have been free to do what he liked.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T10:02:19-07:00

Apparently I'm not the only one that can say that I'm glad he got shot in the dick.

God help us all.

Warren, Paul, and everyone else involved - Keep up the amazing work. Every Friday has become Christmas for me.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T10:04:12-07:00

You know, I was really looking forward to seeing Luke's brains splattered all over that wall, and I was more than a little disappointed when he got it in the leg. But all that vanished when Kirk shot him in the balls. Looking at it, it's WAY better than shooting him in the head, and I actually hope they let him live like that for a while. The only thing that concerns me is, if they let him live long term all they've done is given Mark more power to use during the inevitable showdown.

Another thing that the whole bullet in the leg scene makes me wonder...what's the ceiling on their abilities? Arkady can freakin teleport, and says they all can, but some of the others barely show any high level of talent on a regular basis. So, is the power something they need to use to build, sort of like building muscle? So far it seems that way. Luke seems to have an affinity for mental domination, but he tends to use that a lot. Sirkka has a fairly large range with her thoughts and abilities, which could be attributed to her love for Jack and the need to maintain contact with him when he's roaming. Arkady by far seems the most powerful, but is that because her mind is more simple and able to embrace what they all possess, or is it because she uses her power so much she's the equivalent of an Olympic athlete? Can't wait to find out!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T10:23:57-07:00

Love when writers do a cock shot to characters. There's just something satisfying about it.

And yes I am male. So I don't know what the hell is wrong with me...

This book has been fantastic, lots of suspense and action, with some weighty dialogue. Mmmm...My favorite cocktail of story telling.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T11:50:24-07:00

Nothing like seeing a rapist get shot in the cock to start my morning. Well, close enough to morning.

As for this week, been feeling oddly ill, but I got some things done and have other things to do.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T11:54:57-07:00

Morality becomes shit when you separate actions from consequences.

Agreed...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T12:16:43-07:00

He was NOT shot in the dick. The angle of the panel is a little confusing, but if you look close the bullet hole is clearly in the other thigh.

Sorry to disappoint.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T12:40:34-07:00

Thank you Arvandor.
I guess you're the one who tells 3-year-old nephews that Santa Claus doesn't exist.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T12:51:49-07:00

I also figure that he wasn't shot in the groin...it look a little lower. More like a warning than anything else. Though, of course, making a superpowered rapist into a eunuch could have some interesting consequences, assuming he'd be unable to regenerate the organ. And since we don't know the full extent of their abilities yet, that's entirely possible.

Actually, CAN Freakangels die? Karl said that he popped Mark in the head and "felt his brain die," but that obviously didn't happen. Or, if it did, apparently the FAs can regenerate after brain death. And that's friggin' scary. I'm sure this has been discussed in other threads, but this is my first post.

Something that nobody seems to have discussed yet is the relative fairness of Krik's actions. I know, Luke's a rapist and this is a post-apocalyptic semi-wasteland with no real rule of law. Except the FreakAngels. They're not elected, and their actions are fairly clandestine, but they run shit in Whitechapel. They appointed a policewoman. They have their own trials. And still, Kirk decides to take matters into his own hands and inflict punishment. The FAs do pretty much whatever they think is right at any given time, without any codified system beyond, it seems, a few things that they are themselves forbidden from doing. It's a scary, scary system, especially considering the recently revealed actions of Kait.

And RE: the Sirkka/Luke comparison...obviously their motives were different, and I do think that counts. And Sirkka, herself, has never intentionally harmed anyone (excluding that big ass gun that one time). But still, done without consent, it's a mental violation, and rape in and of itself, and in my opinion totally inexcusable. The FreakAngels are not gods. They are, outwardly at least, humans beings and obviously fallible. And yet these people who'd be just out of college in the regular world are deciding the lives, deaths, fates, and what's "good" and "bad" for an entire community. A community that they themselves, it seems, forced to become necessary.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T14:31:27-07:00

"It burns like fuckery!"

Hi, Ariana. Hope you are well and the Red Bull gods are keeping you happy.

It has been a long week. One more day until my day off but the Cranky-O-Meter is at full tilt now.
Anyway, I'm kinda worried b/c I don't think I'll be able to get NIN tickets for their L.A. shows. I guess they sold out in under a minute or something. Part of me wants to fly the fuck out to Chicago to catch them over there. Ha? Oh well, I guess I'll go see Dead Weather instead.

Now contemplating whether to attend Dr. Sketchy's this Sunday or not. hmm...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T14:36:44-07:00

@Chris G

Do it. I wanna see what you produce!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T15:25:17-07:00

@bettareckognize: It's nice to see someone mirroring my thoughts on Sirkka and her methods. I'm not sure how many people realize what she was really doing. Without the other FreakAngels to keep her grounded, I could easily see her starting up her own Holy Catholic Church.

I also wonder if more preventative measures could've been taken with Luke. Putting him on parole with Kait (which she would've enjoyed to no end) probably would've been more effective than Arkady's little brainspurt. Force him to become more integrated in some degree rather than letting him wallow in his own outcast life. I still can't help but feel like the FreakAngels are partially responsible for letting a rabid dog roam their town.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T15:53:09-07:00

@ MrSmite (pleased ta meetcha, I'm Mister Hex ... but you knew that.)

I still can't help but feel like the FreakAngels are partially responsible for letting a rabid dog roam their town.

I've thought that for awhile. Why is Luke? What's his job? It's been mentioned that "he was the most intellectual of us all" (by Connor, who's the Scribe) and that he's quite powerful (can't remember by whom, I can look it up) and in the intro the the cast at the beginning of Vol. 3 (can't remember the episode #), when we see "Miki - Doctor" and "Caz- Engineer", Luke is "Pariah/Utter Bastard."

Every clique defines itself by Who They Hate. The Freakangels are still very young, remember. And they don't seem to have a coherent plan about What To Do and they obviously never did. I don't think they meant to destroy the world, I think they just meant to Smash Things and ended up doing more damage than they thought they would. Hence, the guilt (all those people in Whitechapel never did anything to them but they all have to suffer because the Freakangels fucked shit up, yo.

Luke also seems to know Mark. I've long been convinced they were friends and that's why everybody hates Luke. Maybe Luke even taught Mark how to fuck with people's heads. (This obviously wasn't Luke's first rape, just the one he was caught in flagrante by other Freakangels and An Honorary one. Speaking of which, are there any other Honorary Freakangels? Reckon we'll find out eventually. Or not.) Most sex offenders offend many times before they're caught. And Luke could just reach inside his victim's minds and say "We had a lovely time. I read you some of my poetry." or "You fell asleep and I carried you to bed. I took your clothes off but I'm too much of a gentleman to look."

So Mark's a criminal and Luke's a criminal and Kait HATES criminals but ... ACTS like one (she's only a cop in the same way Miki is a doctor - self-appointed), KK shags boys from Lambeth Road (which I assume is their enemy? I know you Englander Swine can be depressing parochial when it comes to Whom You Hate) ... Kirk is now a vigilante ... they're just making it up as they go along.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T16:13:41-07:00

@Val - Heheh, knowing me I'll zone out and draw T-Rex vs UFO's instead of the lovely models. Nah, I'll try to focus.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T16:53:07-07:00

Luke - if he gets to survive this - has to shed his sense of superiority as it doesn't assist in the group's survival.

The angels themselves need to find out if they can bootstrap 'normal' folks up. Lovely dilemma.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T16:53:56-07:00

@mister hex: Since Kait has such an obsession with her 'job' I'd expect her to be more appreciative of rehabilitation. But I may be mistaken, since my view of effective police work doesn't come from cop shows.

Luke's other problem is that the rest of the FreakAngels don't see him as one of them, they just see the asshole they've known since they were kids, so he doesn't get the parental sympathy they give to the common folk, nor is he seen as any sort of asset to group because of his abilities. Luke is a solitary predator, and the other FreakAngels have in one form or other encouraged him to remain a solitary predator rather. Tell me Kirk isn't secretly pleased that Luke had enough rope to hang himself.

@chris g: somehow I got a mental image of Marc Bolan fighting UFOs.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T17:16:38-07:00

2 mrSmite - Kait loves Quincy. (So do I.) EVERY EPISODE of Quincy goes like this - he fights a Societal Ill, doe Due Diligence, Puts A Criminal In Jail(!) [One. One Criminal. There Are Many.] And then next week, it's on to Punk Rock or Alcoholism or Poisoned Marijuana or Whatever.

Kait realizes that Evil is Everywhere. Who knows WHAT Evil Dwells in the Hearts of Men?

She's not a cop. She's Batman. (Or the Shadow, the Spider, INSERT PULP HERO HERE.)

Of all the Freakangels, she's the one who'll go along with Kirk's vigilanteism.

Miki's GONNA BE PISSED, though.

EDIT TO ADD - He shot him in the OTHER leg. Not the cock. Too bad. There's always next week, though ...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T18:10:10-07:00

He should have shot Luke in the head and the heart, and be done with it already.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T18:48:31-07:00

Yay! Spiraltwist!

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T19:26:51-07:00

@MrSmite and @MrHex - I figure there are a number of reasons they've let Luke hang around, despite despising him. Firstly he's one of them. There are only twelve FreakAngels (as far as we and they know) in the entire world, and they all grew up together and went on the run together. Sure he's an arsehole but he's family, and people tend to cut family (even arseholes) more slack than they would friends or strangers (they might not like him, but as long as he keeps his head down they won't run him out of town).

The second likely reason is that until recently they've not caught him doing anything particularly bad. Invading people's dreams, using the push to make things a bit more convenient, fairly minor infringements. Look at Sirkka's reaction when she picks up on Luke using the push in Ep 50. It's more "He's up to it again, someone better have a word" than "Oh my god! Stop him!". They know he's a prick but until now they didn't realise just how far he's gone.

And finally he's arguably the most powerful of the lot of them. Controlling him enough to keep him imprisoned and put him on trial requires a group effort. Group effort doesn't seem to be something the FA's are very good at - unless someone's actually shooting at them. Up till now Luke hasn't sufficiently pissed off enough of them for them to go to the trouble of dealing with him.

@Nygaard - Harbouring a terrible urge to sadistically injure office workers is the default state for Information Technology Personnel, so I guess we're all even ;D

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-07-31T19:37:07-07:00

He should have shot Luke in the head and the heart, and be done with it already.

And then chopped him into itty bits and maybe burned them. And then nuked him from orbit.

Just to be sure.

Honestly, this is twice in one week Luke's been using his brain to mess with women to get what he wanted. I think twice in one week makes the case for "utter shithead" and working toward brain castration. Something serious needs to be done, morality of others' actions aside, what Luke is doing is wrong from pretty much any angle. Something needs to be coming down the pipe (I'm thinking in the form of an Arkady-powered meltdown), and they can deal with the other issues, like what Sirkka's been doing, after they deal with Luke being a raping, conniving fuck. The longer this drags out the more I hate him, and this is coming from someone who used to kinda feel sorry for the guy.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T05:55:13-07:00

Honestly, this is twice in one week Luke's been using his brain to mess with women to get what he wanted.

In the first case, revenge. But what was the motive for this instance (aside from the gratification)? I'm still thinking he wanted to get caught. (I mean, he certainly couldn't have believed he'd get away scott free after all the warnings. Not with the location being what it was. Arrogant, but not stupid.) Possible outcomes: A) Either one of the FA's would outright kill him (which is rather unlikely, family being family) which would force the others to reconcider their role in The New World. I'm pretty sure Luke knows what's happened with Mark, or at least of the attempt to kill him sub rosa. Luke doesn't like hypocrisy. B) Get a trial going and finally have the others' attention.

Short version: Good stuff, this. Brainfood.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T08:49:03-07:00

I imagine Luke will follow through with the argument that they're all already guilty of the worst crime imaginable; The world being in the state that it's currently in. They're all are guilty of that. Would executing them for revenge be justified? Luke is easy to single out because, well, he's an asshole. Are we all going to run towards the rush of revenge if the normals find out what they're guilty of? I doubt it.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T09:23:47-07:00

Luke's moral question is rather insidious. If you do something, but can make it so that it 'never happened', did it? Of course it did, but to the people involved, it didn't. And he can defy you to prove it. It is a truly evil argument. No physical or mental evidence.

If you shot someone, killed them and then had the power to not only bring them back to life in the same shape, but to wipe the memory of any and all (I guess with the exception of those with the package), can you be charged with murder? The person is still alive, in no worse condition than before.

Outside of religious/moralistic reasoning, which they truly do not seem to have, why not? They do think of themselves above the laws of man, only their own. Executing prisoners, torture, mind rape, and more I'm sure we could document if we look closely. The argument isn't if we agree (in our 'safe' world with food and shelter and police), the one I see is how can they act like that and then get moralistic? What is their moral compass? What is the moral code for a bunch of god like 20 somethings who destroyed the world half by accident half in anger in their late teens?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T12:36:30-07:00

Thank you, all!
Just got to it, and was made happy.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T16:35:27-07:00

Whatever happens at the FA trial by night, Luke will wipe the floor with the others arguments. He's just a great debator and persuasive in an argument. They'll find it difficult to accuse him with anything when he, like an Evil Atticus Finch, destroys their logic and manipulates their words.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T17:42:56-07:00

If Luke's definition of 'living richly' means having non-consensual sex with mind-enemaed zombie chicks, then what he wants is power and control and the ability to debase other people.

Eventually, he'll want to have that power over another Freakangel, or his plans will become larger and less manageable in another way.

It doesn't matter whether his abstract logic is sound - the circumstances of his capture suggest that the other Freakangels would be much safer had Kirk's aim been different. Next week, hopefully?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T18:03:30-07:00

Warren really writes the hell out of an interrogation scene.

And the artwork is note-perfect.

from what I've heard (and read), bullets are hot when they penetrate your flesh. A nice detail. Well done.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-01T19:58:42-07:00

If Luke's definition of 'living richly' means having non-consensual sex with mind-enemaed zombie chicks, then what he wants is power and control and the ability to debase other people.

Well, I don't know if he defines "living richly" that specifically, but I think power and control is secondary to indulgence and "respect." It's fairly obvious to me that Luke envies Sirkka's situation. It's also pretty obvious that Luke will draw attention to Sirkka's "harem" as related to his own conduct. Is it reasonable to believe that all the people in Sirkka's cult would be acting and living as they without her intervention? And what kind of intervention is worse, an isolated case of "Package-assisted sex" or the manipulation of dozens of people for the sake of "redefining the human relationship?"

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T02:36:43-07:00

@johnjones I don't think Luke explicitly defines 'living richly,' but I don't think power and control are at all secondary for him. Right when he gets into Janine's mind, he says "I should have done this years ago." The control is a means of getting whatever he wants out of people, and it's something he has no qualms about using. A different sort of person wouldn't want affection that isn't freely given - like Sirkka, unless there's a darker side to her that we haven't been shown yet. Always a possibility ;).

And what kind of intervention is worse, an isolated case of "Package-assisted sex" or the manipulation of dozens of people for the sake of "redefining the human relationship?"

I think there's a significant difference between mind-control and joining Sirkka's harem. While making people feel good does seem to be part of her package, not all the Whitechapel citizens are in her harem, and I get the sense that those who are choose to be. What Sirkka does has the potential to benefit all of its participants and seems to be voluntary, although who knows what could be revealed in later weeks...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T03:33:22-07:00

I don't imagine Sirkka would get any pleasure from using her powers to influence her relationship with the harem, and I get the impression all participants have chosen their level of involvement. However, I'd argue that regardless of whether she's using them, if she hasn't told her parters about her powers then she's withheld information that allows them to make an informed choice about their participation in the relationship. "Hey baby, I can control minds" doesn't strike me as something you can casually slip in to pillow talk. I'm not sure it's equivalent to Luke's actions, but I do think it undermines her moral authority to judge him.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T04:37:57-07:00

I think there's a significant difference between mind-control and joining Sirkka's harem. While making people feel good does seem to be part of her package, not all the Whitechapel citizens are in her harem, and I get the sense that those who are choose to be. What Sirkka does has the potential to benefit all of its participants and seems to be voluntary, although who knows what could be revealed in later weeks...

The key phrase there is "making people feel good." Making them. Sirkka doesn't have a problem with removing negative experiences from people. Do you really think she has a problem inducing positive experiences? Don't you think that during sex she uses her abilities to greatly enhance the pleasure people feel? And wouldn't something like that be addictive over time? And wouldn't a person "addicted to love" like that be willing to do anything to please the provider of that love?

Sirkka talks casually of "teaching the boys tricks" and "riding them like ponies" which doesn't exactly fit the mold of "do no harm." Now, fine, she's probably kidding. However, there is an argument to be made that Sirkka is effectively creating an army of "minions" just like Mark was. She's just using a more insidious method. Luke can't really prove his "innocence." However, he can make the argument that his behavior is really no worse than what Sirkka does and is, if anything, more "honest." And that if the 'angels are going to punish him, they'll have to punish her as well. It's only "fair."

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T05:32:36-07:00

Sirkka talks casually of "teaching the boys tricks" and "riding them like ponies" which doesn't exactly fit the mold of "do no harm." Now, fine, she's probably kidding.

I don't think she's kidding - it's been pretty heavily implied that she likes kinky sex, and there's a definate D/s vibe to her relationships. In that context, there's a good chance that her playmates wouldn't feel they were being harmed so much as having the time of their lives. Dunno whether they'd enjoy the experience quite as much if they knew she had powers, though.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T09:01:38-07:00

Wouldn't the other angels suss out Sirkka using her power over her harem? Therefore, it is most likely not happening. Comfort is insidious though.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T09:04:08-07:00

(hi all, just discovered FreakAngels on Wednesday and have since read the entire thing start to finish about three times. Loving every minute.)

I completely agree with the general take that Luke is a bastard and needs immediate dealing with (and am myself kind of disappointed that the second gunshot does appear to have been to his other thigh). But is anyone else wondering what might have happened had Kirk said something to the effect of "For godsake, HERE, take some damn bread, NOW fuck off" way back in Ep 9?

If he hadn't had to crawl back to Janine and get humiliatingly (and publicly, if anyone happened to have been passing by) rejected again, I wonder if the switch would have flipped in his head.

I am really looking forward to more of his backstory. I wonder how he wound up where -- and who -- he is.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T11:58:56-07:00

Beautifully tense interrogation scene, sharply written and exquisitely drawn as always - can't wait til next week to see what they do with Luke.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T13:19:21-07:00

This is a bit of a tangent, but the debate over Luke's use of mind control vs. Sirkka's rape care makes me think of surgery.

Most of us (hopefully) have grown up with the understanding that it is inappropriate for one person to deliberately stick a knife into another person. Bad manners, if you will. The most obvious exception to this rule is surgery: where the surgeon is not only allowed to stick a knife in a person, s/he is encouraged or even compelled to do so, given the circumstances.

It's my understanding (and I could be wrong), that most people who want to be surgeons aren't just looking for a legal way to justify their lifelong desire to stab people. Everyone knows it takes an incredible amount of education and training to become a doctor, but I imagine that it takes a great deal of effort for training surgeons to overcome the natural abhorrence to cutting into a human body. Even then, there's still an understanding and respect for this act, and more importantly, restraint: most surgeons don't just go around cutting people regardless of whether they're in an operating room or not.

Which brings me back to Luke and Sirkka. Sirkka's rape care seems more like surgery to me: she's undertaking an act that would be immoral in most circumstances, but arguably appropriate in a few. And Sirkka seems to be acting more like a surgeon: she doesn't just go around erasing everybody's unpleasant memories like a panhandler with a brain squeegee. Luke, on the other hand, acts like someone who just likes cutting people. I feel like he previously refrained from "cutting" not because his gut told him it was wrong, but because the FA "society" said it was wrong and he wanted to avoid discomfort. Once he thought there was just as much discomfort in obedience as disobedience, he felt free to indulge.

Which isn't to say that Luke couldn't become an effective mind surgeon. Some people join the army so they can kill legally, sociopaths excel in certain career fields, and there probably are surgeons who went into the field because they really don't have any problem cutting people, training or not. The question is, whether you want someone like that to be your doctor.

This is just me blathering on the internet, please don't kill me or reach for the arse eels.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T13:47:58-07:00

That's interesting. What if Luke doesn't get his bastadry reduced, but instead just pointed in a more useful direction? The black ops Freakangel doing the jobs too mean and downright sneaky for even the likes of Kait?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T15:16:21-07:00

@ergogrrl: When you started that analogy, I thought you were going to say "surgery is something done for our benefit, but it is still not acceptable to perform surgery on someone against their will."

...Which is where I would take that analogy.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T15:21:12-07:00

Look back at the beginning.

Sirkka's no saint helping victims. the Freakangels are not a happy family. And Luke only escapes a FA death sentence because Arkady saw the future and stopped him. Granted a week has past, but Warren did give us some serious foreshadowing to consider.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T15:29:03-07:00

> it is still not acceptable to perform surgery on someone against their will

There's no evidence at all that it's against their will (although most people are assuming that it's without informed consent).

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T15:54:46-07:00

@Curb:

An attractive young woman, especially one of the de facto ruling class, looking for willing sexual partners is only going to sleep alone when she wants to.

Honestly, ever BDSM, D/s event I've been to has at least a handful of women like Sirkka with little crowds of boys and girls flitting about, buying the drinks, soaking up the attention. No need for special powers beside good old human desire.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T16:03:00-07:00

IMO Luke's little master race spiel is enough to have the sub-nietzchian shit took out the back ad shot in the head anyway. Ironically enough his sort ARE the cockroaches of humanity and want sorting.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T22:55:57-07:00

@ergogrrl

Marvelous thinking.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-02T23:28:41-07:00

Anyone else take Luke's comment to also mean 'We can plunder and she can erase not only the memory, but the very physical act'?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T06:25:46-07:00

Luke totally derserved that second shot..

heh..
my week? utter chaos of stressful houseguests...then I go to a friends to get a break and he starts hitting on me...again..the last time he did that I stopped seeing him for about three years...you think he'd learn his lesson...god dammit. I did get some good news though. I found out a very good friend of mine is hosting Scarefest in Lexington this year, and Mr. Doug Bradley is going to be the guest star, WOOT! I love me some pinhead...;) Last year I went as a vendor but I don't have the merch to do it this year, so i'll actually be able to wander about and enjoy myself a little more.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T09:16:50-07:00

sheesh people, 5 pages of comments & no one has figured this out yet..

mark is in alice..because like we've just seen with luke, freakangels get better looking when we are supposed to start caring about them

this happened with alice & i refuse to believe this is just a general characteristic of the freakangels universe.

don't even get me started on the sandworms. :)

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T10:09:59-07:00

@Orwellseyes

Agreed, and like I said I don't think that Sirkka is using her powers to manipulate her boys and girls. As you say, why would she need to when good old fashioned desire works just fine? However, I still think it's pertinant that she could do so any time she wanted, and that they've been left in the dark about that fact.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T11:11:23-07:00

From the Department of Long Shots and Weird Cons:

I've been thinking about numbers. What if Luke manages to turn the trial into a question of whether or not the FA's have a moral authority to go ahead and take... let's say a more active role in things; be it in the form of performing emergency memorywork, going off to assisinate exiled FA's without knowledge from the others, etc.? Possible votes:

For: Jack, Kirk, Karl, Sirkka, Kait
Against: Miki, Caz, KK, Connor, Arkady

And Alice as the tiebreaker?

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T11:26:25-07:00

@taphead
I'm not sure Jack would go along with the "more active" agenda. The way I read his conversation with Alice, the whole idea of mucking about in other people's heads makes him uncomfortable, and he seems more desirous of removing himself from the discussion ("I like it on my boat") than in taking a stand, much less getting involved in an endeavor that would require that much interpersonal contact.

And I'd also gathered from Kirk's monologue back in ep 62 that everyone -- or at least almost everyone -- had been involved in "cleaning up" after Mark's Drone Army operation -- he talks about Miki convincing them they'd all had a 24-hour stomach flu to patch over the break in memory continuity. Although I suppose in that instance their primary goal was to keep their cover from being blown, the event does show that in certain circumstances, they've all been willing in the past to take the active role. And Arkady did a quiet but effective "patch job" on Janine, convincing her that she had simply fallen asleep on the couch and Luke had broken in.

And Karl, with his tin hat? Seems to me he'd be the least interested in using their collective mental powers of any of them.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T11:28:46-07:00

@taphead - interesting idea. However, Luke is obviously "for", although for his own reasons, and Alice is obviously against, so there's no real tiebreak. I think such a subject would be hotly debated, though, and I would definitely welcome some sort of 12 Angry Men scene. Though Luke's no Henry Fonda.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T11:32:16-07:00

@rickiep00h: I'm thinking Luke won't get a vote.

@SarahK

Good points, although Jack was the one to give Kirk the pistol and here the silencer is pretty noteworty. As for Karl, he was in on the assassination with Kirk.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-03T11:39:25-07:00

@taphead - I suppose I'm probably thinking of this too literally... I doubt there would be a straight-up vote. The discussion, if it is there, will be a good one, though. While everyone still considers Luke an absolute shit, his charisma and logic will probably get his foot in the door, so to speak.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T10:49:03-07:00

Sirkka could ride me like a pony. A dirty sweaty pony.

Two words for you: Survivors Guilt.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T11:11:02-07:00

@ Dee

...Ewwwwwww...

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T11:23:01-07:00

> I would definitely welcome some sort of 12 Angry Men scene ... Luke's charisma and logic will probably get his foot in the door

In 12 Angry Men it was one of the jurors, not the accused, who said "let's think about it."

In this case, that might be ... Kait: saying, "I am busy, and you all need to be less hysterical before we do this".

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T13:45:43-07:00

In 12 Angry Men it was one of the jurors, not the accused, who said "let's think about it."

Point. But, I was going from a stylistic angle more than a direct analogy. Regardless of being the accused or not, I think Luke could very well be persuasive enough logically argumentative enough to cast doubt on their place in their society, as well as their actions.

Also, I said "Luke's no Henry Fonda." I don't think his motivations would be nearly as pure as figuring out the "right" thing to do, so much as finding what they could get away with. Oh, and saving his own skin.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T14:04:36-07:00

> Point. But, I was going from a stylistic angle more than a direct analogy.

Yes: but it works better if somebody else will plead your case for you; after all, the last time he tried to plead, he got a bullet in the other thigh by way of reply.

Anyway, I thought it was a bit funny to see Kait (previously famous for "anyone who tries to hug me will be shot dead", and for the "lethal force on flightless birds" incident) telling the others not to be too extreme. But it was she (and previously Mikki) who pointed out that the last time they had agreed on anything they destroyed the world.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T15:44:51-07:00

I finally caught up with Freakangels... I love this (web)comic. Each episode reveals more about these fucked up people and their fucked up world.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T17:34:42-07:00

Luke's downward spiral is pretty prototypically sociopathic. Sociopaths are incredibly convincing for a while, very smooth, very charismatic, but once things start falling apart they crack at every possible seam.

Example: Ted Bundy, especially in the midst of his trial.

I think we've seen and will continue to see similar cracks, breaks, and furious face-shots (there's an incredibly famous one of Bundy) from Luke until they kill him, or he kills himself in some fantastic way. A sort of "I know where this is going, and I'm going to go out on my own terms and screw with you guys as much as I can" move. The only thing in the way of that right now is his whole "master race" ideology; too much ego to off himself until he knows it's coming.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-04T18:29:09-07:00

Was it Himmler who had the suicide tooth? Or a measure of cyanide secreted upon his uh, person? Rudolf Hess never thought that far in advance.

Goebbels shot himself and his family. Including the dog. (And not a moment too soon! The Russians were at the doorstep and the carpets were ruined!)

Rudolf HOESS, on the other hand, (former commandant of Auschwitz) was given a chance by the British to write his autobiography before they hanged him. (Guess what? It wasn't his fault.) Then they hanged him. I don't imagine anyone cheered but no one cried, either.

FREAKANGELS Episode 0063

2009-08-05T16:28:00-07:00

hahahahah last panel made my day.