It’s been a busy couple of weeks! Still trying to get back to something resembling a regular schedule.
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Webcomics Wednesday (Late again! Blame the day job!): Cyanide & Happiness
on August 18, 2011 at 5:56 pmPosted In: News
Cyanide & Happiness is gross, crude, vulgar, and shocking. The artists who collaborate on the strip make no attempt to communicate lofty ideals or give us insight into the human condition. There is no clever political satire here. Among the archive of C&H, you’ll find blunt jokes about every kind of sexual kink and fetish, murder, spousal abuse, pedophilia, abortion, suicide, and more. They cover all of the bodily fluids – blood, urine, feces, vomit, and semen all make appearances. At the base of all of this lies a foundation of gleeful misanthropy that is somehow both disturbing and endearing.
It’s because of this lack of boundaries that C&H is so successful. They’re not afraid to address any taboo, but unlike envelope pushing comedies like South Park, the writers of C&H don’t feel like they have to justify their shock humor by including moral lessons. I’m not going to say that what they’re doing is important – that would just be pretentious and pointless. C&H isn’t adding anything to philosophical or political discourse, but that’s fine; in fact, it’s better than fine – it’s perfect. There’s something intensely liberating about confronting taboos and finding humor in the most grotesque parts of human existence.
Maybe enjoying Cyanide & Happiness means I’m a sick person. Honestly, though, I don’t think that’s the case. Rather, I think acknowledging that I can find some humor in shocking and disgusting things reveals the deeper truth that we are all conflicted beings who are simultaneously drawn to the extremes of “sweetness and light” and “dark and macabre.” It’s an alarmingly existential realization – like Roquentin’s liberating but troubling revelation in Nausea (OK, now I am being pretentious!).
Already I’ve made the mistake of attempting to justify Cyanide & Happiness – I think it’s a natural inclination to want to explain why we’re attracted to things that our culture tells us are wrong, like rubberneckers slowing down to see the carnage of a car accident. In the end, whatever justification you concoct for reading C&H, don’t be ashamed if you find yourself laughing at something while simultaneously telling yourself, “I shouldn’t laugh – this isn’t funny!” It just means you’re human.
I’ve received word from several people that their drawings have arrived, so I’ve decided to upload the entire first batch of drawings here in one convenient gallery.
Along with the drawings, I sent each person a copy of “god loves you and so do i,” the first volume in what will hopefully be an ongoing series of collections of these drawings. There are a few drawings from this first batch that didn’t make it into “glyasdi” volume one, and I’ve begun work on a couple more drawings which will all be added to the second issue, but please spread the word about this if you’re willing or able! As more people become fans of ALL CAPS, I’ll send out more drawings, and those drawings will go into subsequent collections of “glyasdi,” which I will make available as I finish them.
Anyway, without further ado, here is the first collection of drawings:
“23 years ago, twelve strange children were born in England at exactly the same moment. 6 years ago, the world ended. This is the story of what happened next.”
So begins FreakAngels, a serial webcomic written by author, web culture guru, and general curmudgeon, Warren Ellis, and drawn by Paul Duffield, a relative newcomer to the comics scene. The final episode of FA was posted just this week, wrapping up over 800 pages of story spread out over almost 150 six-page episodes.
The story follows a group of psychic young adults in post-apocalyptic England as they attempt to survive, pick up the pieces, and understand who they are. While the story features a fair share of action, suspense, horror, steam punk, and supernatural intrigue, the focus of the story is the psychological development of the main characters. FreakAngels is something of a bildungsroman, and at the heart of the story is an intimate portrayal of what it means to recognize the mistakes you’ve made and correct them as best you can. 
There’s also some lovely mushy stuff about the power of the human spirit, and about friendship, family, and love in the face of oppression and bigotry. I’m reminded suddenly of the first time I read Ellis’ Transmetropolitan several years ago. Once you dig past the prickly surface of anger, violence, paranoia, etc., you find that there’s a very compassionate heart beating in the center of the story. FreakAngels is very similar in that regard.
The artwork in FA is polished to the point that it shines. Paul Duffield does great things with very fine line work, and every panel pops with detail. The colors are vibrant and crisp, and characters are expressive and beautifully rendered. In fact, 
you wouldn’t be completely off your rocker if you began to think that the ruins of post-apocalyptic Whitechapel is a very pretty place. That’s not to say that the artwork is always intentionally pretty – there’s also some pretty gruesome and unhappy things that you’ll see in FreakAngels, but it’s all drawn with care and a great amount of skill.
It should be noted that the pedigree of FA sets it apart from most other webcomics. Warren Ellis is an established name in the industry, and at this point in his career, he can do pretty much whatever the fuck he wants, including publishing a free webcomic. Ellis obviously is a skilled author and he also has a strong network and lots of resources to throw at this project, so this is a far cry from the majority of self-published, indie webcomics you’ll find out in the wilds of the interwebs. I don’t say that to disparage FreakAngels or Ellis or to say that other webcomics aren’t as good for lack of resources – far from it; however, it’s hard for me to critique FreakAngels using the same standards I would for other webcomics.
Considering the team behind FreakAngels and the resources that have gone into the comic, it wouldn’t be fair to expect anything less than excellence. That being said, if aside from the fact that FreakAngels is a comic and it’s published on the web, I don’t know if I consider it a “webcomic” – it’s really a fairly standard industrial comic series that Ellis has chosen to distribute online as well as in book form. If you don’t understand the distinction, that’s OK, but suffice it to say that I strongly recommend you give FreakAngels a read.
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If you are one of the few who “Liked” ALL CAPS on Facebook and have not yet received your drawing, your patience will soon be rewarded! All of the drawings in my possession have been delivered to the post office and should be winging their merry ways to their new owners. Along with those drawings, I’ve included a super secret special gift – something that I won’t reveal on the site until the current batch of drawings has been distributed.
The giveaway will be ongoing, so spread the word! Anyone who takes the time to Like ALL CAPS on Facebook will receive a one-of-a-kind drawing for their trouble.
Finally, I wanted to post another drawing that I gave out this weekend. Enjoy.
