Angels 2200 Review

(All pictures from Angels 2200 by Nathaniel Savoi and Peter Haynes. Click on the images to see them within the context of the website (or as close as I can get).)

Apparently "soon" means "in a few weeks." Sorry about that. A lot of things were happening and school took priority over my online activities, but I'm back now, and hopefully for a while.

I started reading Angels 2200 cause I saw it on a list, and I think the description said something about lesbians. (sometimes we do things for the basest reasons) However, while there are lesbian overtones in the strip (since pretty much every character in the strip is female), but that's a relatively small part of the comic.

I've been reading Angels 2200 for a long time, and I have considered dropping it a few times in the past, but a quick read through the archives always reminds me why I keep reading. Angels 2200 appeals to me on many different levels.

First, there's the ability to see the creator evolve. This is one of the main reasons I read webcomics, so I can see something that starts on one level and slowly grows to a much higher level. Angels does this, both with art and writing. It starts as a humor comic with a sort of a story, then turns into a story comic with some humor. The switch is done in such a way that it's not distracting.

The characters become much more fleshed out as well. At the beginning of the comic, it seemed that the only one of the main characters with any talent was Kid (a naive French girl). However, as the comic started to move along each of the characters has shown themselves to be competent in their own way, and each of them are learning to rely on their natural talents to make up for those areas in which they are weaker.

Hammer has proven to be a good leader and a great strategist. Although her plans aren't always orthodox, they are rather clever. She has been able to organize two efforts within her squad to cause mayhem on the ship and has succeeded in both missions. Later in the comic that translates to how she runs things on the field.

Loser, Bubblegum, and quiets have also both demonstrated latent talents in secondary abilities, so at the same time you see the writer grow you can see the characters grow as a team. They still have some kinky to work out, but they are a lot better than they were at the beginning.

The story moves rather slowly, giving the audience time to rest between events. Peter Haynes has also proven he's not afraid to kill a major character. Reading through the comics leading to the character's death was a particularly poignant experience.

I'm not sure what I feel about the story so far. The story is not the strongest part of the strip. The strongest part is the characters and how they interact. It's not a lackluster story by any means, I just don't feel like there's that much story in the strip.

Angels 2200 is worth reading, especially if you like the technical aspect of sci fi works. Personally, I'd give it a 7.