I enjoyed the series overall, but this conclusion was a little disappointing-lots and lots of sitting around talking and then a sudden solution to everything. I probably shouldn't have read it right after reading the whiz-bang action-packed 11th volume of Fables, which was also a conclusion of sorts. A much better one, in my opinion.

I had given it 2 stars at first but bumped it up to 3 for the artwork, especially the panels when the kids were operating on full mojo. ( )

TW: Sexual assault

I'm not thrilled with how the series has handled Luke the Rapist. The series couldn't seem to decide on a tone for handling him. After finding him cavalierly raping a woman in an alley, Luke is chained up. His legs are injured, he manages to escape, and is shot. He survives the shot, coming back more powerful than ever and with advanced knowledge of the future. (He does not, however, come back with any regret, remorse, or even really awareness that what he's done was bad.) In many ways, Luke is thus rewarded for his crime. Characters react to his monstrousness by....calling him an asshole and drawing a dick on his face. Which comes off as "Oh, Luke, you raping rascal, you little wanker, you." I was getting whiplash from "This is the one crime we don't commit," to giggling over a Sharpied dick. Certainly there were several other means within the established events of the plot to have the same discovery. It ultimately feels like rape was included just to show how bad Luke was, but the story wasn't ready to support it.

The ending seemed very, very sudden. While I appreciate ending a series sooner rather than dragging it out to The Walking Dead-like proportions, there wasn't much time for the characters to develop or for the world-building to flesh out the situation more. Mark returns, back from the dead, with insidious plans that make up a brief B plot for Alice while Mark himself spends most of the book laying on the ground unconscious. The ending itself was vague and predictable. ( )

This collection concludes the FreakAngels series in what seems retrospectively to be the only possible way. Ellis writes what he has to, pretty entertainingly, and Duffield's art is in fine form. The adoptive FreakAngel steward Alice becomes absolutely key to the story, while the mutants themselves are sequestered in a basement areopagus.

The whole series is an excellent coming-of-age science fiction story for a mature readership.

A very satisfying conclusion to the Freakangels story, providing resolution, restitution, forgiveness and character growth. I intend to keep an eye out for both author and artist. ( )