After months of hype and even a message board set up in preparation of the event, Warren Ellis + Paul Duffield’s webcomic FREAKANGELS is now live.

The premise is simple:

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. The first panel shows a flooded London — ironically, Ellis was writing this as much of Britian WAS being flooded last summer — and goes from there: psychic communication, helicopters powered by steam, and unremembered, regretted sex. It’s an interesting setup in only six pages.

A weekly strip, this should prove interesting. Ellis knows the format, no stranger to webcomics himself (to wit, his story with Colleen Doran on the old Artbomb site, Superidol, as well as his occassional single-paneller EDISON HATE FUTURE). Duffield’s art has a Chris Bachalo quality to it which hints that the steampunk-esque trappings promised in the strip will be very visually appealing.

One to watch and read in the coming weeks for certain.