I'm freeeee... freefalling!

(From Freefall. Click on image to see full-sized image.)

Last Sunday I reviewed Schlock Mercenary, and commented that outside of a couple other comics, it was the oldest science fiction comic around. Soon after, a fan going by the handle "Freak" commented that Freefall was actually older than Schlock Mercenary, and Howard Tayler (who writes/draws SM) verified that Freefall was two years older.

So I decided to start reading Freefall, and allowed myself to be drawn into the archives. It's not the first time I've encountered Freefall; Websnark has on several occasions snarked this comic. I just never bothered to stick around for long. You see, I was going under a misconception from the panels I'd seen that Freefall was "just another furry comic."

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Freefall is a delightful and whimsical science fiction story following Florence Ambrose, an engineer who happens to be a Bowman's Wolf. Or in other words, she's an intelligent humanoid wolf, one of only 14 in existence. Further, she's an engineer, and also wants to put herself forward as professionally and intelligently as possible, so that her species as a whole will continue.

*chuckle* I say that and it doesn't sound so whimsical and delightful, does it. But trust me, it is. We have Sam, an alien con-artist who's captain of the ship Florence has been (through "clerical error" (ie, Sam bribing a clerk)) assigned to; Helix, Sam's robotic partner who is pure enthusiasm and also easily knocked apart; Winston, the local vet who helped save Florence's life during a hurricane and whom Florence is attracted to, and a cadre of secondary and minor characters to fill in the rest of this world.

While the story is somewhat slow-paced (I mean, the comic has lasted (on a MWF schedule) for seven years? and it's only taken a few weeks of time, if that), it is still rather interesting, whether following Florence and Winston on a "dinner date" she takes him on to thank him for saving her life, or Sam, Helix and Florence going into space to deploy satellites.

The comic does follow Sam and Helix, and I suppose you could consider Sam the other main character of the comic. He certainly appeared before Florence did (by a week or two). Despite that, I still consider the comic to be about Florence, rather than about her and Sam. The fact that she's working to secure the existence of her species and considers every day a test for her raises her importance tremendously. I don't see Sam as important for much more than comic relief (though that he provides in great detail).

That's not to say that Sam's the comedian and Florence is his straight woman. Whether she's killing a deer with a piece of road (so it's "road kill") or convincing the ship's computer not to kill Sam, she does have a sense of humor, and can use it quite well.

But if the comic was about Sam, it would be quaint and cute but wouldn't catch my attention. Florence caught my attention. And it wasn't the amount of teeth she can bare in a smile. *grin*

So I definitely recommend you read this one. The website design for archives is minimalist and the file sizes for each comic are fairly small, so it will load fairly quickly even for dial-up users. It's just what the veterinarian ordered. *wink*

Addendum: Florence's transfer was thanks to a "gift" by Sam to a clerk. Florence isn't aware of this, and personally I think the clerk did this to cause problems for Sam in the long run. Special nod to Freak who pointed out I forgot to mention Sam's involvement in the "clerical error." Whoops? Rob

Robert A. Howard
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June Site Review Index

Every month I plan on having a "monthly index" of reviews so people can easily find the reviews that most interest them. The comic titles are links to the comics themselves, and the dates lead to the specific comics themselves. Enjoy!

3x Grind	June 8, 2005	June 14, 2005	June 16, 2005	June 20, 2005	June 25, 2005
Alpha Shade	June 25, 2005
Anywhere But Here	June 3, 2005
Bad Blood	June 2, 2005
Candi	June 13, 2005
Clan of the Cat	June 18, 2005
College Roomies from Hell	June 8, 2005	June 19, 2005
Count Your Sheep	June 5, 2005
Darken	June 28, 2005
The Devil's Panties	June 7, 2005
El Goonish Shive	June 14, 2005
Errant Story	June 11, 2005
Flipside	June 27, 2005
Freefall	June 30, 2005
Friendly Hostility	June 29, 2005
General Protection Fault	June 16, 2005
Girl Genius	June 1, 2005	June 22, 2005
Gossamer Commons	June 3, 2005
Malakhim	June 12, 2005
Narbonic	June 6, 2005
No Stereotypes	June 24, 2005
Nukees	July 1, 2005
Order of the Stick	June 15, 2005
Ozy and Millie	June 10, 2005
Panel2Panel	June 17, 2005
Post Nuke Comic	June 4, 2005
Queen of Wands	June 4, 2005
Red String	June 17, 2005
Scary Go Round	June 9, 2005
Schlock Mercenary	June 26, 2005
The Longest Sojourn	June 10, 2005
Those Destined	June 6, 2005
TV Circuit	June 20, 2005