Freefall (webcomic)
Freefall is a science fiction webcomic written and drawn by Mark Stanley since March 1998. The comic is about the eponymous alien Sam Starfall, a kind of squid in a space suit with an exoskeleton , his robot Helix and his engineer Florence Ambrose.
action
Sam Starfall, an immoral and opportunistic alien, wants to become a famous spaceship pilot. Although he got the spaceship "Savage Chicken" into his possession through dodgy deals, it is ripe for scrap and no longer suitable for space. Together with his robot companion Helix, he keeps afloat through theft and fraud. One day he gets the chance to wake Florence Ambrose prematurely from her cold sleep in order to hire her as a ship engineer. Florence is a Bowman's Wolf, a genetically modified life form from Ecosystems Unlimited. With their help it is actually possible to bring the spaceship into an airworthy condition.
Characters
Sam Starfall, comes from a water planet and accidentally got aboard a spaceship. He was transported to the planet Jean, which is in the early stages of terraforming and on which the plot of the comic takes place. Sam is an immoral, scavenging squid alien who lives in a spacesuit with an exoskeleton. He enthusiastically seizes every opportunity for theft or other illegal business.
Helix is Sam's robot companion and has about the mind of an elementary school child. On the one hand he sees Sam as his role model, on the other hand he also recognizes the difficulties they both get into again and again due to his criminal energy.
Florence Ambrose was created by Ecosystems Unlimited as one of only 14 specimens of the Bowman's Wolf genus. Strictly speaking, it is owned by an owner, but has a keen mind and a very righteous character. This brings her again and again into conflict with the nature and actions of her Captain Sam Starfall.
Creation and conception
The webcomic was initially created in the form of a black and white strip with 2 to 4 images and has been published since 2006 in a version colored by George Peterson. The first story arc describes the protagonist's desire to become a famous and wealthy spaceship captain. The second story arc mainly concerns Florence, who accidentally discovers that the robots on the planet have been equipped with the same neural network as they are. Similar to Florence, the robots have developed individual personality and awareness. The manufacturer Ecosystems Unlimited threatens to delete the higher functions of the robots with a virus program so that they can continue to be used as pure work machines in the future.
General topics are computer technology , artificial intelligence , religion , society, morality and scientific topics.
Publications
Since March 1998 the webcomic has been published three times a week on the website freefall.purrsia.com. There is no printed version of the comic, but Freefall is mirrored on several websites and with tangent128 it is also offered in a continuous mode so that it can be read more smoothly. The comic is also offered in a German translation on glasswings.com. The first chapter ended with comic strip number 2835. The second chapter of the story has been running since 2016.
reception
The webcomic won the 2001 Web Cartoonist's Choice Award in the Science Fiction category and the Prometheus Award in the 2017 Special Prize category. Freefall was recommended on the 2015 Adafruit Comic List.
Individual evidence
- ^ WCCA: 2001 Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards. In: awardsandwinners.com. Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards, 2001, accessed December 19, 2018 .
- ^ Libertarian Futurist Society: Prometheus Awards. In: www.lfs.org. Libertarian Futurist Society, 2017, accessed December 20, 2018 .
- ↑ Mike: Adafruit's comic reading list: Freefall by Mark Stanley #adafruitcomics. In: https://www.adafruit.com/ . Adafruit Blog, June 23, 2015, accessed December 19, 2018 .