Friendo is both intriguing and ingenious, the very definition of high concept as well as a razor-sharp satire of where our world might take us in just a few short years. Needing a bit of context after reading this book I did a google search for the word Friendo and discovered that there is an app called Friendo. You see the app works as a game to let you get to know and form stronger bonds with friends who you only know via the internet. This is quite interesting as the main character of this book Leo, a man who was raised without any technology is later thrust into the modern world at a very crucial age. Because of this upbringing Leo didn’t know that things he saw on tv and such were fake. If it looked real it was real! Fast forward to the present and Leo is completely broken and disillusioned. A sad man out for some sort of revenge on the world that is full of lies. And yet he is still being led, and possibly misled, by a malfunctioning hologram, Jerry, who is enabling Leo’s destructive behavior as he robs a well-known chain of stores.
There is so much packed into this story. This story is raking so many things over the coals here, consumerism, interdependence on technology, the addictive need for social media, Millennials, E celebrity, corporate shenanigans and so much more. This book is densely packed with social commentary and unlike a certain published it works here. Why is simple, the story is tailor-made for this sort of thing. It reminds me of some of the more biting works of Frank Miller and Alan Moore. The hologram Jerry literally has a bloody hole in its torso and is only half-formed in several panels. It seems that hologram has taken the name and likeness of a drug dealer Leo used to use frequently. This bespeaks of Leo’s own addiction to a fantasy as well as the emptiness he can never fill within himself as symbolized by the hole in Jerry. Jerry is like a failed Jiminy Cricket who will never be capable of helping Jerry become a better person.
Despite his best attempts at creating some anarchy as he records his daring robberies in real-time for the world to see, Leo fails to be the Tyler Durden he wants to be. He does little to disrupt the corporate system and is instead allowed to enact his revenge because it brings attention to the stores. Ironically this doesn’t increase sales, a savage take on a generation that has gotten used to getting what they want for free through internet piracy. I tell you this series is SCATHING! I imagine before it’s all over anything and everything that can be mocked will be.
ART
The art is very good, managing to be both clean and dirty at the same time. A lot of things feel grimy in each panel and yet they are rendered in pristine detail in a way that reminds me a bit of Geoff Darrow’s impressive work. The colors are often quite flat and I presume this to be on purpose because when the break out to add some detail to the line art you can’t help but notice.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you like South Park by way of Tarantino this is the book for you. It is pure black comedy and vicious parody all wrapped up into one. 5 out of 5!
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
NOV182083
REVIEW: FRIENDO 4
Writer:Alex Paknadel
Art:Martin Simmonds
Colors:Dee Cunniffe
Publisher: Vault Comics
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