REVIEW: Friendo #3 takes aim at big box retailers with a heavy dose of grindhouse horror

Friendo #3 is out 12/19.

By Zack Quaintance — “You know decline is...it’s not linear.” This is the first line of Friendo #3—a comic about a near future in which late-model capitalism has been extrapolated to some terrifyingly-familiar places—and it may as well be a mission statement for this book’s ambitions. At least, that’s my take after three issues, and I appreciate this kind of tipping of the thematic hand. It enables the creators to focus on the story, almost like they’re saying, okay, you know what we’re up to now...but you have no idea how gruesome this world can get.

This world and by extension our own, really, seeing as Friendo takes place in a future so near it makes one wonder if some of the story’s technologies are currently in research and development, with ethical conversations (or, more likely, public relations conversations) taking place about whether this tech should be put into beta. So, that’s my 20,000-foot Friendo perspective.

This issue also gives readers a closer view of the story’s themes. In the first two issues, we largely saw our main character explored as a consumer, as a pawn in marketing schemes at first, later tapped and exploited for his (somewhat meager) buying power. This issue shifts the angle from which it explores over-blown capitalism by putting scrutiny on big box retailers and how they treat workers. In this comic, a Wal-Mart stand-in (named Cornutopia, which, awesome) gets the brunt of it, being directly implicated for the current state of the nation because 20 years ago it extinguished small business owners and is now embracing automation to boost profits even further.

Automation means layoffs. Layoffs mean rage. Everything spirals. The center cannot hold.

The dots are connected: the nation is in a place where individuals are being melted down (literally in one scene) until all that’s left is indebted buying power. It’s an obvious state of decline, the causes for which date back years, and how did it come about? Private companies went wild and unrestrained. Given a few trusting inches, they gobbled up miles, until one day we were all living in a disaster. How sure am of this message? Well, there’s even a scene in Friendo #3 that depicts the owners of Cornutopia literally murdering a representative of the IRS.

On the nose? Oh, like crazy. But this is an audacious comic. That brings me to the other layer of this book, the one that’s less symbolic and more of an entertaining romp laden with grindhouse visuals. The base pitch for this book is maybe that a man’s personal marketing bot comes to life and hi-jinx ensue. Well, not to spoil anything here but after some early events, that marketing bot is somewhat much worse for the wear, rendered in glory gory (so sorry for that word play) here by Martin Simmonds.

As I noted in my Friendo #1 review, the first few issues of this comic built a complex narrative foundation, one from which the creative team could have told a number of fascinating stories. After Friendo #2, I was fully on board with its exploration of the extremes of greed and indifference. Where is my head at following Friendo #3? Now, I’m starting to want the answers—what in the world is going to happen next?    

Overall: Oh, the horror. Friendo continues to look at what happens when corporate control and capitalism runs rampant over society and individuals, doing so in this issue by taking a searing look at big box retailers like Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, an entertaining grindhouse plotline is unfolding, like a guide leading us through a field of complex ideas. 9.0/10

Friendo #3
Writer:
Alex Paknadel
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Taylor Esposito

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

Top Comics to Buy for December 19, 2018

By Zack Quaintance — December is a weird month for comics, given the disruption to shipping schedules and reading habits created by the holidays. This year, we saw publishers front load the first couple of Wednesdays to get more product onto shelves that are surely going to be browsed by a higher frequency of holiday shoppers.

And with Christmas on a Tuesday this year, the subsequent Wednesday has Diamond (comics lone distributor) giving its staff a week off. As a result, no publisher is releasing very many titles on the final Wednesday of the month. Ack! For the normal comics reader, this is all fairly dry discussion of what goes on behind the scenes. And who really cares about that?! All of us, but we shouldn’t, right? What we should really care about is the comics!

So, without further adieu, let’s get to this week’s releases!

Top Comics to Buy for December 19, 2018

*PICK OF THE WEEK*

Livewire #1
Writer:
Vita Ayala
Artist: Raul Allen
Colorist: Patricia Martin
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: Valiant Comics
Price: $3.99
ALL-NEW ONGOING SERIES! FOR THE FIRST TIME, LIVEWIRE TAKES CENTER STAGE!
Accomplice. Mentor. Savior. And now, Enemy of the State. Seeking to protect other vulnerable super-powered psiots like herself, Livewire plunged the United States into a nationwide blackout with her technopathic abilities, causing untold devastation. After choosing the few over the many, she must now outrun the government she served - and those she once called allies. With the whole world hunting her, what kind of hero will Livewire be...or will she be one at all?
Why It’s Cool: Livewire is easily one of the best Valiant characters to have never gotten her own series...but that changes this week. The publisher has also found the perfect creative team for this book, pairing rising star writer Vita Ayala (who has another book on our list further down) with one of our favorite art duos, Raul Allen and Patricia Martin, of Wonder Woman and Secret Weapons fame. For more, check out our Livewire #1 advanced review.

Captain America #6
Writer:
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu
Inker: Gerry Alanguilan
Colorist: Sunny Cho
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
"WINTER IN AMERICA" CONCLUDES...
...with a shocking turn of events that will send the Star-Spangled Avenger's life into a sudden dramatic tailspin you won't see coming!
Why It’s Cool: This first Captain America story arc from Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Francis Yu has been fantastic, a slow burn that alternates big ideas about what America stands for (both past and present) with espionage and action sequences. Coates has done his best comic book writing to date within the first five issues of this series, and we’re excited to see what the end of this first arc brings, especially with the preview text promising dramatic surprises (although, doesn’t it always?).

Cover #4
Writer:
Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Mack
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Max is not having the best year of his career. Sales on his comics series are tanking, and his personal life is crumbling. Could it have something to do with his double life as a spy? Max learns the definition of "in too deep" as his worlds start to collide.
Why It’s Cool: This book is one of the best creator-owned titles in comics right now. We’ve written about it quite a bit in the past, but there’s just never been a look at what it feels like to be creator quite like this one. There’s also something really effective being done with tone here, via the way the aesthetic of the artwork switches depending on what’s happening. When a certain character comes into the protagonist’s life, for example, that character is met with an explosion of color; conversely, when the character flashes back to times in his life he maybe doesn’t remember so well, the figures take on an entirely different (and simpler) shape. Basically, every page of this comic is an utter treat, and we continue to strongly recommend it.

Friendo #3
Writer:
Alex Paknadel
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
It's time to request a clean-up on aisle seven as Leo and Jerry's attempt to rob a hypermarket goes stomach-churningly wrong. Luckily, a mysterious corporate benefactor is on hand to help them with a new mission and an offer they can't refuse. Meanwhile, the owner of the hypermarket chain is in no mood to put up with Leo and Jerry's antics. Enter 'Zaj c the Cremator', a brutal assassin with a predilection for bunny ear headbands. Leo and Jerry's lives are about to become a whole lot more complicated.
Why It’s Cool: Friendo is a series loaded with bleak near-future ideas...and it just might be one of the most prescient looks at the coming (or maybe ongoing?) fall of America as a major global power. This issue also takes a turn into new genre territory, although it’s certainly been foreshadowed in previous issues. In Friendo #3, though, there’s an added layer of dread-inducing aesthetics. Prepare yourself, because this is one intense and provocative ride, one that may hit pretty close to home for the vast majority of American consumers—er, I mean readers. (Read reviews of Friendo #1 & Friendo #2).  

Submerged #4
Writer:
Vita Ayala
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Colorist: Stelladia
Letterer: Rachel Deering
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Bound by chains of her making, Ellie sits in judgement before her most dangerous adversary. In order to break free and escape the Otherworld with Angel, she must dig deep within herself and use a weapon that has the power to destroy them all. Every secret of the Puente family will rise to the surface in the final issue of Submerged!
Why It’s Cool: Submerged has been a wonderful deep dive (sorry) into two separate thematic interests: family history and cultural mythology. In Submerged #3, the creative team did a fantastic job of upping each in almost equal measure. The end result has been one of the best-paced graphic stories we’ve read all year. We fully expect more of the same from Submerged #4.

Thor #8
Writer:
Jason Aaron
Artist: Mike Del Mundo
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
THE PRISON OF ANGELS!
After waging war in Hel, Thor finds himself a prisoner of the fearsome warriors of Heven. Can even the intervention of Valkyrie and Thor's deadly sister Angela help him escape the unescapable prison of angels?
Why It’s Cool: Every once in a while it’s important to take a step back and be grateful for the long-running books we sometimes have a tendency to take for granted. This week, we’re doing that with Thor #8. Jason Aaron’s Thor is currently the most impressive long-form run happening in all of superhero comics, and it’s not even close, really. There just isn’t another run that’s been this good for this long happening at DC or Marvel. This issue continues the march toward the War of the Realms storyline, which by all indications is going to be the finale for Aaron’s epic work on this character. Don’t miss it!

Top New #1 Comics

  • Defenders: Best Defense #1

  • Freedom Fighters #1

  • Hardcore #1

  • Klaus and the Crying Snowman #1

  • Witcher: Of Flesh and Flame #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • A Walk Through Hell #6

  • Amazing Spider-Man #12

  • American Carnage #2

  • Aquaman #43

  • Batman #61

  • Black Badge #5

  • Catwoman #6

  • Deep Roots #5

  • Extermination #5

  • Gideon Falls #9

  • Infinity Wars #6

  • Killmonger #2

  • Long Lost Book 2 #5

  • Middlewest #2

  • The Punisher #5

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase. He also writes comics and is currently working hard to complete one.