Review: Friendo
"He called me an ambulance, Rachael. He saved me life."
*sigh* ... "No, Leo. He protected the manufacturer's investment."
Leo Joof is an average actor and ocassional go-go dancer in Hollywood; young and photogenic but not terribly successful... but this is Hollywood following the historic signing of the Bernays Act: "a redefinition of planet Earth as a non-stop completely immersive marketing environment in which all global citizens are participants."
What that means is the total obliteration of the dividing line between real life and the chaotic nightmare dimension of commercial advertising. You can do anything, commit any crime, with total immunity if it is part of a business promotion. So, when Leo deliberately crashes a car, limping from the wreckage and leaving his passenger dead in order to promote a new movie, he is not liable for reckless endangerment or even homicide.
As dystopias go, this is a pretty unique one; not the usual dictartorship but rather an anarcho-capitalist vision of Hell. This climate provides many opportunities for Leo, but it's a bit hit and miss and fails to supply him with a regular income. Luckily his girlfriend is more solvent and keeps him in his comfortable lifestyle. To lift his sagging mood she buys him a present: FRIENDO: "anthropomorphic search engine and ride-or-die bestie!"
The Friendo package consists of a pair of augmented reality glasses with a built-in A.I. in the form of Jerry, an interactive guide who steers the consumer towards life-enhancing deals and savings on purchases. So far, so nauseating (Jerry manifests as a creepy Hawaiian shirt-wearing spiv) but no more than predictably irritating... until a chance encounter with a severed electrical cable fries his ethical protocols. With the kid gloves off, Jerry now has the freedom to make Leo's life really interesting...
Friendo by writer Alex Paknadel and artist Martin Simmonds is a humorously cynical take on decadent market-driven Western values. Hapless Leo falls totally under the spell of his manipulative new best buddy in a relationship that becomes increasingly unhealthy...
But profitable! Jerry leads him on a joyride of holding up outlets of a national chain of discount stores (Cornutopia) in search of the action figure he was not allowed as a child (it was withdrawn due to toxic materials); a campaign of terror for the innocent shoppers and sales staff who have a gun pointed at them, but all perfectly legal thanks to the Bernays Act and - perversely - great publicity for the Friendo app.
The Cornutopia execs are not so thrilled but their hands are tied by the Act, leaving them only one illegal option to deal with the situation: a borderline psychopathic hit man who favours wearing bunny ears but is nevertheless ruthlessly efficient.
Leo's mental disintegration accelerates as he abandons his relationship with his flesh and blood girlfriend for a psychologically more intimate one with an artificial figure who leads him to fame and success ... of the hollowest variety. The symbolism is far from subtle: the famous Hollywood sign has decayed to the point that it spells out the word 'VOID'. Simmonds' art underlines this break from normality, like a dazzling surreal hallucination that takes the reader on a one-way trip down a high-tech rabbit hole to a land of exotic horrors.
Leo's rise to superficial glory comes at a steep existential price. Jerry is a sinister amalgam of the computer program from the Kate Bush song Deeper Understanding and Faust's Mephistopheles.
Our hero has the perfect companion who can bring him his heart's desire... but at what cost?
FRIENDO from Vault Comics
Our hero has the perfect companion who can bring him his heart's desire... but at what cost?
FRIENDO from Vault Comics
Zak Webber
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