VeeFriends Issue 01 is the first standalone VeeFriends comic book release. Prior to this, VeeFriends comics appeared as newspaper inserts distributed across the United States, but there had been no traditional, purchasable comic book available to readers or collectors.
At a high level, the issue succeeds in tone, energy, and mythic intent. The world it’s building is conceptually coherent, and the ending lands with real philosophical weight. The problem is that the comic sometimes treats the reader’s intuition as a substitute for clear orientation. In other words, it knows what it is doing, but it does not always show its work. The result is a story that feels compelling in motion, yet occasionally under-communicated when you step back and examine how the narrative is actually moving.
The official VeeFriends Blog says the following about this VeeFriends Issue 01:
VeeFriends joins forces with renowned comic artist J. Scott Campbell to produce the cover art of the first VeeFriends Comic Book, titled VeeFriends #1, exclusive of 555 copies for Gift Goat #15...
Gift Goat #15 holders will receive a limited edition CGC-authenticated VeeFriends #1 cover print and a CGC-graded first issue comic book...
For me, there is a major problem with the release of VeeFriends Issue 01.
First and foremost, all 555 copies of VeeFriends Issue 01 were CGC-graded, meaning every physical copy was encased in hard plastic and sealed, making the comic unreadable. This concern was raised by D.J. Coffman, Executive Creative Director of VeeFriends and head of VeeFriends Comics, who stated in a VeeFriends community podcast interview that he discussed the issue directly with Gary Vaynerchuk during the creation process.
Gary's solution to this problem was to make all of the comics free and available to read online so that people would be able to enjoy VeeFriends Issue 01 without ever having to physically turn the pages of it. Click the link below to read them for yourself.
Yeah. Still not cool to me.
It’s a comic book. It’s the first one. If you want CGC-graded to be part of the release, then do it, but there should have been a physical edition that wasn’t permanently sealed for the people who actually value the tactile experience. That experience is part of why comics matter. You hold them. You re-read them. You linger on panels. You let the art breathe at your own pace.
Yes, technically they could crack the slabs but I don't think that is an acceptable option. The obvious solution is to create another edition of it that is not as rare for people who just want to have a physical version of it with pages they can actually turn and art they can stick their noses into within their collections. I think this should have been done. I think this should still be done.
Please do this.
The irony is that VeeFriends is a brand built on accessibility and distribution, and this launch choice prioritizes scarcity at the exact moment the universe is trying to introduce itself.
Before I talk about the story, I should probably also note that the VeeFriends Issue 01 cover art is by J. Scott Campbell, which transparently is not a name I knew without looking further into it. Scott Campbell is a well-known comic artist best recognized for Gen¹³, Danger Girl, and an extensive body of high-profile variant covers for Marvel, including multiple X-Men issues.
The VeeFriends Issue 01 cover is a deliberate homage to X-Men #1 from September 1963. That original cover, illustrated by Jack Kirby, featured the tagline “Don’t Miss This Fabulous First Issue,” a line that is intentionally mirrored on the VeeFriends cover.
Beyond the text, the homage extends to the overall character layout and implied action: a central antagonist confronted by a surrounding ensemble, each figure posed to suggest motion, tension, and imminent conflict.
While J. Scott Campbell is the artist of VeeFriends Issue 01, the explicit Kirby credit on the cover acknowledges not just the tagline, but the visual structure and narrative energy of the original composition being referenced.
It's also noteworthy that this cover contains the VeeFriends "Burn Island" volcano which is part of their NFT Ecosystem, now coming to life as a canon location within the VeeFriends universe.
Moving on, I can say that I enjoyed the comic itself and I think it set the tone well for the introduction to the canon story of the VeeFriends characters and universe. VeeFriends Issue 01 is titled "The Battle For Balance Begins."
The opening scene is fast-paced as we see a character named Mikey who is a hacker, known as CYNICALCAT732, being violently arrested by the authorities for committing a financial cybercrime involving a phishing site. Mikey mentions he is stealing from rich people with gold chains and blockchains. He possesses almost a Robin Hood vigilante mentality. This all makes sense for VeeFriends Issue 01, as the VeeFriends brand originates in Web3 and NFTs. These topics align with the world Gary's current audience and community is coming from.
As the scene comes to an end, we find out that it never actually happened at all. That's right. What we were just witnessing was only a potential reality. It could still be avoided.
The first few times I read VeeFriends Issue 01, I took this detail in stride. In hindsight, the Supercomputer-5000 moment is kind of a cheat code for understanding how this universe works. Similar to quantum superposition, these alternate timelines exist simultaneously as unrealized possibilities. In standard quantum physics, particles in superposition cannot be observed. However, in the VeeFriends World, the Supercomputer-5000 allows the team to not only observe these potential timelines, but also change their outcomes before they collapse into reality.
Probably, the Supercomputer-5000 is a quantum computer. But would that mean that Rare Robot is not a quantum computer? It’s funny to see a robot using a computer. Like, isn’t he a computer himself? But clearly, despite being a sentient machine, Rare Robot still needs something outside of himself to render the multiverse into something readable. At the same time, it does appear that the Supercomputer-5000 is plugged into the left side of Rare Robot's head during this scene. So at least their hardware and software are compatible.
It is at this point that the VeeFriends characters are introduced as a special operative force of real beings that work alongside with regular humans on Planet Earth. Specifically, in VeeFriends Issue 01, they are working with Mikey's teacher Lara. From what we can gather, their aim and purpose is to steer humanity in the direction of its greatest and highest good by intervening in people's lives at crucial moments that would otherwise have negative or catastrophic ripple effects on that person and the world. It is hinted that the VeeFriends intervened in Lara's life in the past in order to set her on the path that would lead her to becoming a teacher.
Very cool. I like this introductory positioning of who the VeeFriends are and what their role is within their universe.
Mikey embarks on his adventure with the VeeFriends after his mother guilts him into it by reminding Mikey of his dead father and how they used to enjoy collecting VeeFriends merch together. Even though he thinks they are wearing costumes and doesn't yet realize the VeeFriends are real, he agrees to go with them. Moments into the ride Mikey hits his head, passes out, and wakes up in a graveyard where he starts talking to his dead father.
His father, Ed, explains that Mikey is not dead, just passed out, and that they are connecting within Mikey's imagination. Interesting. Before this scene ends, Mikey's dad hands him a special pack of VeeFriends cards, explains that he worked with the VeeFriends when he was alive on a mission to change the world, that the VeeFriends are real, and that he has found what they were looking for, that being the answer to the biggest mystery in the universe. Then Mikey wakes up back in the VeeFriends VeeHicle.
Mikey awakes to find they've crash landed on Burn Island, near the ruins of an ancient coliseum which Rare Robot suggests is actually an ancient "Vee-Dome" which is a reference to the VeeFriends animated cartoon YouTube series. It's also filled with hieroglyphic type depictions of the VeeFriends on its walls. Now, it's at this point I realized we haven't been told exactly why the VeeFriends have taken Mikey to Burn Island or what they are looking to accomplish before leaving there.
Eventually, they realize the need to leave quickly because the volcano is going to explode. But why are they there at all? Shouldn't we know this already? Shouldn't the plot advance through their progress toward what they're there for? Instead of an urgency to leave the destination they've literally just arrived at? A destination that we still don't even know why they went to in the first place? In a story about intent shaping reality, unclear motivation becomes more than a plot issue, it becomes a thematic fracture.
The plot is driven forward by the sudden disappearance and equally speedy reappearance of Cynical Cat. He emerges floating midair in the center of the Vee-Dome, wearing a helmet with the same "no-smoking" or "prohibited" symbol that's on his shirt, and radiating a cynical energy aura.
Another odd detail for me here in terms of things not being explicitly stated is that Cynical Cat says he found the helmet by following a map on a thumbdrive that was left to Mikey by his father, but he doesn't say how he got it? Like… how did he even get Mikey’s thumbdrive in the first place? Did he pickpocket him? Break in off-panel? That part isn’t stated, and once you notice it, it’s hard to un-notice.
Personally, I can’t tell whether this missing information is an oversight or something deliberately being held back for future issues.
I didn't really think about any of these plot holes, unanswered questions, or inconsistencies on my first read through, but again, in hindsight they are hard to ignore.
The battle rages on for several action-packed panels. Practical Peacock acts as a decoy to distract Cynical Cat. Then Flex'n Fox nails him in the head with a rock to knock off the helmet. With this opportunity, Mikey picks the helmet up and uses it to magnify his positive energy into waves of love that he uses to bring Cynical Cat back to his senses. The "prohibited" symbol on the helmet also disappears, showing that to an extent the helmet takes on the qualities of its wearer. We realize that the helmet doesn’t actually generate positivity. It just amplifies whatever intent the wearer brings to it. This is why it becomes dangerous in the wrong hands.
As they notice the Burn Island volcano erupting behind them, VeeFriends Issue 01 closes out with the team returning to the real world after escaping. We can see that Mikey has been positively influenced by the ordeal. They've prevented the timeline the Supercomputer-5000 showed them in the beginning. It's a feel-good moment but there's one final detail that is pivotally important to our future understanding of the VeeFriends universe.
Mikey still has the pack of cards that his dad gave to him when they met inside of Mikey's imagination in that graveyard.
What?
How is that possible?
Seemingly, in the VeeFriends universe, the world of the imagination isn't so imaginary after all. In this universe, imagination isn’t a metaphor. It’s a place where reality can leak through.
Taken together, the Supercomputer-5000, the helmet, and the cards all point to the same underlying rule of the VeeFriends universe: reality isn’t governed by power or prediction, but by intent. Tools don’t create outcomes. They amplify what’s already there. The Supercomputer can model futures, the helmet can magnify energy, but imagination is the only place where something new actually enters the system. That’s why the final detail matters so much. Mikey doesn’t just remember the cards. He keeps them. In this world, imagination isn’t a metaphor. It’s infrastructure.
If what resonated here wasn’t just the review, but the way identity, intent, and character traits were treated as forces that shape reality, that same line of thinking didn’t stop with this article.
Inspired by how VeeFriends treats character traits as forces that shape reality, I created Alien Traits: a 1-of-1 NFT series interpreting each of the 251 core traits. No repeats. Each visual piece also includes a written definition of the trait it represents.
It isn’t VeeFriends art. It’s a parallel conversation with the ideas underneath it.
Explore the full Alien Traits collection here: https://opensea.io/collection/alien-traits
If you’re tracking canon details, here’s the clean reference list.
Character First Appearances:
- Practical Peacock
- Positive Porcupine
- Optimistic Otter
- Flex'n Fox
- Cynical Cat
- Rare Robot
- Persistent Penguin
- Balanced Beetle
Character Image First Appearances:
- Gratitude Gorilla (Plush and VeeHicle)
- Genuine Giraffe (Plush)
- Common Sense Cow (VeeHicle)
- Patient Panda (VeeHicle)
- Consistent Cougar (VeeFriends Website)
- Forthright Flamingo (VeeFriends Website)
- Alpha Alligator (VeeFriends Website)
- Accountable Ant (VeeFriends Website)
- Mint Mink (VeeFriends Website)
- Caring Camel (VeeFriends Website)
- Bad-Ass Bulldog (VeeFriends Website)
- Considerate Cowboy (VeeFriends Website)
Easter Eggs
1. The line, "Where we're going, we don't need roads!" is a reference to the movie, Back To The Future.
