VeeFriends Issue 05 is now, and may always be, one of the most discussed issues in the world of VeeFriends Comics. I first read it for myself at New York Comic Con 2025, and my jaw hit the floor about halfway through. There is an obvious shock-value moment, and if you have read the issue, you know exactly what I mean. That said, KOWSKY, The Undisputed VeeFriends Lore Master, is here to break down the issue and explain the bits most people missed. Let's dive in.
The story begins in Gary, Indiana, so it is set in the "real world," not VeeWorld. I saw a comment or two on X with people complaining that it wasn't right to speak negatively about an entire city and its people by saying it is "just rust and ghosts" and that the fire of titans, motivated minds, and working hands has "been out a long time."
My opinion? Relax. I understand they referenced Gary, Indiana, which is a real city, but this is clearly still a fictional version of it inside the VeeFriends Universe. The story centers around the Loserson family, who live in a trailer next to "The Graveyard." That matters because the graveyard is one of the VeeFriends Series 2 NFT Scenes, and the comics have consistently been working those NFT scenes into the canon of the VeeFriends Universe.
It is no surprise the Loserson family lives in the "5th Ward" of Gary, Indiana. 5 is Gary's favorite number because it was the number his mother hand-stitched into the Jets jersey she created for him from scratch when their family did not have enough money to buy him the official merch. The story centers on Larry, an optimist in a family of pessimists. More specifically, Larry is running for city council in the 5th Ward as the first step toward mayor, because he thinks Garry used to be great and wants people to believe in the city again.
That detail matters. Larry is not only trying to win an election. He is trying to change the story everyone around him has accepted as reality. If the city gave up, Larry wants it to believe again. If his family decided Losersons are losers, Larry wants to prove that identity is not destiny.
Larry is inspired by his late grandfather, Garry, who was apparently a winner in his day. We see a trophy in the panel, but what was gramps the winner of?
Larry's brother in the blue hoodie, Barry, is vehemently opposed to the idea of changing his family's current "loser" narrative and reputation. He does not treat Larry's optimism as harmless. He treats it like an attack on the identity the family has already accepted. Barry claims Gary is not a town for dreamers, says no Loserson wins there, and insists their grandfather was more of a loser than Larry will ever know. Larry demands that Barry take those words back, but Barry throws a fist instead.
Barry is clearly the physically stronger one between the two brothers. The square text box in the panel, which indicates narration as opposed to the circular character speech bubbles, suggests that even though people say kindness is weakness, it is actually strength. And right now, it is stronger than ever.
Sad and reflecting, Larry visits his grandfather Garry's tombstone in the graveyard. Yes, for those of you who also just noticed, that makes this trio of rhyming names: Larry, Barry, and Garry.
VeeFriends creator Gary Vaynerchuk always says 65 is young, and that is probably correct for most people alive today with modern medicine. For Garry Loserson, born in 1935? 65 is dead. I am shocked they didn't make him die at 55 to keep the Gary's favorite number motif going, but I am also relieved to see they are not overusing it for every single detail.
Larry speaks to his grandfather's soul while praying over his grave. He asks for a sign, and we see a worm emerge from the dirt. If you are a knowledgeable VeeFriends fan, this will immediately make you think of the VeeFriends "Just Art" character, It's Tough To Beat A Worm From The Dirt. That said, Gary Vaynerchuk has been selective about what he calls a first character appearance, and this does not meet that criteria. It's just a regular worm in regular dirt. But it is also the sign Larry needs to regain his motivation.
Unfortunately, when Larry gets back to his trailer, he sees his sister burning the city council campaign posters he made in a trash barrel. The comic doesn't name her, but I'm going to pretend her name is Sharry, and if that gets written into canon, remember you heard it here first. Larry's family is so evil it makes me sick, but it is a captivating juxtaposition. If you are a true VeeFriends fanatic, you'll have noticed the significance of Larry's eyes, but you'll have to scroll down to the Easter Eggs section to find out what that means because I'm not going to ruin the surprise for any new readers.
Barry gets in on the action and uses Gramps' trophy to smash the black-and-white framed photo of Gramps. The shards of glass flying from the destroyed frame conveniently and coincidentally slice a 5 into the right side of Larry's cheek. We'll go over this one in the Easter Eggs section too, along with the eyes. Since the trophy keeps coming up, I'm asking again: what did Gramps win that trophy for? In what category was he a "real winner"?
Barry shattering the frame is a blessing in disguise. It reveals that underneath grandpa Garry's photo, there is a letter from him addressed specifically to Larry. Apparently, grandpa Garry had a special affinity toward his grandson Larry, simply from the twinkle in his eyes when he was a baby.
The letter also turns the issue's identity theme from subtext into text. Garry tells Larry that the world might laugh at Losersons, but their family was built on belief. That is the entire fracture point of the story. Larry wants to inherit belief. Barry and the rest of the family want to inherit losing, spend the proof, and pretend the better version of their name never existed.
We also find out that the Loserson family are descendants of Leif Loserson, who according to this issue, is a Versatile Viking and the first of the Loserson line to cross the great unknown in 1000 A.D. Clearly, this is a reference to Leif Erikson, who is widely known as the first European to reach or discover North America, long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. VeeFriends fanatics will also recognize this as a direct reference to the VeeFriends character Versatile Viking, who is featured in VeeFriends Issue 06, which immediately follows this one. 
Larry is shocked to hear about the money.
I am distracted by the logical inconsistency of the setup.
For the sake of suspension of disbelief, do we pretend it makes sense that grandpa Garry only wrote an inspirational letter to Larry and left all of his wealth to Larry? Nothing for his own children or other grandchildren?
We are also left to wonder who put the letter in the frame and why. Why would grandpa Garry hide the letter in the frame if he wanted Larry to read it? Why would Larry's family hide the letter in the frame instead of burning it or shredding it if they didn't want him to read it?
When Larry confronts his family, his father is the first to happily admit that they spent all of it on Camaros and other purchases. Barry demands that Larry give him the letter before he gets "what gramps got." If that's not clear, replace Barry's question marks with periods and it is, "Mom and Dad F*cked you over. Took that money and buried him alive."
In the background, granny shouts, "Shoosh Barry, you're talking too much!" She doesn't want him confessing or explaining their deeds. It is remarkable how evil every single member of this family is besides Larry and grandpa Garry. Even his own wife was in on it. At a certain point, you have to ask where the accountability is on grandpa Garry for choosing such a poor mate and failing to instill the kind of positive values that would prevent his family from murdering him for money.
Larry rushes to grandpa Garry's grave and begins to dig it up. Why? He says he is looking to see what else his family buried and to confirm whether or not he is "right about them." Right about them in regard to what? He doesn't want to believe that his family buried his grandfather alive. But there Garry is, buried when Larry digs him up.
And yet, Larry somehow concludes that his grandpa was "just resting" and that his family was only screwing with him and "nothing else." How does the fact that Garry is dead and buried in his grave somehow confirm that he was not buried alive at the time of his death? Is it because his body is in a peaceful position?
Is this a natural inference for other people? For me, it's a lot of logical leaping work. It appears we are meant to assume along with Larry that if his grandpa was actually buried alive, he would be bruised from a struggle and, instead of the peaceful resting position, he would have died clawing at the casket attempting to escape before he suffocated. But what if they just gave him sleeping pills, pretended he died, placed him in a coffin peacefully positioned, and buried him alive that way?
In any case, relieved to conclude that his gramps died naturally, Larry decides to lie down in the coffin next to his grandfather's deceased corpse. Hold your "wtfs" until the end. Regardless of how wild this issue might have seemed up until now, this is just the beginning of the scene that defines VeeFriends Issue 05, for better or worse, as the most discussed issue in the entire series.
Barry shows up with a reaction similar to what a lot of readers, even those otherwise sympathetic to Larry, have expressed after seeing him cuddling up with his grandpa's dead body. "You little freak!" says Barry. "What the hell are you doin in there?! Desecratin' gramps' grave like that?!"
Larry ignores the insult and seeks to confirm that Barry and his family were lying about burying his grandpa alive. See? Even Larry still has doubts, validating any readers who felt confused by the lack of clarity around the death up until this point. It wasn't the writers forgetting to do their job. It was intentional suspense. Oh we of little faith. This story is clearly outside the box, and we are meant to let ourselves stretch a bit along with it.
Barry says "maybe" the grandpa did just die of natural causes and they buried him normally before stealing his money afterward. The way Barry pivots to saying "but" burying someone alive sounds like a great idea to solve a problem like Larry makes it seem as though he is confirming they didn't bury the grandpa alive beyond the "maybe."
Regardless of whether Barry has ever buried anyone alive before, he decides that he is actually going to murder his brother by burying him alive right then and there. A rather impulsive decision, but it matches the chaos that brought us to this point. Plus, they already indicated they wanted to silence Larry about stealing the money his grandpa left him, especially now that Larry finally has evidence. Maybe the family sent Barry to tie up the loose end after deciding this had to be done to protect the rest of them.
Claiming that he is doing his brother a favor, Barry buries Larry alive and kills him.
Five years later, because there is Gary Vee's favorite number 5 again, Barry is reflecting on killing his brother and attempting to rationalize away his guilt. He concludes that if he is still standing and his brother is dead, then he is a winner and all is well that ends well. The time skip seems to indicate that either the police and authorities never became aware of Larry's death, or they were never able to connect the dots to Barry being the killer.
So, on the anniversary of his brother Larry's death, Barry is drinking from a can at a toxic waste facility when we see a drop of toxic waste fall into his drink. Along with the drop, a familiar fly appears, which will immediately make VeeFriends fanatics think of the VeeFriends character You're Gonna Die Fly. Returning to what we said earlier, the character is not named and does not have speaking lines. Although, the fly does appear in several panels across multiple pages. I don't think this meets Gary's official first appearance criteria. The official VeeFriends website does not list You're Gonna Die Fly as making an appearance in this issue.
Of course, Barry drinks from the can with the toxic waste inside of it. Who else is reminded of The Secret World of Alex Mack in this scene? If you've never heard of that, you're probably in the majority, but I'm referring to how VeeFriends Issue 05 leans into the general comic book trope of characters being strangely affected by toxic waste, often in unique and supernatural ways, such as giving the affected person superpowers or special abilities. Spider-Man getting his powers from being bitten by a radioactive spider would be in this lane.
Barry once again references "Leif Loserson," the Versatile Viking, which interestingly enough is listed on the official VeeFriends Comics website as one of the characters appearing in VeeFriends Issue 05.
That doesn't mean it's a first appearance, though. The VeeFriends Comics website says Mojo Mouse is featured in Issue 02, but Mojo Mouse doesn't get qualified as having a "First Full Appearance" until VeeFriends Issue 13. So if anything, Versatile Viking in VeeFriends Issue 05 is probably the "First Cameo Appearance," like Mojo Mouse was in VeeFriends Issue 02, and the Versatile Viking "First Full Appearance" is in the following VeeFriends Issue 06.
Barry brags about how he could drink Leif Loserson under the table as he contemplates death and the nature of his own mortality. We see Barry through the perspective of the fly, who appeared right before this death contemplation, but is not named as and is not necessarily You're Gonna Die Fly.
Speaking to my earlier question about why Barry hasn't been arrested for murdering his brother Larry, the panel above tells us nobody came looking for him and nobody cared. I'm not sure how plausible that is in real life, but VeeFriends Issue 05 is a refresher course in suspending disbelief so we can enjoy the absurdity of a fictional comic book narrative.
Surprisingly, Barry admits he was the only one who cared about his brother's death. In what way does Barry care? Is he remorseful? Is it just his stomach bothering him after drinking toxic waste? Even if not full regret, a bit of guilt from the killer himself may be the only positive emotion left in the world for Larry. Tragic. As Barry makes his way toward the graveyard, we see that fly continuing to follow him. Does that mean anything? Is the fly trying to give us some sort of secret message?
Barry unsuccessfully tries to swat the fly away and decides to reward his brother's grave with the thoughtful birthday present of his freshly delivered urine. The apology he gives to his grandfather as he literally pisses on his grandfather's and brother's mutual grave doesn't seem all that sincere.
Remember what I said about how a classic comic book trope is toxic waste giving characters magical powers or creating supernatural experiences? Yeah. There's a reason I'm KOWSKY The Undisputed VeeFriends Community Lore Master. There is often an archetype and a pattern to these stories. It was easy enough to know what the toxic waste dropping into Barry's drink was foreshadowing. That said, I never would have predicted it would go down quite like this.
Barry's urine seeps into the grave and all the way down to the corpses of his deceased brother Larry and grandpa Garry. Combined with the toxic waste, Barry's urine has a metamorphic effect on the two cadavers, fusing them both physically and at the soul level. Two bodies. Two souls. One...
MOTIVATED MONSTER!
Once awakened and alive, the Garry and Larry fusion of Motivated Monster is angry and confused. His first words are, "Why'd you do that to me?"
Barry stutters to answer and tries to apologize while simultaneously blaming everything on his and Larry's dad. It's not enough. Motivated Monster cocks a fist and blasts it directly through Barry's chest, launching his entire heart out of his back.
Observing his gruesome work, Motivated Monster asks, "How did that happen?" This reminds me of the Steve Urkel tagline, "Did I do that?" I think he knows exactly how it happened.
In the final panel, the fly returns. Ya know, it's almost as if that's definitely You're Gonna Die Fly, and the character appeared specifically to foreshadow a death, then returned to confirm the death it foreshadowed. But Gary doesn't want to name this character, so technically we can't say that. That said, I am obviously saying it.
The backmatter of VeeFriends Issue 05 makes the origin even clearer. In the "Making a Monster" section, D.J. Coffman explains that Motivated Monster grew out of Gary's idea of a positive outcast in a family of real losers, with the grandfather as the exception. That is not just bonus trivia. It confirms that the whole issue was built around the tension between the family name, the family story, and the one branch of the family still trying to become something better.
The artist commentary from Chris Fason adds another layer. He says Larry's world was meant to feel heavy, shaped by trauma, betrayal, and survival, while still staying human, honest, and a little bit weird. That is exactly why the issue works better than it probably should. The story is outrageous, but the emotional atmosphere is not random. It is designed to make the betrayal feel heavy enough that the monster's birth feels earned.
In Closing
VeeFriends Issue 05 works because it understands that being a loser is not just a result. In the Loserson family, losing has become an identity, an inheritance, and eventually an excuse. Larry is not simply trying to win an election. He is trying to prove the family story can change.
That is why the buried money, the hidden letter, and Garry's grave all matter. Every time Larry reaches for proof that the Loserson family was supposed to be something more, someone else tries to bury it again. Barry does not just reject Larry's optimism. He protects the family's losing narrative like it is the only thing they have left.
Tony Robbins has said, "The strongest force in the human personality is the need to stay consistent with how we define ourselves." That is the real-world idea this issue keeps circling. People do not always update their identity when reality gives them new evidence. A lot of the time, they do the opposite. They twist, deny, bury, or destroy reality so they can stay loyal to who they already believe they are.
That is the Loserson family. Supporting Larry could have been the horse that pulled the chariot toward victory for all of them. Garry had already left Larry the proof, the resources, and the story that could have changed the family's direction. But if the Losersons helped Larry win, then they would have to stop being Losersons in the way they understood themselves. They would have to let reality change their identity. Instead, they changed reality to protect the identity. They stole the money. They hid the letter. They buried Garry. Then Barry buried Larry.
That makes the horror of the issue feel less random than it first appears. Yes, the corpse scene is outrageous. Yes, the toxic waste and urine combination is absolutely insane. Hold your wtfs until the end, remember? But underneath the absurdity, VeeFriends is doing something pretty direct. It takes everything the family tried to hide, kill, spend, mock, and bury, then forces it back above ground in the form of Motivated Monster.
So I do not read this issue as saying motivation is secretly bad. I read it as saying the opposite. The motivation was the part of the Loserson family that refused to die. Larry had it. Garry had it. Barry tried to kill it, bury it, and forget it. Instead, he helped create the exact thing he was trying to erase. Or, as the issue itself puts it, the spark never died.
That is what makes VeeFriends Issue 05 more than just the shocking one. It is weird, gross, funny, dark, and probably the issue most likely to make someone ask what they just read. But it also expands what a VeeFriends origin story can be. Not every trait enters the universe through inspiration, mentorship, or a clean moral lesson. Sometimes the trait crawls out of a grave because the people who needed it most spent generations pretending it was dead.
The Loserson family tried to bury the only winners it had.
Instead, they created Motivated Monster.
Source: Tony Robbins, "Identity and authenticity are the keys to unstoppable leadership."
After The Issue
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 in OpenSea's "About" section.
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
Easter Eggs
1. Barry is Zealous Zombie. It is revealed and confirmed in the after-the-issue section. Who noticed or suspected it before seeing it, just from intuition or from Barry's color scheme?
2. This panel foreshadows the way Larry's eyes will look when he fuses with grandpa Garry to become Motivated Monster.
3. The 5 cut into Larry's face is part of the character design for Motivated Monster, and it is exciting to see how the narrative accounts for this numeric detail on several VeeFriends characters. Maybe a farm character will have the 5 branded. It will be cool to see the different ways they logically incorporate these into the storytelling and what narratives explain them.
4. What in the world is this key that sort of resembles a Fearless Fairy wand? Was this a random detail thrown in to indicate there are just things buried in the dirt, like the bottle cap, or is there significance between this key and the Motivated Monster fusion event?
Up Next
If you enjoyed VeeFriends Issue 05 Explained, next up is VeeFriends Issue 06 Explained: Leif Loserson, Shipwreck, and the Challenge of Versatility!
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