VeeFriends Issue 08 Explained: Why Gary Bee Doesn’t Dream

VeeFriends Issue 08, starring Gary Bee as the main character, is notably devoid of dialogue bubbles as we turn the first several pages. 

My first impression is that I didn't like the verbal absence. It felt lazy to me. I understand that a picture says a thousand words and blah blah blah but if that were literally the case then there wouldn't be any words in any comics. 

I was frustrated and flipped quickly through to the first dialogue page. 

Here the story shifts from visually observing a day in the life of Gary Bee to hearing other bee characters sharing their dreams around the dinner table. The illustrations shift from depicting his reality to their dream worlds, which are then accompanied by the standard comic book dialogue bubbles.

VeeFriends Issue 08 then ends abruptly. When it is Gary Bee's turn to talk about his dreams he instead explains that he doesn't remember them. 

The final panel shows Gary Bee going to sleep as the scene fades into total darkness.

What? What just happened here?

Obviously I needed to re-read this one. What did I miss? Let's assume there was an intentional statement being made in the decreased dialogue decision and ask ourselves what that statement could have been? 

VeeFriends Issue 08 begins with a day in the life of Gary Bee. The first notable event in Gary Bee's day is helping an elderly bee to walk across a flower after three younger bees flew by and knocked him over. 

In the bottom right corner of this panel, we see Bee 103 watching Gary Bee from the sidelines. 

Bee 103 then continues to watch from a distance as Gary Bee flies away. The story continues with Gary Bee helping another member of their community, Bee 82, and guess who has followed Gary Bee all the way here and is still watching him?

Yupp. Its Bee 103 again. Gary Bee then helps a bunch of other bees in a hexagonal montage in which Bee 103 is covertly watching every interaction. 

So this entire time, not a word has been said. Not a single dialogue bubble has appeared. Bee 103 has not interacted with Gary Bee at all. And yet... 

We see Bee 103 has been influenced by Gary Bee's actions, and is now taking it upon himself to spread kindness with his own behaviors and actions. This is when and where it dawned upon me that the lack of dialogue bubbles up until this point was intentional. It was part of the overall statement, message, and lesson, being imparted. Sometimes effecting positive change isn't about speeches or debates or even conversations. Sometimes it's just about actively embodying and being the change you want to see in the world.

The shift away from Gary Bee’s silent actions to other bees openly describing their dreams is a deliberate transition and juxtaposition. It reframes the story, contrasting aspirations in dreams with actions in the present moment. This sets up the lesson that is ultimately explicitly stated in the “Building Character” section.

"Gary Bee is fiercely competitive and deeply passionate about helping others, especially strangers and the elderly. While he might not recall his dreams at night, in real life Gary Bee dreams BIG and more importantly, takes action in the moment."

So, why doesn't Gary Bee recall his dreams at night? Because in real life Gary Bee dreams BIG and more importantly, takes action in the moment.

That's what VeeFriends Issue 08 was all about; taking action in the moment. And taking the type of action that requires no words to inspire others. 

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. This little rat hiding near the art supplies looks like it could be a Reliable Rat reference. I would not call that confirmed from the panel alone, but the red eye, white body, and tiny background placement definitely make me wonder if Reliable Rat is quietly tucked into the scene.

2. Tom TGer from Is It Canon? pointed out another tiny thing in this sink panel: the hot and cold faucet handles appear to be reversed. The blue cold handle is on the left, and the red hot handle is on the right.

That is a real catch. In standard plumbing practice, especially in the United States, hot is normally on the left and cold is normally on the right. Some local plumbing codes even state that hot or tempered water should be supplied on the left side of the faucet. The same convention is common in many other countries too, mostly because consistency matters for safety and everyday muscle memory.

So what does that mean here? Probably not enough to turn into a massive theory by itself. Tom apparently mentioned it to Chris Fason, and Chris's response sounded more like a shrug than a confirmation, which makes me think this is either a simple art mistake, a personal-reference thing from a house where the faucet was reversed, or just one of those weird tiny details that accidentally becomes interesting after a careful reader catches it.

Still, I like it as an Easter Egg because Issue 08 is already about noticing what Gary Bee does instead of only listening for what characters say. Even if the faucet reversal is not a canon clue, it is exactly the kind of small visual detail that rewards looking closer.

Up Next

If you enjoyed VeeFriends Issue 08 Explained, next up is VeeFriends Issue 09. You can read the backstory first with Before VeeFriends Issue 09 You Need To Read These 4 Newspaper Comics!, or jump straight into VeeFriends Issue 09 Explained: Grief, Cursed Energy, and the Making of Kind Warrior.