In advance of Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wjingaard’s upcoming comic The Power Fantasy, we’re revisiting some of Gillen’s previous creator-owned work.

Did you remember that there was a black and white anthology comic curated by Alan Moore with art from the late Kevin O’Neill that ran from 2016-2019 that had nothing to do with H.P. Lovecraft, extraordinary gentlemen, or Captain Nemo? Did you also remember that the anthology also had a Garth Ennis vampire series, a Max Brooks American Civil War-set alternate history series, and a Christos Gage kaiju series? It was called Cinema Purgatorio, and most importantly for this article, it featured a post-apocalyptic series from Kieron Gillen, Ignacio Calero, and Nahuel Lopez called “Modded” that is both a satire and love letter to video games from Donkey Kong to (maybe) Fortnite. I’m not a big gamer (Video games peaked at NBA Live 2005 and the first Lego Star Wars, but the new ones are fun too.) so I didn’t get all the references in this book.

However, I did play a few of the Civilization games and have a sister and some exes who were super into The Sims so I understand the concept of “modding”. Basically, instead of sticking with the game in the box/digital download, you add all kinds of modifications to make the game play better, which could be a map of Middle Earth to conquer or introducing full frontal nudity to The Sims and putting viruses on my laptop. Kieron Gillen, Calero, and Lopez take this classic video game concept and apply it to a Mad Max type world that initially is a dark and edgy parody of a Pokémon, but eventually takes aims at all types of games and even New Games Journalism, which was coined by Gillen back in 2004.

“Modded” is about a girl named Fringe from a post-apocalyptic work camp who bonds with a daemon (Basically a Pokemon) named Fluffbumble, but immediately loses the cute critter to a daemonatrix named Tommy Zero, who is just trying to round out his Hexicon. (Pokedex, but demonic.) She meets a seemingly kinder daemonatrix named Susan, who promises to help train her up and show her the ropes of this wild world so she can get Fluffbumble back and live happier ever after. However, the plotline of the series runs a lot less smooth than this with Fringe getting infected by something called Living Text, lots of hallucinogens and weirdly strong alcoholic beverages, and our protagonists actually befriending Tommy Zero for a bit. But, along the way (and Easter Eggs aside), Fringe’s character arc becomes a love letter to playing games the way you want to play.

The reason I initially connected to “Modded” was because when it came out in summer of 2016, that was also the famous “summer of Pokemon Go”. I was walking around my neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky hatching Pokemon eggs and hanging out by the lure at the local American Legion trying to add more creatures to my Pokedex. This was the fun part of the summer, but there was also a darker side. Various landmarks were gyms where you can battle other Pokemon trainers, but the combat system wasn’t like the actual Pokemon games plus all of the Pokemon at the gyms were a much higher level than me. So, I basically was Fringe with my Fluffbumble getting humiliated by Levithane outside the local Catholic church.

Fringe actually does win some battles and competitions for better or worse throughout the run of “Modded”, but she’s mostly treated like a novelty figure, who just wants to put a pretty hat on her daemon instead of a phallic minigun or something out of Preacher. (Apparently, it’s still a must read in the post-apocalyptic world.) Even her speaking patterns are roasted by the daemonatrixes of the Abyss because she’s kind and doesn’t swear, and they drop f- or c-bombs almost every other word although there’s one hilarious scene when a member of Tommy Zero’s crew says they’re just putting on appearances. Gillen’s dialogue nails the way hardcore gamers speak with a toxic blend of jargon, profanity, misogyny, and homophobia, and this bad behavior extends to some of the daemons to with Tanky Andov reminding you that this is an Avatar book by graphically “tea-bagging” another player to Fringe’s chagrin. The middle half of “Modded” shows the addictive nature of video games, and how it’s easy to consumed with being the best/winning and let friendships and relationships fall to the wayside as Fringe and Susan drift apart.

But “Modded” (and this article) isn’t some anti-video game screed, but also a love letter to how they provide freedom, escapism, and fun from a world that’s becoming similar to a post-apocalyptic one although sadly fetish wear isn’t daily wear just yet. Kieron Gillen and Nahuel Lopez explore this through the concept of “Blue sky”, which gives Lopez an opportunity to show what it’s like playing Super Monkey Ball (That’s a game I wouldn’t mind revisiting.) whilst tripping. Blue skies are also rare in the world of “Modded” because they’re like a concentrated shot of hope and optimism in a world of conflict. To take things to the real world for a second, blue sky is a reminder of a world where you didn’t have to care about bills or job performance and just thought about getting the next star in Super Mario 64 or building the ultimate University of Tennessee dynasty in NCAA Football. (Someone please get me a PS5 so I can play the new one that came out.) On the storytelling side, Gillen and Lopez free up the narrative in “Modded” Chapter 14 where Tommy Zero and Fringe race under the influence of Blue Sky. There’s speed lines galore, blocks to smash, a disturbingly realistic mushroom, and one hell of a comedown. Sadly, during this comedown, Susan steals Fluffbumble from Fringe snapping her back to reality.

“Modded” is to gaming like Phonogram is to indie music, and some of their ideas were explored in a bigger, more commercially successful way in Die (I have an essay coming out on that soon, I promise!) and The Wicked + the Divine. But “Modded” is also a hilarious series. The sequence where Fringe uses objects around her to change her name to “Glasshat Dildobeast” makes laugh out loud. But, above all else, it’s an ode to having fun with video games and your friends and not treating it like a second job. It’s hot today so I think it’s a lovely time to boot up Pokemon Snap and take cute pictures all afternoon as I live that “filthy casual” life.