Description

Futile Comics is a one-person comics anthology by Mike Centeno. Futile Comics explores our odd struggle to get through life in one piece. Through short stories, Mike dives into personal concerns, societal expectations, interpersonal drama, and philosophical conundrums!

Inspired by Mike’s birth country of Venezuela, and his adopted country of the United States, Issue 7 of Futile features a single story, “Orinoco,” which centers around an unnamed amnesiac character who is found by soldiers of a revolutionary government that tenuously controls the country.

The protagonist is taken under the wing of the government’s leader, and is recruited to join the military “family” that keeps the regime in power. It quickly becomes clear that the leader of the revolution is no longer alive, and that the upper echelons of the government is now controlled by power-hungry cynics, who use intimidation and violence to keep their citizens in line, while blaming foreign powers for the country’s ills.

The protagonist is paired with fellow soldier, Manuela, who, while jaded about the state of the government, is still a true believer in the revolution’s ostensible principles. Slowly, the protagonist becomes indoctrinated in his role, and slides deeper and deeper into becoming a thug of the regime. But a chance encounter with a book monger leads the protagonist to a mind-bending book of poetry that starts to loosen the grip of the monstrous revolutionary government.