The Surrogates (Surrogates (Graphic Novels))

by Robert Venditti

Book Overview

The year is 2054, and life has been reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the surrogate, a new technology that lets users interact with the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891830872
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.2" x 0.7" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Simply amazing and original story.

Not a huge reader of the graphic novels, but I heard about the film and the whole concept of the book was interesting. The novel was compelling, original, and entertaining. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys action and science fiction.

Excellent science fiction

The Surrogates is an excellent science fiction short story that happens to be a graphic novel. The plot is compelling with a well-crafted premise that extends traditional "cyberspace" works (such as the worlds created by William Gibson and P.K. Dick, as well as The Matrix), but this new space is a virtual reality based on remotely-controlled androids. The author touches on issues related race, religion, and what it means to "live" as a human. Every dialog line is well-written, and both the protagonists and antagonists are believable and worthy of empathy.

amazing

i loved every second of this book. the story line is what i consider to be as classic as something along the lines of any phillip k dick story ive every read. and the artwork completely floored me. its a non tradition comic art that looks like rough storyboards with an organic hand painted color and background [even if it is through a computer] what made this go from a 4 star to a 5 star for me was the supplemental material at the end of the book where the author goes through step by step the four year process of making the book. real insightful stuff you dont get with many comics. i read a lot of comics and this has moved into the #1 recommendation slot for anyone that enjoys SF.

Awesome Southern Comic

"Life...Only Better," says the slogan of VSI, maker of surrogates. And who wouldn't want to improve their life, to make it better, or to make it what they had always dreamed it should be? Such is the basis for the science fiction graphic novel The Surrogates. Written by Robert Venditti, with art direction by Brett Weldele, this novel brings a unique take on the established rules of science fiction. The future world created by Venditti has a great deal of potential. In creating the concept of the surrogate, Venditti has shown that even when race and gender are no longer factors in decisions, our innate prejudices still rise to the top. Additionally, remove race and gender as social factors, and you are left with religion. While the religion in The Surrogates is extreme and cultic Christianity, it could just has easily have been any other religion's fanatics. For the location and time frame of the story, Christianity makes the most sense. I also found it daring to set the story in Georgia rather than the traditional big cities of New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. Those cities have been used often, their unique cultures explored through science fiction. Science fiction has failed to tap into the strange and unique culture that is the Southern States. In doing so, The Surrogates has broken new ground. The story has found ample material for evaluating existing culture, and challenging our preconceptions. The Surrogates is a fine graphic novel, and I hope that Venditti continues to write in this world. I recommend this book to all science fiction fans, cultural theorists, and comic book fans. The artwork is provocative, the story compelling, and the setting unique.

Excellent Graphic Novel

This story is phenomenally well-written, and expertly composed. The plot is very intriguing and has interesting philosophical implications. The technology descriptions seem well-researched, as well. The dialogue is spot-on perfection, with not one single line of text that I would personally change were I to be assigned as the editor for this book. That alone is a rare occurrance for me when it comes to comics dialogue. There is very little captioning, with all of the important elements told through the gritty artwork, which suits the story impecably. I cannot recommend this book enough. This is an example of a comic that absolutely must be turned into a movie, otherwise I fear that millions will miss out on this engaging, amazingly told story.