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 world without ever leaving their homes. It's a perfect world, and it's up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they'll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them. Welcome to The Surrogates, a daring, five-issue, full-color miniseries from Top Shelf Productions.
First released ten years ago, when social media was in its infancy, The Surrogates anticipated numerous trends that have emerged with the ever-increasing confluence of technology and social connection. Nowhere is this more evident than in its exploration of identity, remote interaction, and the masks we hide behind. Now is the time to discover—or rediscover—this ground-breaking modern classic; it's never been more relevent.
My interest in this title was sparked by a trailer for the upcoming movie version. I think a lot of people discovered it about the time I did, since it took a couple months for a copy to make its way to me after I reserved it at the library.
Surrogates is a deceptively simple book. There are no confusing plot twists, no complex language, no overwhemlingly large cast of characters. However, it is a tightly-woven story filled with enough cultural analysis to keep your brain working long after you've turned the last page. Each dialogue bubble has a purpose, the story is full and satisfying, and the world feels alive. Each chapter in the book wraps up with a world-building document - pages from a news website, or an academic paper, for instance. They feel believable and real and go a long way towards fleshing out the story. The art is dark and foreboding and matches the story perfectly.
I highly recommend this book to everyone, and I'm eagerly awaiting the movie in hopes that it understands the book's themes and doesn't strip them out in favor of a Bruce Willis sci-fi-action flick with lots of flying lasers.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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8 August, 2009:
Finished reading
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8 August, 2009:
Reviewed