Stephanie Kay
Oct 13, 2007, 09:34 pm
<a href ="http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3305/thesurrogatescoverxh4.jpg"><img src="http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/2218/thesurrogatescovertnom8.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="The Surrogates"></a> Reviewer: Mike Sangregorio, darquehex@gmail.com
You live a filtered life…Everyone dreams of changing the world. I only want to change it back.
<b>Created & Written by</b> Robert Venditti
<b>Illustrated & Colored by</b> Brett Weldele
<b>Edited by</b> Chris Staros
<b>Book design by</b> Bissel & Titus (www.bisseltitus.com)
<b>Published by</b> <a href=http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?title=219 target=_blank>Top Shelf Productions</a>
<b>Format:</b> 158 pages plus supplementary material in one trade paperback
<b>Price:</b> $19.95
I admit that I am not the most adamant purveyor of independent comics. It takes more than just a good review or an off hand comment to make me go down that other aisle and peruse how the less publicized half lives and shops shops. What I need, and I doubt I’m alone, is a good hook that will grab me and pull me in among the black and white books. In the case of The Surrogates that hook is the idea of an entire country filled with people plugged into electronic devices through which they live most of their lives. Sound familiar? The story that weaves its way in and around this world is one part commentary, one part mystery and just enough superheroics to fill five issues.
I was sitting on the train with my girlfriend when she handed me a list with twenty or so comic book stories that she might want to read, as culled from those trite little “lists of comics to show your girlfriend so that she won’t think you are weird for going every Wednesday.” Most of it was the usual parade of what fans have come to term “Indie stuff,” but saddled ever so nonchalantly between Transmetropolitan and Y: The Last Man (both of wish she had already enjoyed) there was The Surrogates.
The opening offering from writer Robert Venditti, who is joined by artist Brett Weldele (Image's Clockmaker and the soon to be feature film Southland Tales), the comic series is an exceptional piece of episodic fiction. This came as a surprise at first because outside of Wizard running one of its Secret Stash pieces on the book, I hadn’t heard anything about it or its creators. In retrospect the former “comics magazine” earned its subscription fee that month because here again was that unmistakable image of the enigmatic social terrorist (or is that freedom fighter, I always get those two confused) Steeplejack staring back at me. Take a look for yourself! ( http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=12&title=528&PHPSESSID=edab21b6d97857699fb5f2a491f588bb)
<a href="http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2553/surrogatescoverog1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/4333/surrogatescovertnyh7.jpg" alt="The Surrogates" hspace=10 align=right></a> Past that, well I’m a sucker from anything that looks as if it could be a good sci-fi story; and in this case it seems as if once again the Indie crowd comes through. Not that a good look at the premise and a few of the Brett Weldele covers wouldn’t be enough to draw the more casual fans in, but truth be told comics are expensive and they take up room and the average fan needs a little bit more of a push if he or she can be bothered to go out and get one more collected edition (especially one with such a limited print run that my local store didn’t even order it). I hope I can give you that push.
If you have read a story by Philip K. Dick then you’ve probably considered some of the more basic themes in The Surrogates, the difference here is both its relevance to today’s technophilia and its presentation of the concept of the Masked Man, which superhero fans often take for granted as whatever it is the creator is presenting at face value, who while super is no hero to the “people” he claims to service.
In the world of 2054 the people of America have a new device with which to plug into and ignore the physical world they actually live in. The invention of the surrogate, literally a robotic stand-in, has yielded an era of unprecedented social evolution via its total sensory relay. People of every race and either gender can now go out and experience the world as whatever type of individual they want to be. Human to human contact of all kind in the open air is at an end. STDs and most incidents of violent crime are rapidly fading from the social consciousness.
The cost for this road to wonder is a new definition of what is considered living. Forget iPods and Blackberries, this is a world where every time two people meet on the street, they are talking to a machine and the other person is miles away in their homes. Aside from the more frivolous benefits, such as not being able to get drunk no matter how much “you” drink, a “surrie” as they are called can provide a constant replaying of ones fondest memories while a physical body performs the mundane actions involved with work.
The Surrogates is, at its best, a roadmap to where we are going and a harsh warning of what we may be willing to give up to get there.
In a world that amounts to little more than that of dreams, and nothing done presents any real consequence, how can anything be enjoyed? How can anyone live in a proverbial bubble, behind filtered mediums and censored newscasts, while being constantly plugged into the greatest of electronic wombs and not lose something in the process?
It is difficult to not draw a parallel to the work of the Wachowski Brothers. I for one kept imagining Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus saying that no one could be shown what The Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself. People, especially in the United States, are quick to defend what has come to be defined by the word freedom. In truth, freedom is not an ideal in history books that all people are immediately granted. Freedom does not begin and end with the ability to choose what music you listen to or what movies you watch (not that there seems to be an overabundance of free though in that area anyway). Freedom is simply an acknowledgement of what we all possess as innately as the ability to draw breath. Venditti, it would seem, would remind us that freedom is an idea that many fear we are in danger of forgetting.
In the city of the Central Georgia Metropolis it takes a masked vigilante named Steeplejack to show the people what freedom looks like once again.
Being taken, kicking and screaming, from the safety and security of the world we have come to know is never fun but it is often for our own good. This is science-fiction at its best. This is the world, our world, extrapolated into a future that we can believe without too much leeway and one our children could live in the shadows of. Long and short of it, a progressive, partially handicapped savant of an engineer named Lionel Canter sought to create a viable source of movement and presentation for the handicapped people of the world using a combination of virtual reality interface and cutting edge robotics. The Virtual Self corporation, after cutting all the checks, decided that the surrogates that resulted as of this unison could be more profitable being passed on to police officers and other emergency workers.
Enter the free market and before you can say "dividends," Virtual Self was the reigning champion of the surrogate movement that enveloped the country. Along with the more familiar plot threads of “old fashioned” police detectives and a few disgruntled religious fanatics, there is the aforementioned Steeplejack, purveyor of what once was.
<a href="http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8120/surrogatesintextkg8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2859/surrogatesintexttnbd7.jpg" alt="The Surrogates" hspace=10 align=left></a> The presentation and pacing of each issue is an unexpected break in what has come to be commonplace with many comics recently. There is no heavy emphasis on deconstruction, but the story rarely feels rushed. Weldele’s artwork is a blend of harsh line-work and dedicated Photoshop-ing that lends itself to a new, more original archetype. Though he seems to be channeling Ashley Wood every once in a while, there never fails to be clear distinction between the individual motivations of each and every character we are introduced to.
Readers are not to assume that Steeplejack is a hero, regardless of any super feats he may pull-off, and his motives are such that no one is quite clear on whose side he will fall. Is his crusade against what he calls “an artificial life” the result of dedication to a fringe religion whose fundamental dedication to living life the old fashioned way caused the riots which nearly tore the city apart thirty years before? Or is he just a disgruntled worker?
In a city, and soon to be a world, where people can be whoever they choose, the police are little more than insurance agents sent to make sure the crime in question was no worse than a faulty unit and not the intentional act of someone who has decided to live out another archaic act of aggression. Detective Harvy Greer is the unwitting recipient of a new case where someone with an affinity for electricity has taken to short-circuiting a couple who dipped into an alley for a bit of exhibitionism. Another side effect of never being outside in your own body is a distinct lack of inhibitions. Having sex outside is no worse than showing off a new car.
Venditti clearly knows what he wants to get across in his story and isn’t trying to overdue anything with this, his first real offering to the comics market. Both of the surries in this case turn on to be registered to men, one an overweight homebody who had registered his new body to work construction and another, a tall, well built man who wanted to explore his feminine side. Cultural taboos and social faux pas are a thing of the past and a grand movement away from fear and hate are on the way, or so it would seem.
The cost is evident in every step of Detective Greer’s investigations. The powerful, male CEO of Virtual Self is being played on the other end by a woman, who though fully capable on her own, keeps up appearances at the behest of the board of directors. Harvy’s own wife will not have dinner with him in “the flesh” because of how she feels about her own body. There is no appreciation for what we are not thus programmed to expect. There is little progress and the worst, it seems is yet to come.
Though the finer plot points work themselves into the main story casually, the majority of which have not been mentioned here, the plot itself is a bit predictable, but far from a casual read. The Surrogates was awarded the 2006 Harvey Award for Best New Series and one read through this story will make it apparent why. Between the Watchmen-esque supplementary material that accompanies each individual issue and the wealth of bonus material in the trade, this is one story that deserves a place on your bookshelf. If nothing else, buy a copy for your significant other!
<B>OVERALL:</B>
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tshalf.jpg
You live a filtered life…Everyone dreams of changing the world. I only want to change it back.
<b>Created & Written by</b> Robert Venditti
<b>Illustrated & Colored by</b> Brett Weldele
<b>Edited by</b> Chris Staros
<b>Book design by</b> Bissel & Titus (www.bisseltitus.com)
<b>Published by</b> <a href=http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?title=219 target=_blank>Top Shelf Productions</a>
<b>Format:</b> 158 pages plus supplementary material in one trade paperback
<b>Price:</b> $19.95
I admit that I am not the most adamant purveyor of independent comics. It takes more than just a good review or an off hand comment to make me go down that other aisle and peruse how the less publicized half lives and shops shops. What I need, and I doubt I’m alone, is a good hook that will grab me and pull me in among the black and white books. In the case of The Surrogates that hook is the idea of an entire country filled with people plugged into electronic devices through which they live most of their lives. Sound familiar? The story that weaves its way in and around this world is one part commentary, one part mystery and just enough superheroics to fill five issues.
I was sitting on the train with my girlfriend when she handed me a list with twenty or so comic book stories that she might want to read, as culled from those trite little “lists of comics to show your girlfriend so that she won’t think you are weird for going every Wednesday.” Most of it was the usual parade of what fans have come to term “Indie stuff,” but saddled ever so nonchalantly between Transmetropolitan and Y: The Last Man (both of wish she had already enjoyed) there was The Surrogates.
The opening offering from writer Robert Venditti, who is joined by artist Brett Weldele (Image's Clockmaker and the soon to be feature film Southland Tales), the comic series is an exceptional piece of episodic fiction. This came as a surprise at first because outside of Wizard running one of its Secret Stash pieces on the book, I hadn’t heard anything about it or its creators. In retrospect the former “comics magazine” earned its subscription fee that month because here again was that unmistakable image of the enigmatic social terrorist (or is that freedom fighter, I always get those two confused) Steeplejack staring back at me. Take a look for yourself! ( http://www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog.php?type=12&title=528&PHPSESSID=edab21b6d97857699fb5f2a491f588bb)
<a href="http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2553/surrogatescoverog1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/4333/surrogatescovertnyh7.jpg" alt="The Surrogates" hspace=10 align=right></a> Past that, well I’m a sucker from anything that looks as if it could be a good sci-fi story; and in this case it seems as if once again the Indie crowd comes through. Not that a good look at the premise and a few of the Brett Weldele covers wouldn’t be enough to draw the more casual fans in, but truth be told comics are expensive and they take up room and the average fan needs a little bit more of a push if he or she can be bothered to go out and get one more collected edition (especially one with such a limited print run that my local store didn’t even order it). I hope I can give you that push.
If you have read a story by Philip K. Dick then you’ve probably considered some of the more basic themes in The Surrogates, the difference here is both its relevance to today’s technophilia and its presentation of the concept of the Masked Man, which superhero fans often take for granted as whatever it is the creator is presenting at face value, who while super is no hero to the “people” he claims to service.
In the world of 2054 the people of America have a new device with which to plug into and ignore the physical world they actually live in. The invention of the surrogate, literally a robotic stand-in, has yielded an era of unprecedented social evolution via its total sensory relay. People of every race and either gender can now go out and experience the world as whatever type of individual they want to be. Human to human contact of all kind in the open air is at an end. STDs and most incidents of violent crime are rapidly fading from the social consciousness.
The cost for this road to wonder is a new definition of what is considered living. Forget iPods and Blackberries, this is a world where every time two people meet on the street, they are talking to a machine and the other person is miles away in their homes. Aside from the more frivolous benefits, such as not being able to get drunk no matter how much “you” drink, a “surrie” as they are called can provide a constant replaying of ones fondest memories while a physical body performs the mundane actions involved with work.
The Surrogates is, at its best, a roadmap to where we are going and a harsh warning of what we may be willing to give up to get there.
In a world that amounts to little more than that of dreams, and nothing done presents any real consequence, how can anything be enjoyed? How can anyone live in a proverbial bubble, behind filtered mediums and censored newscasts, while being constantly plugged into the greatest of electronic wombs and not lose something in the process?
It is difficult to not draw a parallel to the work of the Wachowski Brothers. I for one kept imagining Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus saying that no one could be shown what The Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself. People, especially in the United States, are quick to defend what has come to be defined by the word freedom. In truth, freedom is not an ideal in history books that all people are immediately granted. Freedom does not begin and end with the ability to choose what music you listen to or what movies you watch (not that there seems to be an overabundance of free though in that area anyway). Freedom is simply an acknowledgement of what we all possess as innately as the ability to draw breath. Venditti, it would seem, would remind us that freedom is an idea that many fear we are in danger of forgetting.
In the city of the Central Georgia Metropolis it takes a masked vigilante named Steeplejack to show the people what freedom looks like once again.
Being taken, kicking and screaming, from the safety and security of the world we have come to know is never fun but it is often for our own good. This is science-fiction at its best. This is the world, our world, extrapolated into a future that we can believe without too much leeway and one our children could live in the shadows of. Long and short of it, a progressive, partially handicapped savant of an engineer named Lionel Canter sought to create a viable source of movement and presentation for the handicapped people of the world using a combination of virtual reality interface and cutting edge robotics. The Virtual Self corporation, after cutting all the checks, decided that the surrogates that resulted as of this unison could be more profitable being passed on to police officers and other emergency workers.
Enter the free market and before you can say "dividends," Virtual Self was the reigning champion of the surrogate movement that enveloped the country. Along with the more familiar plot threads of “old fashioned” police detectives and a few disgruntled religious fanatics, there is the aforementioned Steeplejack, purveyor of what once was.
<a href="http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8120/surrogatesintextkg8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2859/surrogatesintexttnbd7.jpg" alt="The Surrogates" hspace=10 align=left></a> The presentation and pacing of each issue is an unexpected break in what has come to be commonplace with many comics recently. There is no heavy emphasis on deconstruction, but the story rarely feels rushed. Weldele’s artwork is a blend of harsh line-work and dedicated Photoshop-ing that lends itself to a new, more original archetype. Though he seems to be channeling Ashley Wood every once in a while, there never fails to be clear distinction between the individual motivations of each and every character we are introduced to.
Readers are not to assume that Steeplejack is a hero, regardless of any super feats he may pull-off, and his motives are such that no one is quite clear on whose side he will fall. Is his crusade against what he calls “an artificial life” the result of dedication to a fringe religion whose fundamental dedication to living life the old fashioned way caused the riots which nearly tore the city apart thirty years before? Or is he just a disgruntled worker?
In a city, and soon to be a world, where people can be whoever they choose, the police are little more than insurance agents sent to make sure the crime in question was no worse than a faulty unit and not the intentional act of someone who has decided to live out another archaic act of aggression. Detective Harvy Greer is the unwitting recipient of a new case where someone with an affinity for electricity has taken to short-circuiting a couple who dipped into an alley for a bit of exhibitionism. Another side effect of never being outside in your own body is a distinct lack of inhibitions. Having sex outside is no worse than showing off a new car.
Venditti clearly knows what he wants to get across in his story and isn’t trying to overdue anything with this, his first real offering to the comics market. Both of the surries in this case turn on to be registered to men, one an overweight homebody who had registered his new body to work construction and another, a tall, well built man who wanted to explore his feminine side. Cultural taboos and social faux pas are a thing of the past and a grand movement away from fear and hate are on the way, or so it would seem.
The cost is evident in every step of Detective Greer’s investigations. The powerful, male CEO of Virtual Self is being played on the other end by a woman, who though fully capable on her own, keeps up appearances at the behest of the board of directors. Harvy’s own wife will not have dinner with him in “the flesh” because of how she feels about her own body. There is no appreciation for what we are not thus programmed to expect. There is little progress and the worst, it seems is yet to come.
Though the finer plot points work themselves into the main story casually, the majority of which have not been mentioned here, the plot itself is a bit predictable, but far from a casual read. The Surrogates was awarded the 2006 Harvey Award for Best New Series and one read through this story will make it apparent why. Between the Watchmen-esque supplementary material that accompanies each individual issue and the wealth of bonus material in the trade, this is one story that deserves a place on your bookshelf. If nothing else, buy a copy for your significant other!
<B>OVERALL:</B>
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tsfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/tshalf.jpg