Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Surrogates (The Surrogates #1)

by Robert Venditti (Goodreads Author), Brett Weldele (Illustrator)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 749 ratings · 116 reviews

The year is 2054, and life is reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the personal surrogate, android substitutes that let 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 t...more

Paperback, 208 pages

Published September 12th 2006 by Top Shelf Productions (first published 2006)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Graphic Novels Made Into Movies

24th out of 27 books — 32 voters

Essential Howard the Duck, Vol. 1 by Steve Gerber

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

The Movie Ruined The Book

1st out of 21 books — 4 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 1,100)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 17, 2012 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

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'v...more

8 likes · like · see review

Sep 29, 2009 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, crime-mystery, fiction, movies, sci-fi

The collected miniseries raises some interesting questions about the price of technological progress and of social appearances. Venditti knows when it's necessary to pull back the dialogue and let Weldele's art speak for him. For a story that relies on no captions, the dialogue works well to establish the background and push the plot forward.

Weldele uses an interesting mix of computer-generated effects and art to supplement his scratchy drawings. But art style seems too dark for the story, as if...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 26, 2009 Jayme rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

I'm not a fan of graphic novels. However, if the artwork is good and the story is interesting I'll give it try. The drawing was excellent and the coloring was very similar to the 30 Days of Nights graphic novels which I thoroughly enjoyed. And the story, of course, warning us against the dangers of becoming disconnected from the world...it could have been heavy-handed but it wasn't. The ending was a bit abrupt and, unfortunately, I figured out early on who the "killer" was. Still, I highly recom...more

1 like · like · see review

May 12, 2013 Janie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 3-stars, graphic-novels, hack-the-system, psychological, stylistic, movies, mental-illness

This book is fairly confusing. The plots sort of slowly flow by, and while the stylized art is very well done, I have to admit I'm more of a fan of the crisp, clear lines rather than rough sketch-book-looking design, as well as color beyond shades of brown and black. The reports and advertisement segments for surrogates are ridiculously well done, and they do look absolutely realm which was CRAZY cool.

The year is [sometime in the future], and humanity has gotten accustomed to living their lives...more This book is fairly confusing. The plots sort of slowly flow by, and while the stylized art is very well done, I have to admit I'm more of a fan of the crisp, clear lines rather than rough sketch-book-looking design, as well as color beyond shades of brown and black. The reports and advertisement segments for surrogates are ridiculously well done, and they do look absolutely realm which was CRAZY cool.

The year is [sometime in the future], and humanity has gotten accustomed to living their lives through highly-sophisticated pieces of machinery called "Surrogates". Literally, they can just lie home in bed and walk around the street experiencing all sorts of sensations, and that's just the world.

This book does a great job making the world seem eerily real and plausible with the very realistic digital essay reports that act as exposition as to how and why surrogates have been able to be so popular. The issues discussed are very real as well. Would person powered robots really be a good idea for law enforcement? The technology that enables sight would be cameras that effectively save everything bad that happens. Evidence for all wrongdoings. But then there is the INCEPTION movie sort of dilemma addressed too: is it worth it? It's not REAL!

There actually is a plot and characters, but I found them boring. But the world created in this graphic novel was just so detailed and fascinating, I’d give it 3 stars for that.

Rants:
the "Prophet" character was annoying, inconsistant, and I couldn't tell if he's just making a power-play crazy or what his deal was. The bible verses he was spouting didn't really have anything to do with anything. He's going on and on about God's judgement on the last day, but what does this have to do with the "surrogates"? Is it because humanity is trying to play god and blatently change everything about their outer appearence through their surrogates? Probably, but I don't understand how this train of thought leads to "destroy them all" followed by "I'm a hippie man, PEACE OUT ALL".

(view spoiler)(less)

like · see review

Apr 16, 2012 Andrew Shuping rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel

I read The Homeland Directive by Robert Venditti sometime last year and I’ve got to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of the work. It just didn’t capture my attention as much as I thought it would, but I kept hearing good things about The Surrogates and thought I’d give it a try. And wow. All of the good things I heard about it were right and this book now has a place on bookshelf (which doesn’t happen with every book that I read.)

The year is 2054 and android surrogates are a way of life. Only the...more I read The Homeland Directive by Robert Venditti sometime last year and I’ve got to admit I wasn’t the biggest fan of the work. It just didn’t capture my attention as much as I thought it would, but I kept hearing good things about The Surrogates and thought I’d give it a try. And wow. All of the good things I heard about it were right and this book now has a place on bookshelf (which doesn’t happen with every book that I read.)

The year is 2054 and android surrogates are a way of life. Only the children are real and everyone else interacts with the world via their surrogates all without ever leaving the comfort of their home. It’s a perfect world. It’s a peaceful world thanks to hard working folks of the Metro Police Department. Detective Harvey Greer is at peace and enjoying life with his wife…even though they never really “see” each other in person. And then things change. A techno-terrorist is bent on forcing society back to a time when people lived their lives for themselves instead of experiencing them through a surrogate’s touch. And Detective Greer is thrust into the middle of a battle both in the real world and at home. And everything will change.

As I mentioned above I wasn’t a big fan of the other work, mostly because it seemed to be a bit too familiar to me. But The Surrogates was exciting and had a great build up to the tension and conflict between the two sides of society, those that advocated the surrogates and those that wanted to go back to a mortal life. Even better was the tension that built between the characters, such as Detective Greer and his wife, who started off on the same side until Greer discovered there was a great deal to life he was missing. The story reminds me a great deal of Isaac Asimov’s books featuring Elijah Bailey and the spacer worlds, with the subtle tension between the characters, especially as they start to change. It’s a great storyline and I’m glad that I gave it a read.

The artwork…is different and somewhat difficult for me to describe. When I first looked at it I really didn’t like it, it just felt uneasy on my eyes, in part because of the blurred and muted backgrounds which were just splashes of color never really following the shape or the outline of the characters. But the more I got into the story the better the artwork worked for the tale and the more that I liked it. The style is a basic black line drawing of the characters and the building, but accented by dynamic shadow and white highlights to create a gritty, futuristic feel to the book. He also at times uses computer imagery, such as detailing schematics, which for me threw off the pacing of the story a bit. I much preferred the sketchy, muted color scheme to the hard computer line drawings.

As I said at the beginning this book has found a place on my bookshelf and I’d be willing to give other books by Robert V a try after enjoying this one (heck I may even give The Homeland Directive another read.) I’d recommend this book to fans of futuristic/sci-fi stories such as as Isaac Asimov, Blade Runner, and others.(less)

like · see review

Apr 09, 2012 Marsha rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, graphic-novel, science-fiction-speculative-fiction, series-entry

This is a fascinating concept, brilliantly told and illustrated through the tale of a crime and detective story. The possible ramifications are drawn out in ways that make the reader THINK about what it would be like to live in the third person in your own life.

What would you do if you could have sex with anyone you wanted, without fear of disease or scandal? Would having sex through a puppet with someone other than your spouse be considered adultery? Could you live your life without ever seein...more

like · see review

Jan 17, 2012 Kate rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Surrogates takes place in a futuristic world in which people live out their lives through "surrogates," advanced robots. These surrogates let them live out the lives of their dreams and protect their real bodies from harm. The Surrogates is a fast-paced, rather messy noir story about a police detective who tracks down the man responsible for attacks on surrogates.

There's nothing really fresh or new here for anyone familiar with sci-fi. The pacing is uneven, and the author never really builds...more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2010 Robert Beveridge rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cuy-co-pub-lib, finished

Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, The Surrogates (Top Shelf, 2006)

It is by now a Hollywood cliché, not to mention a Hollywood truism, that the book is better than the movie. And that is certainly the case where The Surrogates is concerned. That said, in some ironic way, reading Robert Venditti's original source material gave me a slightly greater respect for Jonathan Mostow's bloated, listless adaptation. I can see why he made the changes he made, and some of them I actually agree with. (The tw...more Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, The Surrogates (Top Shelf, 2006)

It is by now a Hollywood cliché, not to mention a Hollywood truism, that the book is better than the movie. And that is certainly the case where The Surrogates is concerned. That said, in some ironic way, reading Robert Venditti's original source material gave me a slightly greater respect for Jonathan Mostow's bloated, listless adaptation. I can see why he made the changes he made, and some of them I actually agree with. (The two big ones, as it turns out, were direct contributors to the movie's downfall, to the point where I may actually go back and revise my review to include a discussion of them.)

If you saw the movie trailers, you've got a basic idea, but I'll give you a rundown anyway: it's 2054, and the world is populated by human beings who live vicariously through androids known as surrogates. The human flops down in a chair, puts on a headset, and bam, virtual reality. Surrogates work for their owners (allowing the out-of-shape to be construction workers, say), drink and do drugs for their owners (all the sensation with none of the withdrawal symptoms), have illicit affairs for their owners, etc. You get the idea. 92% of the world's humans, we're told, own and use surrogates. The rest are not too happy with this. In the metro Atlanta area where the book takes place, the head of the non-surrogate-using humans, known as the Dreads, is The Prophet, a mover and shaker in the anti-surrogate riots of 2039 who eventually agreed with the mayor of Atlanta that he and his Luddite pals needed to move out of Atlanta to a reservation seventy miles away. All of what I'm giving you here is setup for the actual plot, which involves two surrogates who we see being fried in the opening scene, and the two detectives assigned to the case.

While no one would call The Surrogates a subtle book, in comparison to the movie it's like a velvet glove. The main reason for this is that the movie changes the book anti-consumer message to something far more muddled, yet far closer to the surface (in the movie, the deaths of the surrogates travels back over the wires to kill their owners, which changes the whole nature of the movie's plot). Venditti also has some strong words about addiction which are cut, rather brutally I might add, out by the changing of a few key scenes. They are the book's most powerful (especially Venditti's final panel), and the movie's weakest. That Mostow failed miserably in his attempt to bring The Surrogates to the screen, and that the changes made to it were exactly the wrong ones, does not make Hollywood any less respectable for at least trying to take a very good, if transparent, indie piece and being it to the masses. It gives me some small version of hope that someone in Hollywood still actually cares about art. *** ½(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 20, 2009 Natlyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sequential-art

Well done mystery/sf thriller with interesting world building. I'm not sure about some of the speculation as to the effect surrogates would have on the populace, but most of it is moderately plausible at least. The pacing is dead on, incorporating the crime investigation, the detective's personal life and background on the use of surrogates in just the right amounts at just the right times.

I would be very interested to learn what happens after the end of this story: however, I suspect the author...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 15, 2010 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, graphic-novels-comic-books, science-fiction

I've thoroughly enjoyed this series. The concept of owning a surrogate and living vicariously through it in your career, relationships, and daily life is equally fascinating as it is horrifying. I loved how much Venditti thought through the implications of this technology and what kind of an impact vicarious living could have on culture, politics, and religion. I was lucky enough to read the collected volumes which included some extremely creative advertising from Virtual Life Inc. It was so bel...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 02, 2011 Angel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic_novels_and_comics, mystery-and-detective, science_fiction

Only thing I will say upfront not so positive is that I had a bit of mixed feelings at the end, which I will not reveal because I think this book deserves to be read. And to be honest, an ending that does make you think a bit is a good thing. It certainly is something you do not get often when you think of graphic novels and comics. So, that out of the way, let's look at the rest of the book.

The book is a nice blend of a police procedural/mystery and science fiction. In a world where humans now...more Only thing I will say upfront not so positive is that I had a bit of mixed feelings at the end, which I will not reveal because I think this book deserves to be read. And to be honest, an ending that does make you think a bit is a good thing. It certainly is something you do not get often when you think of graphic novels and comics. So, that out of the way, let's look at the rest of the book.

The book is a nice blend of a police procedural/mystery and science fiction. In a world where humans now have the option to live their lives via mechanical surrogates, people do not have to leave their homes and worry about anything. But they can still go to work, so on. The authors did excellent work thinking about the implications of such a society, and they really do an excellent work bringing it to life. In this world, there is a terrorist that destroys surrogates in a quest to make the world go back to living a real life. The protagonist is the detective tasked with stopping him. Among the suspects is a cult leader who leads a faction that sees surrogates as aberrations. This all has the makings of a very good story, and the authors do deliver on that front.

The art is not too realistic, but the style matches the gritty, kind of noir setting the authors wish to evoke. It does feel right in relation to the story. In addition, the book has textual materials (news articles, a brochure for surrogates, so on) that add to the authenticity of the story. I will warn that if you are more of a visual reader, taking the time to read some of these extras found at the end of each chapter can slow your reading pace a bit. But I think readers will find some of the materials interesting. Additionally, this particular edition has a series of extras after the story: a deleted scene, author commentary, so on. If you like knowing how a comic is crafted, you may enjoy reading through this part.

This is the comic series that gave basis to the recent The Surrogates film. I have not seen it, but knowing Hollywood, I have a feeling they probably mucked it up. But being curious, I will likely watch it if I get a chance. Overall, this is one of the best graphic novels I have read so far this year. It has a good story, depth, good art, and good science fiction. (less)

like · see review

Sep 16, 2010 Trisha rated it 3 of 5 stars

I adore the premise of this graphic novel. The year is 2054 and the world population is primarily living life through androids they mentally link with and control. These "surrogates" are used for more than just entertainment; people use them for all aspects of life including jobs - police forces are now 100% surrogates with the human users for the most part not even physically capable of performing the job. But someone out there isn't thrilled with this virtual way of living, and he is determine...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2009 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

I figured since I worked on the upcoming movie, I should read The Surrogates to get a real sense of the story beyond the snippets here and there that I pieced together. I was pleasantly surprised. The book isn't overly complex, which is good. Instead of bogging down in the science, Venditti lets you get to know Detective Harvey Greer and gives you a feel for what society has become by looking through his eyes.

The storytelling is crisp and compelling, and I liked the inter-chapter sections - jou...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Rebecca Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this graphic novel, Robert Venditti depicts a world in which people no longer interact face-to-face and instead rely on androids and virtual reality. As the story progresses, the readers begin to realize just how twisted the society is. The wife of the protagonist refuses to be seen by her own husband because she'd rather appear as a young and beautiful android than an aging woman. Mortality and human interaction play a large part in the story and, when his surrogate is damaged, the protagoni...more

like · see review

May 27, 2010 Jason Pettus rated it 4 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

This is a special five-issue comics miniseries from 2006 by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, apparently made into a big-budget Hollywood movie starring Bruce Willis that I have no recollection of ever even being in the theatres (strange for me and science-fiction), which takes as its premise a very Holl...more

like · see review

Jul 01, 2011 Brandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, boy-books, comics, dystopian-post-apocalyptic, library, mystery, speculative-fiction, adult

Virtual reality technology has come so far that leaving the house is completely unnecessary. Nearly everyone has a Surrogate, an android with a VR link-up to ferry physical input back to the user. Violent crime has been almost completely eradicated. Police officers sit safely in the station while their surrogates walk into danger. All in all, it's a perfectly safe society, allowing interaction without any of the dangers. Except for the techno-terrorist bent on destroying surrogates and forcing p...more

like · see review

Mar 11, 2011 Danica Northend rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was one of the most interesting science fiction premises I've read in a long time (and even then, the best ones were, of course, from the 70s). I think Venditti sets us up to explore an interesting set of social issues that could, in the context of the story, have run very very deep. The premise cleverly addresses the obvious social implications of our present forms of socializing (the alternatives offered by facebook, etc) and it, along with our contemporary attitudes toward identity - bot...more

like · see review

Mar 11, 2010 erica rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: comic book nerds

Everything I've read recently has been mutated/adopted by another medium (mostly movies, but Wicked is a musical and icanhascheeseburger is a website...and yes, I 'read' icanhascheeseburger the book).

Thought the Bruce Willis flick looked kinda interesting, so I thought the graphic novel would inspire me enough to finally add the movie to my queue. It has, but it's number 478 or something. There were a couple of cool extra stuff between chapters (brochure from company selling surrogate robot-bodi...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 14, 2009 Dave Maddock rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, sci-fi

I loved this book. The writing is top notch and the art, though a bit too scribbly for my taste, worked well with the "sci-fi noir" feel of the story. I think Venditti did a good job of making his social point without becoming preachy, perhaps partly because you get the feeling that he'd like to operate a surrogate as much as most of his characters do.

Reading this off the back of Moore's Black Dossier, I can't help but praise Venditti's intelligent use of the "ancilliary documents" technique tha...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 14, 2009 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow, what a spectacular book. Venditti mapped out a whole world, culture and dialect to go with what could've been a pretty superficial story setting. This is the kind of thing I used to expect of the authors of sci-fi or future-fiction *novels* I used to read, but I've come to accept that most graphic novels can get away with a real simple shorthand of the mythos and worlds in which they operate (mostly because the DC/Marvel/etc universes have been overrun with so much oft-trodden ground that i...more

like · see review

Sep 22, 2009 Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, fiction, sci-fi

I just didn't want to finish the book. Cause that's all folks.

Man, I haven't read a graphic novel this well written in a while. I was a dedicated comic collector as a kid and most of them were nicely done and worth a quick read.

But this drama is not only written extremely well, but it flows effortlessly with the sparse duotone drawings. They don't get in the way, but accentuate the multiple story lines--even with the sublte change in color from scene to scene. Seeing this as a movie would be ex...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 08, 2009 Lora rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

I didn't expect this book to be this good. I picked it up because there is a movie adaptation coming out soon. However, it is my impression that the movie will be quite different.

This is a fantasy story of our culture in the year 2054. Robots have been created that take the place of human interaction. These robots, called surrogates, are basically puppets in the real world. People sit at home with a headset on and direct their surrogate however they want. They feel, taste, and experience all tha...more

like · see review

Mar 10, 2010 Charles rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels

I didn't love it, but I liked it pretty well. I'm not really a reader of graphic novels so I may have missed some of the subtelties that the author talks about at the end of the book. The work is fairly long, but I think there was enough meat of a story here so that it could have been considerably longer. I'd like to see the story told as a novel, since a lot of the background information could be developed.

You can clearly see the influence of The Watchmen in how the story is presented. As for t...more

like · see review

Jul 17, 2009 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars

I admit to picking this up after seeing a trailer for the upcoming movie. I really want to read and enjoy graphic novels, but some (like The Watchmen) have been disappointing. This book was not. A smart story, told well and with mature, sophisticated treatment of the important themes. Like all good science fiction writers, Venditti takes something we have in the present (virtual worlds like MMOs with avatars that we control) and forecasts a worrisome future, using the text to explore the potenti...more

like · see review

Aug 30, 2010 Virginia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novel, speculative-fiction, read-2010

This graphic novel only gets three stars because of the beautiful art. The story itself, only two stars. I found the climax of the story to be a big, "That's it?" If anything, I feel as if this five chapter story is either a prequel or an epilogue. With a world where most of the US who can afford a surrogate uses one, there were so many possibly far more interesting storylines could be told, instead we get a ho-hum mystery with people I didn't really care about. You know it's a wasted effort whe...more

like · see review

May 02, 2010 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this because I just got the DVD from Netflix. In a very short span the writer brings up what some of what the problems of VR and living your life through it could be. Most people link into an android surrogate to do their daily work. The sudden destruction of surrogates including that owned by the police department's investigator leads the cop to give up his surrogate and to experience the investigation using his real body. Doing so he becomes convinced that for several years he has not b...more

like · see review

Dec 13, 2009 Joshua Palmatier rated it 4 of 5 stars

I decided to buy and read "The Surrogates" because, of course, the movie was coming out soon and it had Bruce Willis in it, and I've lately been drawn into the graphic novel universe. So I said, why not? I've read a few other graphic novels and the concepts presented in this one were interesting.

First off, the graphic novel is significantly different from the movie, so you should probably read it even if you have already seen the movie. It starts off with the same initial setup--some surries get...more I decided to buy and read "The Surrogates" because, of course, the movie was coming out soon and it had Bruce Willis in it, and I've lately been drawn into the graphic novel universe. So I said, why not? I've read a few other graphic novels and the concepts presented in this one were interesting.

First off, the graphic novel is significantly different from the movie, so you should probably read it even if you have already seen the movie. It starts off with the same initial setup--some surries get zapped and detectives are there to investigate--but pretty much from that moment on it diverges from the movie. Characters are the same, but they don't do what they did in the movie, tec. So read the novel, it's worth it.

The storyline is definitely interesting and pulls you along, weaving the actual detective work together with the life of the main detective, Greer. You find out about his relationship with his wife and how the introduction of the surrogates--androids that the user controls and that pretty much act out everyone's daily life for safety reasons--has altered society and interpersonal relationships to a huge extent. The main idea of the surrogates is what kept me interested in the novel, although the plotline about who's zapping surrogates and why also drew me in. The ramifications on every aspect of society if we did ever reach a point where the majority of the population lived their lives through surrogates is . . . astounding. And that's why this graphic novel rocks.

It's also why it's slightly disappointing. There are so many aspects of life that would change that what was presented in the novel seemed . . . limited. I loved the story and the novel, but when I was finished I felt that there was SO MUCH MORE to explore with this concept and I was disappointed that there wasn't more, a volume 2 or something. I know there's a prequel, and I will definitely read that, but I seriously hope that there will be more set in this world in the future because there is so much more left to explore.

Since this is a graphic novel, I must also comment on the artwork: spectacular. The artwork was subtle and appropriate and a perfect amalgamation of art and photoshopping, especially regarding some of the SF elements that were incorporated into the artwork, such as realistic digital screens and such. At the same time, the artwork was extremely simple. The level of detail was appropriate and minimalistic, as well as the color palette. Some panels were sketchy and blocky, others were more finely detailed, and the ability of the artist to convey complex emotions through facial expression and such was astounding.

So, overall a very good graphic novel, the only drawback being that the world created had SO MUCH potential that I felt there should have been much more done in this universe and with this plotline, so was disappointed when the novel ended. I'd love to see more from this pair, and even if you've seen the movie, I'd definitely suggest reading the novel.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Sep 23, 2009 Roxanne Hsu Feldman rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphicnovels, sci-fi, adult, youngadult

I had high hopes and maybe it was my fault hoping for a really gripping read accompanied by high-level artwork. It turned out to be something of a dud. There is definitely the seed of a great story but it never quite blossomed and the hastily presented resolution is dissatisfying to say the least. The crude artwork is without raw energy often associated with such style and the Surries, perfect and sleek and are such an improvement of "vanilla" humans, do not to be so. I believe the stale look of...more

like · see review

May 22, 2009 Luis rated it 3 of 5 stars

An interesting story told very well through text and pictures. In some ways, this is classic Sci-fi. Venditti has built a world around a simple what if and investigated how life would change if we could have surrogates do all of our work for us. Unfortunately, I think he didn't have enough time to really explore all the questions of morality and personal appearance in depth. Hopefully later books collections will look more at how the surrogates have changed the way we live our lives and less at...more

like · see review

Oct 07, 2012 Lindsay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

I'm a sucker for technology and this graphic novel has my 5 stars. Love the concept of the future having surrogate androids taking the place of us physically being out in the dangers of the world. But on the other hand... Are we truly living, do we truly feel the emotions that sway the decisions we would normally make? Would I be anything like who I am now if I didn't have to experience fear or shame or the human touch? Loved this story and all the extras in between the chapters and at the end o...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 36 37 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (3)

Genres

Sequential Art > Graphic Novels

105 users

Sequential Art > Comics

74 users

Science Fiction

33 users

Mystery

6 users

Science Fiction Fantasy

5 users

Adult

5 users

Graphic Novels Comics

4 users

Science Fiction > Dystopia

4 users

Comics > Comic Book

4 users

Mystery > Crime

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Robert Venditti

Robert Venditti is the New York Times bestselling author of the sci-fi graphic novel series The Surrogates, the first installment of which was adapted into a feature film starring Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames. He also writes the graphic novel adaptations of Rick Riordan’s bestselling Percy Jackson and the Olympians novels. His most recent book is the political/medical thriller The Homeland Directi...more

More about Robert Venditti...

Books by Robert Venditti

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Surrogates

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: The Surrogates
avg rating	preview: The Surrogates Goodreads rating: 3.74 (749 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181182.The_Surrogates?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347435329l/181182.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181182.The_Surrogates?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Surrogates by Robert Venditti[/url]

The Surrogates (The Surrogates #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website