Part crime novel and part sci-fi romp, The Surrogates is probably one of the better sci-fi books/graphic novels I’ve read in a while. The graphic novel takes place in the near future and mankind have taken to controlling and using robots called Surrogates (or surries for short) as a means of going through day to day life.

Such is the dependance of man on Surrogates that even the entire police force is made up of surrogates controlled by users operating from the relative safety of their homes. People have taken up using surrogates of a different gender, race and even physiology as these robots, like present DELL computers, are pretty customizable.

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There are also people who oppose the use of surries, condemning the robots to be an abomination to God’s creation. These militant group of people and their leader become the target of a police detective’s investigation on a perpetrator going about destroying surries.

Ironically, the person operating the surrie that’s been destroying other surries is none other than the person who made surries possible. Wanting nothing more than surries to be extended prosthesis, he goes about his crusade to make surrie users “live” their normal lives again. And somewhat succeeds.

What makes the book such a compelling read is nice meld between police procedural investigation and sci-fi elements. The interplay between characters is top notched, and you can’t help but root for the police detective.

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The writer, Robert Venditti, went to great pains to ground the story as plausible future that can happen in our time. The newspaper articles, surrie ads and brochures that you find at the end of each issue serve to flesh out the story even more.

So if you are sci-fi buff and comic book reader, The Surrogates deserves a spot on your shelf.