Writer: Robert Venditti
Art: Brett WeldeleSummary
I first became aware of this graphic novel
while watching the movie trailer. The trailer had some cool Sci-Fi
elements so I decided to check out the actual source material. The
graphic novel collects all five of the original issues that were
published from 2005 to 2006. Also included are the five comic book
covers, original concept ideas behind the characters, how the art was
transformed from the script to the page, deleted scenes and a pin-up
gallery by other artists. The most fascinating item of the additional
material is how the panels were colored in. The art is different from
most that I have seen, it has a watercolor aspect to it. It was
interesting to learn that most of the art was done on Photoshop through
the use burn, dodge and overlay modes.
The overall story debates about what it means to be human. It is the year 2054 and people have resorted to living life through their surrogates. You can be anything you want to be, male, female, young, old, different ethnicity, etc. Crime rates plummet as people cannot die if their surrogate is mugged or injured. Being a police officer has become a very boring job.
That is until a mask vigilante appears out of nowhere and starts electrocuting people’s surrogates. The surrogates are damaged beyond repair so you better have paid your insurance premiums. The only clue to the vigilante’s motive is his one word threat, “Live”.
Two detectives, Pete and Harv, are put on the case to figure out who are behind these crimes before it becomes a huge political situation. The politicians and big business cannot have it become known that a vigilante is taking down surrogates. While following up on lead Harv is thrown out a window and his surrogate is severally damaged. For the rest of the investigation Harv decides to do it live. He begins to realize that he is missing out on life and also attempts to reconnect personally with his wife.
The faction that is the likely culprit behind the vigilante is the Dread Reservation. They are lead by a man called The Prophet and they believe that using a surrogate is an abomination. The Prophet’s viewpoints provide a nice counter-point argument against the use of surrogates and more broadly against technology. Essentially, even though technology is supposed to make our lives easier it destroys our relationships with other people.
The overall story debates about what it means to be human. It is the year 2054 and people have resorted to living life through their surrogates. You can be anything you want to be, male, female, young, old, different ethnicity, etc. Crime rates plummet as people cannot die if their surrogate is mugged or injured. Being a police officer has become a very boring job.
That is until a mask vigilante appears out of nowhere and starts electrocuting people’s surrogates. The surrogates are damaged beyond repair so you better have paid your insurance premiums. The only clue to the vigilante’s motive is his one word threat, “Live”.
Two detectives, Pete and Harv, are put on the case to figure out who are behind these crimes before it becomes a huge political situation. The politicians and big business cannot have it become known that a vigilante is taking down surrogates. While following up on lead Harv is thrown out a window and his surrogate is severally damaged. For the rest of the investigation Harv decides to do it live. He begins to realize that he is missing out on life and also attempts to reconnect personally with his wife.
The faction that is the likely culprit behind the vigilante is the Dread Reservation. They are lead by a man called The Prophet and they believe that using a surrogate is an abomination. The Prophet’s viewpoints provide a nice counter-point argument against the use of surrogates and more broadly against technology. Essentially, even though technology is supposed to make our lives easier it destroys our relationships with other people.
Review
The discovery of who is behind
vigilant caught me by surprise. It was not who I expected but after it
was all said and done, it makes perfect sense. There are newspaper
articles, advertisements, position arguments, etc. at the end of chapter
which provides the most clues as to why these crimes are happening. In
addition, they also provide a nice background to the story.
I highly enjoyed this graphic novel and it is on par with some of the better Sci-Fi novels that I have read. It does what Sci-Fi does best; it makes you think while also being decidedly entertaining.
I highly enjoyed this graphic novel and it is on par with some of the better Sci-Fi novels that I have read. It does what Sci-Fi does best; it makes you think while also being decidedly entertaining.
My Rating
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