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iceberg0's review
4.0
Interesting, edgy prequel. I really like the writing and the art is unique and provides the perfect counterpoint to the story.
virginiaduan's review
3.0
I enjoyed the prequel far more than the original. However, perhaps it is because I already had the world-building part of the experience done and all that was needed was to have the interesting back story gaps filled. There really is no way to separate that out. So, I enjoyed this story and seeing how things progressed in order to give us the world in the first Volume. Plus, it was fun to catch the clues to the future. As before, I enjoyed the artwork and the supplemental materials most.
cetian's review
2.0
And I finish my reading of The Surrogates. It was hard. The story is interesting (this prequel not as much) but I could never relate to the art. Maybe you can blame me for watching the movie first (which fans of the comic mostly hate). The movie, for all its imperfections, created an atmosphere that suited the story. The comic is bleak, has a gray palette that makes everything seem desolate and sketchy. And the drawing is rough and sketchy too. I think it works for many people, that made this a cult comic. Not for me. When we talk about flesh and bone vs tech, all things that have to do with the senses come to mind. This is like anti-Cronnenberg. It's almost non-visual. Like a "mere" storyboard for the text, deprived of any texture, anything vivid and enticing. Maybe I'm a bit synesthetic and this only numbed my senses. The story did not come to life, so to speak (in my mind). And for a story such as The Surrogates, where the human mind's ability to function in other realities or ways is the pivot, that's disappointing.
library_brandy's review
3.0
A prequel to the original Surrogates, Flesh and Bone focuses on a patrolman investigating a murder committed by three teenage boys joyriding in their fathers' surrogates. The case is mentioned a few times in the original, so this is filling in the back story.
Really not a whole lot of explanation of the society that wants these surrogates; they're just a new technology that people are embracing, not radically different from, say, an iphone today--the sort of thing that makes life easier but hasn't yet become ubiquitous.
Teen appeal--eh, sort of? The assailants are teenagers, but they barely get a mention after the first 15 pages or so.
Really not a whole lot of explanation of the society that wants these surrogates; they're just a new technology that people are embracing, not radically different from, say, an iphone today--the sort of thing that makes life easier but hasn't yet become ubiquitous.
Teen appeal--eh, sort of? The assailants are teenagers, but they barely get a mention after the first 15 pages or so.
abetterbradley's review
3.0
I recently read "The Homeland Directive" by Robert Venditti. I enjoyed it so much that I needed to seek out more of his work. The Surrogates series is okay. It didn't draw me in as much as "The Homeland Directive" but it was still a good read.
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