My robot self and I & some mass destruction too!

Imagine a life of ease and comfort. You do not have to leave home for work, school, grocery shopping or boring social gatherings. Your robot self is here for you to work. All you have to do is to lie down on that chair and plug yourself in. Your 'Surrogate' will do the rest. He is smarter than you. He is better looking, and younger than you. But, since they say that every innovation has its own way of mass destruction, you may not want a surrogate in the end when you finally begin to realize its capability. But it's already too late.

The premise of "The Surrogates" by Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele begins in the year 2054 with the main protagonist detective Harvey Greer handling the case of the destruction of two surrogates by the 'Prophet,' the leader of anti-surrogate association. Determined to eliminate the human dependence on surrogates, is it for their own good or this so-called Prophet has something else on his or her mind? But wait, someone killed the 'Prophet'- the mythical seemingly obvious culprit behind the destruction of Surrogates. Who? And Why? Greer, after years, stepped out from his house himself to investigate, since he cannot rely on his surrogate anymore. What he found will make you bounce off your chair. It is one of those thrillers that will prove wrong your every prediction of what will happen next.

The prequel, "The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone," set sometime around the year 2044, traces the back story of then patrolman Harvey Greer and the surrogates- a new invention and a sudden sensation. When a teenager's prank goes horribly wrong, resulting in sudden death of a homeless man, a racist slur also occurs. The boy in question was using his father's surrogate at the time of the incident. Though his father was unaware of that at first, he later came to defend his son and lied to police that he was using his surrogate, for his self defense, and it wasn't his son. Moreover, the eye witness of the incident was later killed too, and the father and son are free to go. This led to several deadly riots and massive protests by the 'Prophet' and his 'followers'. The rest of the graphic novel deals with law's struggle with the anti-surrogate association and Greer's promotion to detective and his shocking discovery about the incident.

"The Surrogates" series has every ingredient of suspense and thrill of any sci-fi human-versus-machine struggle. What makes it different from any other sci-fi graphic novel is its inter-textuality, allusions and metaphors about the suddenly increasing human appetite for and addiction to machines. This graphic novel has a very strong message and you should read it if you care a little about the world you live in.

The movie adaptation of "Surrogates" is currently in theaters.