In 2002, a Borders clerk and striving author named Robert Venditti decided to write a comic. He turned to his copies of Astro City and Watchmen for guidance and managed to get The Surrogates running by 2005. The comic was linear and short, running five issues by design, and was based on the idea of a future in which people live vicariously through machines, called Surrogates, that look and feel just like humans themselves and that relay the physical sensations they encounter back to their operators. The plot follows Detective Harvey Greer as he investigates a string of attacks on Surrogates. Someone or something is electrocuting Surrogates in the streets, rendering them irreparable, and it seems that the culprit is also preparing to fire a specialized EMP, which will wipe out all Surrogates in the city.

The idea of living a secondary life hooked up to a machine was not new, but The Surrogates took an original twist on the concept. Whereas movies like The Matrix and, long before it, novels like William Gibson’s Neuromancer imagine worlds in which humans’ brains hook directly into cyberspace, where people live a virtual life, the characters in Venditti’s comic live on the same plain of reality as their Surrogates and in fact house their units like raincoats in their closets at home.

Venditti takes a realistic approach to the material. Surrogates, generally speaking, are not like supermen, running up walls while firing submachine guns and reloading before they hit the ground. These are everyday machines, built to emulate humans, and they are used by virtually the entire population. The Surrogates examines what life might really be like if this technology were available.

Overall, Surrogates are viewed by the world as a great good. Just imagine the possibilities: law enforcement officials no longer have to risk their lives keeping order; they work safely from home through their Surrogates. The biggest risk is the death of an expensive machine (which is insured). Parents no longer have to worry about their kids getting snatched away at malls. The less beautiful can now make themselves look any way they want. Surrogates open life to many new possibilities.

But the comic points out the downsides of such a world, too. For one thing, what is going to happen to the population’s health when we’re all reclining in our chairs ninety percent of the day with Surrogate communication devices strapped to our heads? And what about those who can’t afford or simply don’t want a Surrogate? They are at a significant risk living in a world where inhabitants can go about recklessly with little fear of personal injury. What about the possibility of life simply feeling less fulfilling? Would we be missing out on some unquantifiable satisfaction of experiencing life through one’s own, real body? These are some of the question the comic brings up, but, like any good piece of literature, it leaves the answers up to us.

The Surrogates completed its run in 2006. In July 2009, Venditti’s prequel, The Surrogates: Flesh and Bone, was released. The tone, style, and subject matter of the prequel are essentially the same as the original work. This book follows the events leading to the uprising of the fanatically religious anti-Surrogate group, and it also provides the back story for the first run’s aforementioned Surrogate killer. Though it is a prequel, it continues the first book’s exploration of the social impact that widespread Surrogate use would have on our world.

Rounding out The Surrogates’ story is the artwork of Brett Weldele, which is nothing if not unique. In fact, some may label his illustrations as bland, as practically all of his panels are monochromatic, often dull grays and browns at that, and his lines look more like sketches than traditional comic book art. All of this, however, is perfectly fitting to the story and the world of the comic, a world in which all vitality seems to have drained away, in which people are not so much dynamic inhabitants of the world as they are concepts that blend in with it. If Weldele's art seems to lack life, it's because the world he illustrates lacks it, too.

From what has been released, Jonathan Mostow’s film adaptation, simply titled Surrogates (coming out on September 25), is going to differ significantly from the comic, using the basic premise of Surrogates to tell a different, more mystery- and action-oriented story. In fact, Mostow himself told Sci Fi Wire, "This is not an iconic property, so we weren't bound by [the feeling] that anybody would be disappointed if we did something different or changed an element of the story […]But Rob [Venditti] has been totally supportive of all the stuff we've done.” The film also looks rather colorful and vibrant, as opposed to the comic’s distinct lack of color. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, as liberal adaptations can be as good as and sometimes even better than their sources. As long as Mostow doesn’t stray too far off course, we should have, at the least, a film to give us something to think about.

Click here to read our interview with Robert Venditti.