Broken Frontier

Top Shelf’s The Surrogates was a unique book for the publisher. Written by Robert Venditti, with art by Brett Weldele, its smartly constructed world frighteningly close to our own was a masterful work, especially considering it was Venditti’s first.

Now that the big screen adaptation is arriving in September, starring Bruce Willis, it’s time to go back to the world. That’s precisely what Flesh and Bone does – it goes back, as a prequel rather than a sequel to the 2005-06 mini-series. Usually I groan at prequels, but in this context it works splendidly. That’s mainly due to the strength of the original being such a rich world that demands revisiting.

Just like the first book, this is a classy production in every way. Set in 2039, 15 years before Volume 1, things kick off with one of the best introductions to a comic you’ll ever read, as three kids take their fathers’ surrogates (think of them as android avatars) out for a night of “fun.” The fun includes beating Zachary Hayes, a homeless man to the point of death. That’s where the trouble begins.

The veteran detective McEvoy and the rookie cop Greer (from the first series) are on the case, and an adventure with parts of CSI, Law and Order and Blade Runner begins. A crafty legal response revolving around the lie that the kids didn’t know the vagrant was real is swiftly put together, and a battle in the court of public opinion over divisions of race and class looks set to make history. At the forefront of this controversy is a dreadlocked preacher known merely as The Prophet, who some may also recognise from the first book.

Included are well written pamphlets, customer surveys, and excerpts from “America’s Most Downloaded Paper Since 2018.” Like the first book which showed gorgeous adverts, these glimpses of the future world stamp a bold difference upon the tale. Venditti has obviously thought about this world, and it shows. The writer has also creatively woven in realistic aspects of the increasingly dependent populace and their love of surrogates. Scenes like Greer’s passionate lovemaking with his new wife’s surrogate body really add weight to the effect that the introduction of alternate bodies have upon society.

The action ramps up in the final third of the book, with The Prophet’s flock and the riot police (complete with new, basic surrogates) busting heads, and shop windows, while The Prophet himself negotiates for a piece of his own land, to build a surrogate free society.

Publishing this as a complete 144 page OGN was a good move from Top Shelf. From interrogation rooms, to boardrooms, it appears as a seamless narrative.  Whereas the precursor to this volume was focused more on themes of living vicariously through surrogates, Flesh and Bone focuses more on the divide between the haves and the have-nots. It’s almost like a sci-fi Spike Lee film.

Brett Weldele’s art is just as sublime as his work on Volume 1. His style may not be the most obvious choice for a tale like this, with its minimalistic approach, but it works splendidly. He conveys action and emotion with great aplomb and his muted colours offer a realistic glimpse in to this tantalising, yet dangerous, world.

Hopefully when the film hits screens on September 25, more people will take notice of this intriguing work.