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The Surface #1-4
The Surface, Volume 1
2034. Occidente e Oriente hanno comprato quasi tutta Africa e l’1% della popolazione mondiale vive sulle spalle del restante 99%, sempre più povero e assoggettato. Tre giovani hacker cercano in Tanzania il luogo che potrebbe cambiare tutto: The Surface. Quando lo trovano, la realtà viene stravolta oltre i loro sogni più estremi.
The Surface è una profonda riflessione sul nostro mondo ipermateriale che parte come una classica distopia per trasformarsi poco a poco in un’epopea lisergica-sci-fi che ci fa interrogare su quanto la narrazione possa influenzare la realtà. Con la sua psichedelia filosofica, che incrocia la visionarietà di Philip Dick, lo spiritualismo de L’Incal di Jodorowsky-Moebius e la critica sociale di Matrix, The Surface è un viaggio ipnotico di un autore visionario e coraggioso, in un mondo in cui la cultura e la tecnologia servono solo a mantenere docili le masse.
Dopo la serie Days of Hate, realizzata con Danijel Zezelj e amata da critica e pubblico, una nuova opera di Ales Kot, uno dei più acclamati sceneggiatori del fumetto statunitense, recentemente entrato anche a Hollywood con il film The New World.
The Surface è una profonda riflessione sul nostro mondo ipermateriale che parte come una classica distopia per trasformarsi poco a poco in un’epopea lisergica-sci-fi che ci fa interrogare su quanto la narrazione possa influenzare la realtà. Con la sua psichedelia filosofica, che incrocia la visionarietà di Philip Dick, lo spiritualismo de L’Incal di Jodorowsky-Moebius e la critica sociale di Matrix, The Surface è un viaggio ipnotico di un autore visionario e coraggioso, in un mondo in cui la cultura e la tecnologia servono solo a mantenere docili le masse.
Dopo la serie Days of Hate, realizzata con Danijel Zezelj e amata da critica e pubblico, una nuova opera di Ales Kot, uno dei più acclamati sceneggiatori del fumetto statunitense, recentemente entrato anche a Hollywood con il film The New World.
136 pages, Paperback
First published November 4, 2015
2 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
Aleš Kot
268 books178 followersAleš Kot is a post-Chernobyl, pre-revolution, Czech-born, California-based writer/producer who started in graphic novels and now makes films, television, and an occasional novella.
A. believe in art and community.
A. doesn't believe in borders nor cops.
A. believes in love, which they know is a very Libra answer. And what about it?
A. believe in art and community.
A. doesn't believe in borders nor cops.
A. believes in love, which they know is a very Libra answer. And what about it?
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
December 16, 2015
Ales Kot is one of the more interesting young comic-book writers out there. His writing is genre-based yet sloppy and a little bonkers, stripped down yet fractured, almost hyperactive, sometimes cryptic. There is a lot of Grant Morrison in The Surface, also more than a little Paul Pope: like his idols, Ales Kot is aiming for that sweet spot where financially rewarding mainstream conventions and hip, postmodern, punk-infused irony somehow manage to coexist in harmony. He’s not quite there yet, and occasionally his stuff feels almost as clumsy and half-baked and pretentious as Brian Wood’s, but his approach generally makes for a fresh, lively, challenging, energizing reading experience – nothing wrong with that! So what’s new? Well, turns out the heart of the universe is some kind of hologram, hunted by ruthless government agents as well as a bunch of rebellious and kinda cool hacker kids - whom are you cheering for? Yeah, me too!
March 25, 2018
Indefensibly pretentious pseudointellectual bull****.
>Reality is a subjective holographic projection from the brain, but there may be another world we can explore outside of this.
>>Interesting idea! So, how can we turn this into a narrative?
>Maybe a threesome? A fleet of monkeys? A fight with...someone?
>>But what does that lead to?
>Maybe I'll just apologize at the very end of the story for not being able to write and that will make everything ok.
Unforgivably disappointing writing descending from the upper echelons of esoteric cyberpunk and media theory toward an anticlimactic disclosure that it was all bull**** and directionless, then on through the fourth wall for an egoistic epilogue on the author's mental state too vain to be charming and too vague to be enlightening.
This is a multi-person project: the drawing is fine, the coloring is interesting, the wording is inappropriate but bearable (sans-serif will not remedy the writing). I refuse to give this any more than 1* as the work of the writer overshadows everything that could have made this flawed instead of completely broken.
Strongly unrecommended for any audience.
>Reality is a subjective holographic projection from the brain, but there may be another world we can explore outside of this.
>>Interesting idea! So, how can we turn this into a narrative?
>Maybe a threesome? A fleet of monkeys? A fight with...someone?
>>But what does that lead to?
>Maybe I'll just apologize at the very end of the story for not being able to write and that will make everything ok.
Unforgivably disappointing writing descending from the upper echelons of esoteric cyberpunk and media theory toward an anticlimactic disclosure that it was all bull**** and directionless, then on through the fourth wall for an egoistic epilogue on the author's mental state too vain to be charming and too vague to be enlightening.
This is a multi-person project: the drawing is fine, the coloring is interesting, the wording is inappropriate but bearable (sans-serif will not remedy the writing). I refuse to give this any more than 1* as the work of the writer overshadows everything that could have made this flawed instead of completely broken.
Strongly unrecommended for any audience.
February 25, 2020
A bunch of meta B/S where Ales Kot inserts himself into the story. Utter garbage.
December 30, 2015
This starts off quite interestingly but veers wildly off the road and crashes down a cliff. Sorry, Ales Kot, but you ought to leave metafiction to the professionals, like Grant Morrison. Langdon Foss' art is superb throughout, however, and is made all the better by Jordie Bellaire's colors.
December 1, 2015
It all makes sense at the end. Maybe.
I don’t know.
I’m not sure what to make of all this.
I love the concept.
But some of it seemed sloppy and cryptic. But then the author told me that before the book barely started.
I always love the blurring between what’s real and what might or might not be real.
But some stories like that are just a bit out of reach and leave me scratching my head. But was that the intent? And if so, did they, by definition, succeed?
It’s all very meta. Which also works if it’s not tooooooo ambiguous.
Why were they trying to find the lifelogs? What secrets are they hiding? When you wait too long to give answers people start to get bored. Will these questions even be answered?
I thought I started to get it as they followed the narrative. But then I started to not.
What happened to Mark and Gomez? What happened to Nasia? What happened to Robert?
And what happened to Ales?
It took me twice to read this to ask questions this coherently. I can’t fathom how many more times it would take to understand it.
Will I continue reading? I don’t know. I may decide to figure out what has happened. I may just go on and forget I ever read it.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond, and Image Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.
I don’t know.
I’m not sure what to make of all this.
I love the concept.
But some of it seemed sloppy and cryptic. But then the author told me that before the book barely started.
I always love the blurring between what’s real and what might or might not be real.
But some stories like that are just a bit out of reach and leave me scratching my head. But was that the intent? And if so, did they, by definition, succeed?
It’s all very meta. Which also works if it’s not tooooooo ambiguous.
Why were they trying to find the lifelogs? What secrets are they hiding? When you wait too long to give answers people start to get bored. Will these questions even be answered?
I thought I started to get it as they followed the narrative. But then I started to not.
What happened to Mark and Gomez? What happened to Nasia? What happened to Robert?
And what happened to Ales?
It took me twice to read this to ask questions this coherently. I can’t fathom how many more times it would take to understand it.
Will I continue reading? I don’t know. I may decide to figure out what has happened. I may just go on and forget I ever read it.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond, and Image Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.
January 16, 2019
The Surface is the answer on question: "How would look combination of Grant Morrison's Animal Man and Alejandro Jodorowsky's Incal in case the writer is young self-centered, pretentious anarchist
with ambition to lecture everyone?" I liked the Change. I almost hate the Surface. Two stars for art and colors. The script is self-indulgent and lecturing crap. Kot is trying once again to be meta, and create sigils to help mostly himself. There is difference between Jodorowsky and his universal mind opening stories (from his golden era) and Kot's lecturing everyone about theories he likes. What pissed me off about this was he claiming most of the theories are proven, which are most certainly not. There is difference between Morrison connecting with reader through putting his life experience into the stories telling reader that it's ok to have these feelings and doubts and Kot telling everyone how is he awesome and mature because he learned to love his mother, father, himself and how is he better writer and person because of it. I have never read anything more self-centered. No matter how many times he wrote he wanted to connect with everyone. Big disappointment.
with ambition to lecture everyone?" I liked the Change. I almost hate the Surface. Two stars for art and colors. The script is self-indulgent and lecturing crap. Kot is trying once again to be meta, and create sigils to help mostly himself. There is difference between Jodorowsky and his universal mind opening stories (from his golden era) and Kot's lecturing everyone about theories he likes. What pissed me off about this was he claiming most of the theories are proven, which are most certainly not. There is difference between Morrison connecting with reader through putting his life experience into the stories telling reader that it's ok to have these feelings and doubts and Kot telling everyone how is he awesome and mature because he learned to love his mother, father, himself and how is he better writer and person because of it. I have never read anything more self-centered. No matter how many times he wrote he wanted to connect with everyone. Big disappointment.
December 6, 2018
While it starts off in an interesting direction it ends poorly. The characters don't have any depth to them. The point of this story is to confront someones issues with their parents. That's fine if there are interesting people around the story to carry you through the story. There just aren't any in this book.
I read this book thanks to NetGalley. I thank them for this book. #NetGalley
I read this book thanks to NetGalley. I thank them for this book. #NetGalley
January 19, 2016
Daddy issues.
January 11, 2019
Too sloppy and cryptic. I had no idea what was going on...
Read
December 31, 2021Ales Kot ormai da qualche tempo si sta ritagliando il suo spazio nel mondo del fumetto mondiale regalandoci storie che giocano con i generi e riplasmandoli in maniera fluida attorno alle sue intenzioni.
Lo abbiamo recentemente incrociato su queste pagine con The New World e Zero, ora lo ritroviamo in eris, con l’arte di Langdon Foss, in una edizione giunta a noi grazie alla casa editrice Eris
The Surface è una lettura densa di strati e sfumature, una di quelle letture che riprendendole in mano e rileggendole più volte ci mostrano sempre qualcosa di nuovo. Quello realizzato da Kot è un viaggio emozionante e introspettivo, dove l’autore sembra voler usare la scrittura come mezzo per mettere su carta il proprio io e parlare a se stesso attraverso il medium del graphic novel, incastonando questa sua idea all’interno della trama stessa, facendoci sentire vicini alla figura dell’autore come capita solo in rare occasioni .
The Surface è ambientato nel 2034 in un mondo in cui Occidente e Oriente hanno comprato quasi tutta l’Africa e l’1% della popolazione vive sulle spalle del restante 99%, sempre più povero e assoggettato.
Tre giovani hacker, uniti da un legame poliamoroso, arrivano in Tanzania alla ricerca del luogo che potrebbe cambiare tutto: The Surface, La Superficie, una sorta di costrutto utopico.
La storia è solo un mezzo con cui Kot e Foss vogliono portaci in un mondo psichedelico e catturarci al suo interno utilizzando una narrazione poco convenzionale, fatta di fumetto e di testi che si mescolano giocando con la mente del lettore.
Forse, volendo ricercare a tutti i costi un punto debole in questo prodotto, possiamo dire che la scelta di mettere la narrazione al centro di un progetto relativamente breve porta ad avere poca profondità sui personaggi, ma è un difetto su cui possiamo soprassedere facilmente.
Se già conoscere e amate i lavori di Kot oppure se siete in cerca di una lettura da leggere più volte, The surface è quello che state cercando
https://www.comixisland.it/2020-12-th...
Lo abbiamo recentemente incrociato su queste pagine con The New World e Zero, ora lo ritroviamo in eris, con l’arte di Langdon Foss, in una edizione giunta a noi grazie alla casa editrice Eris
The Surface è una lettura densa di strati e sfumature, una di quelle letture che riprendendole in mano e rileggendole più volte ci mostrano sempre qualcosa di nuovo. Quello realizzato da Kot è un viaggio emozionante e introspettivo, dove l’autore sembra voler usare la scrittura come mezzo per mettere su carta il proprio io e parlare a se stesso attraverso il medium del graphic novel, incastonando questa sua idea all’interno della trama stessa, facendoci sentire vicini alla figura dell’autore come capita solo in rare occasioni .
The Surface è ambientato nel 2034 in un mondo in cui Occidente e Oriente hanno comprato quasi tutta l’Africa e l’1% della popolazione vive sulle spalle del restante 99%, sempre più povero e assoggettato.
Tre giovani hacker, uniti da un legame poliamoroso, arrivano in Tanzania alla ricerca del luogo che potrebbe cambiare tutto: The Surface, La Superficie, una sorta di costrutto utopico.
La storia è solo un mezzo con cui Kot e Foss vogliono portaci in un mondo psichedelico e catturarci al suo interno utilizzando una narrazione poco convenzionale, fatta di fumetto e di testi che si mescolano giocando con la mente del lettore.
Forse, volendo ricercare a tutti i costi un punto debole in questo prodotto, possiamo dire che la scelta di mettere la narrazione al centro di un progetto relativamente breve porta ad avere poca profondità sui personaggi, ma è un difetto su cui possiamo soprassedere facilmente.
Se già conoscere e amate i lavori di Kot oppure se siete in cerca di una lettura da leggere più volte, The surface è quello che state cercando
https://www.comixisland.it/2020-12-th...
Read
August 28, 2018It looks like your standard corporate/near future dystopia, but somewhere in Africa, there are rumours of an Aleph-like proof of the theory that the world is a hologram. And from there, things get much stranger... This is not the first time Kot's debt to Grant Morrison has been obvious, and in some ways this feels a lot like the final act of The Invisibles, minus the build-up which gave that such weight (though also, to be fair, minus the art fuck-ups - every visual here is clear and inviting, solid even when strange). But then in a sense it goes further, as Kot intrudes into his story even past the level Morrison did, investigating his own previous acts of art-as-magic, explaining why his original plan for The Surface no longer makes sense, and he's derailed it into this curious artefact instead. You could say that it reads a lot like a nervous breakdown committed to paper, or equally that it reads like a vision quest ditto, because what's the difference between the two beyond how they interact with the world around you, and isn't that often more down to the world than the experience? And sure, it still feels familiar in places, but then who said vision quests were always going to feel original? For every wince (I still find Kot's names tend to be on the nose, and 'Verhoeven-Delany' is very much not an exception; the reference to the "Hillary Clinton lifelog fiasco" reads painfully 'BUT HER EMAILS' now) there's a corresponding smile, not least that it's always nice to see a story with lovers in numbers other than two. Kot admits within the text that he feels "I do my best work when I focus on being me, when I am sincere until it, in some cases, hurts." And I think that may be my key disconnect from his work - I always like even my visionary magicians with an edge of self-awareness, a slight curl at the corner of the mouth that speaks the spell. Still, I can't say this wasn't an interesting read.
October 20, 2020
an excellent testament to the way no matter how hard we try to unravel reality, behind all the tattered curtains we always confront things like lovers, friends, and family. Maybe it reflects a human limitation OR maybe the human shouldnt be described in terms of limitation and getting outside limitation
June 7, 2019
A very interesting premise that reminded me of S.Kon's "Opus", in that the writer exists within the story. Ales is using the medium to navigate through his own personal situations with the help of Langdon toiling away at his desk.
July 12, 2018
To echo other reviews, there are parts of this that are good, and actually work. The colors, the art, parts of the concept. But then you throw it all together with the story and it's just... mushy. The first two issues of The Surface have an interesting premise - a Matrix-like reality, possibly on top of other realities, and there's something not quite right about any of it, and, of course, some bad guys who want to get in the way of our protagonists. It's all very meta and media-theory heavy, if you're in to that sort of thing (I usually am), but around issue three, devolves in to some fourth-wall-breaking, meta-META commentary that is supposed to be, I think, I continuing commentary on the arc of narratives and creators' relations to them, but ends up parsing as clunky and selfserving. (Masturbatory, I believe, would have been the word to use back in my undergrad media theory classes.)
It's also a bit of a take on Kot's relationship to his previous work, Change, which I actually didn't know about (let alone read) before I read The Surface, so I have no idea how knowledge of that text may have enhanced the story of this one.
At the end of this, honestly, I'd probably just tell people to read The Filth instead. Don't try to out-Grant Morrison Grant Morrison.
It's also a bit of a take on Kot's relationship to his previous work, Change, which I actually didn't know about (let alone read) before I read The Surface, so I have no idea how knowledge of that text may have enhanced the story of this one.
At the end of this, honestly, I'd probably just tell people to read The Filth instead. Don't try to out-Grant Morrison Grant Morrison.
May 8, 2022
This seems to have some pretty angry reviews. I get where they are coming from but I loved how this comic totally subverted your expectations. It turned your experience of reading the comic completely on its head and really made you think. That’s what I want sometimes from comics and graphic novels and it’s not easy to find, when it randomly happens it feels great.
April 12, 2015
It took me month and 3 re-reads before I think I know a little of what is going on in this comic.
Merged review:
A very dense read, 2nd issue and still not entirely sure what this comic is about, but this is just my 1st read of this issue.
Merged review:
A very dense read, 2nd issue and still not entirely sure what this comic is about, but this is just my 1st read of this issue.
March 12, 2016
This book is unlike anything I've ever read. I really enjoyed it but needs to be read in a single sitting to be able to follow it. Leaves a lot to the mind and interpretation. I will definitely need to go through it again in one sitting to fully enjoy it.
January 6, 2016
"Why is this story being told?" Thanks for the pertinent quote, guys – although up to where I left off I saw no story, only pretentious bollux.
October 26, 2016
This comics felt like it was trying so hard to make a point. What point? I do not know, but it didn't work out too well. Ham-fisted seems like a good word to describe it as a whole.
May 22, 2025
Una via di mezzo tra graphic novel e catalogo d’arte, perché alterna alle pagine narrative facciate di altri contenuti (pagine internet, campagne pubblicitarie, articoli giornalistici, tutti finti ma verosimili in stile di design futuristico dei font e impaginazioni).
Quanto alla parte di storyline, l’intenzione dell’autore è urlata al lettore dalle prime tavole: è un calderone di citazioni visive e tematiche di altri prodotti culturali. Matrix (Neo invischiato nel fluido, il tema “cosa è reale?), 2001:Odissea nello spazio (il monolite, lo scimpanzè-ominide), lo stile visivo di Moëbius, Ghost in the shell, e altri richiami sparsi qua e là.
Il risultato finale è piuttosto insapore. La prima parte di storia è respingente per quanto incomprensibile nella valanga di informazioni e nella confusione visiva del susseguirsi delle pagine (il discorso fatto prima), mentre la seconda metà scopre le carte in tavola “banalizzando” quanto costruito prima. Rimane un bell’oggetto da sfogliare, ma anche tanto derivativo e non pienamente compiuto.
Quanto alla parte di storyline, l’intenzione dell’autore è urlata al lettore dalle prime tavole: è un calderone di citazioni visive e tematiche di altri prodotti culturali. Matrix (Neo invischiato nel fluido, il tema “cosa è reale?), 2001:Odissea nello spazio (il monolite, lo scimpanzè-ominide), lo stile visivo di Moëbius, Ghost in the shell, e altri richiami sparsi qua e là.
Il risultato finale è piuttosto insapore. La prima parte di storia è respingente per quanto incomprensibile nella valanga di informazioni e nella confusione visiva del susseguirsi delle pagine (il discorso fatto prima), mentre la seconda metà scopre le carte in tavola “banalizzando” quanto costruito prima. Rimane un bell’oggetto da sfogliare, ma anche tanto derivativo e non pienamente compiuto.
July 23, 2020
3.8
^*&[ w którymś momencie zadajesz sobie pytanie: "dlaczego wszystko rozwija się tak szybko?", a następnie pojawia się, niemal automatycznie: "gdzie i kiedy się rozbije?" ] %&_@Y
(( I podobnie jak w przypadku tej historii, ta recenzja nie przyniesie żadnej właściwej odpowiedzi. ))
Kot zamiast porzucić pomysł lub zagrzebać go w szufladzie z notatkami, postanowił dorobić do problemów z procesem twórczym jakiś pseudointelektualny bełkot, mający stworzyć wrażenie przekucia blokady twórczej w metafizyczną opowieść dla elitarnych czytelników. Co z tego zostało? Penis i wagina.
^*&[ w którymś momencie zadajesz sobie pytanie: "dlaczego wszystko rozwija się tak szybko?", a następnie pojawia się, niemal automatycznie: "gdzie i kiedy się rozbije?" ] %&_@Y
(( I podobnie jak w przypadku tej historii, ta recenzja nie przyniesie żadnej właściwej odpowiedzi. ))
Kot zamiast porzucić pomysł lub zagrzebać go w szufladzie z notatkami, postanowił dorobić do problemów z procesem twórczym jakiś pseudointelektualny bełkot, mający stworzyć wrażenie przekucia blokady twórczej w metafizyczną opowieść dla elitarnych czytelników. Co z tego zostało? Penis i wagina.
March 14, 2020
The biggest problem with this work is that it wears its influences so well that you don't get much of a sense for what it is. It looks great and is incredibly well produced, but the postmodern twist undercuts the plot so you're left with a bunch of decent surreal scenes and an essay on self acceptance. Kot seems to struggle with traditional conclusions and what we get instead, as emotional as it may be, doesn't quite make up for the disappointment this causes.
January 30, 2021
Ales Kot's ambitions often exceed his execution, but he's tries and I'll never fault him for it.
Part PKD, part Jodorowsky, Part Grant Morrison.
Sure its pretentious, but it's in a medium that needs more of this shit, rather than stupid cape shit.
Part PKD, part Jodorowsky, Part Grant Morrison.
Sure its pretentious, but it's in a medium that needs more of this shit, rather than stupid cape shit.
April 12, 2022
I'm sure this is one that folks will love. It reminded me of trying to read Grant Morrison's The Invisibles. I just didn't get it.
There's some cool art and some great imagery. I just didn't connect with the story or characters.
There's some cool art and some great imagery. I just didn't connect with the story or characters.
December 25, 2023
This is a re-read of the first Kot book I read. I realize it doesn’t hold up to scrutiny and can even be unbearably pretentious, but the artwork of Foss and Bellaire elevate it into something that made me a fan of the whole team.
April 6, 2021
Insultingly pretentious hot take on the "reality is a hologram" idea with art that can't decide if it's cribbing Moebius or Geof Darrow. Not nearly as insightful as it thinks it is.
November 27, 2015
The Surface is a meta-filled scifi story and at the same time a window to the human soul. Ales Kot usually makes weird stuff, so I was prepared that this wasn't your basic stuff. The best part of the comic was the world of the three kids, who travelled into this wonderland and then got killed only to wake up from a Matrix-like dream. Then everything got weird, when Kot wrote himself into the story with the philosophical ponderings on life and the possibly dying dad. The story failed to link all the happenings together and the text parts in between felt detached and served no purpose. This all brings us to the question whether the meta stuff was needed and if it indeed was, then what was the point of the story of the kids? The whole picture stayed out of focus and thus the ponderings felt superimposed as opposed to being meaningful and having a message.
The art looks crude, but in a way works with the storyline. The artistic value surpasses the commercial one in this case, though the insane graphics made this a mess on some level. The colours are hollow, which fit the scifi thing, but otherwise the pinkish theme didn't work when the disillusion of reality collapsed. The view angles were great, but structure-wise this lacked a sense. The comic isn't bad per se, but just all over the place.
The art looks crude, but in a way works with the storyline. The artistic value surpasses the commercial one in this case, though the insane graphics made this a mess on some level. The colours are hollow, which fit the scifi thing, but otherwise the pinkish theme didn't work when the disillusion of reality collapsed. The view angles were great, but structure-wise this lacked a sense. The comic isn't bad per se, but just all over the place.
March 18, 2015
This kind of made me think of the first issue of Grant Morrison's Nameless. It's actually in that very first issue of Nameless that I learnt of the existence of this comic. All the way in the back of that issue, there was this beautiful full page ad with the three protagonist and the following words: "Three hackers. A mysterious location. A secret key to Earth's evolution. The great adventure begins. February 2015. And boy did the adventure begin!
The art is great, the story intriguing. I don't know where this story will go from here, but after reading this first issue, I think it's going to great places. It's very sci-fi. I love the idea of "lifelogs", a few tiny inobtrusive camera chips and microphones are worn at all times and log your life. This has as a result that there is zero privacy, but an ultimate form of interconnectivity. You also get a memory you can access at any time, a complete account of your life as it is explained in the story.
The story follows three hackers who are on their way to "the Surface". If you want to know what the Surface is, you'll have to read this issue and the issues following this first one.
Again the art is really beautiful, I love the coloring and can't wait to see where this story will go from here.
The art is great, the story intriguing. I don't know where this story will go from here, but after reading this first issue, I think it's going to great places. It's very sci-fi. I love the idea of "lifelogs", a few tiny inobtrusive camera chips and microphones are worn at all times and log your life. This has as a result that there is zero privacy, but an ultimate form of interconnectivity. You also get a memory you can access at any time, a complete account of your life as it is explained in the story.
The story follows three hackers who are on their way to "the Surface". If you want to know what the Surface is, you'll have to read this issue and the issues following this first one.
Again the art is really beautiful, I love the coloring and can't wait to see where this story will go from here.
April 24, 2016
Up to a point 'The Surface, Volume 1' just wasn't doing it for me. It came across as overly intellectualized to an extent. Then something happened, and it really caught my attention.
There's a lot of satirical content about our world extended out to a near future. People live blog their entire lives by constantly wearing cameras that film everything. A young trio are a kind of hacker in this new world and their explorations lead them to uncovering things about their world. Things that someone would kill for.
It's got a cyberpunk sort of feel to it and I loved the made up newsfeed and articles. There are other things I loved about the book, but I can't say what they are in this review. You'll just have to discover them for yourself.
I've been kind of hot and cold on the work of Ales Kot, but I liked this one. That doesn't mean I fully understand it, but I still liked it. The writing is interesting and so is the art and art design by a host of folks involved in these 4 issues. It's a strange trip reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
There's a lot of satirical content about our world extended out to a near future. People live blog their entire lives by constantly wearing cameras that film everything. A young trio are a kind of hacker in this new world and their explorations lead them to uncovering things about their world. Things that someone would kill for.
It's got a cyberpunk sort of feel to it and I loved the made up newsfeed and articles. There are other things I loved about the book, but I can't say what they are in this review. You'll just have to discover them for yourself.
I've been kind of hot and cold on the work of Ales Kot, but I liked this one. That doesn't mean I fully understand it, but I still liked it. The writing is interesting and so is the art and art design by a host of folks involved in these 4 issues. It's a strange trip reminiscent of Philip K. Dick.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
November 19, 2015
Intellectual look at a dystopian world
The three main protagonists, Mark (the son of the President), Gomez and Nasia, in a not-too-distant future look for the Surface, a holographic world in Tanzania. Betrayed, they lead others to the Surface who want to use it for their own purposes.
There are various shifts of scene including the writer including himself in the plot. Maybe I don’t have the intellectual capacity or the patience for this but I found it all quite confusing.
The script is introspective, well-researched and wordy, the artwork reasonably good.
The three main protagonists, Mark (the son of the President), Gomez and Nasia, in a not-too-distant future look for the Surface, a holographic world in Tanzania. Betrayed, they lead others to the Surface who want to use it for their own purposes.
There are various shifts of scene including the writer including himself in the plot. Maybe I don’t have the intellectual capacity or the patience for this but I found it all quite confusing.
The script is introspective, well-researched and wordy, the artwork reasonably good.
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