Krista Reviews: The DollHouse

Joss Whedon”s Dollhouse continues, written by television-series mainstays Andrew Chambliss (the CW”s Vampire Diaries, co-writer of Buffy Season 9), Maurissa Tancharoen (Spartacus), and Jed Whedon (Dr. Horrible) The Rossum Corporation”s Dollhouse technology has gone viral with a synchronized phone call that wiped the minds of everyone it reached, turning them into mindless killers. Those who avoided the call – including show favorites Echo, Alpha, Mag, Zone, and Griff – must try to survive in the sudden apocalypse and be wary of Rossum”s expansive technological reach. This is only the beginning …

Paperback, First Edition, 160 pages Published April 11th 2012 by Dark Horse ISBN 159582863X (ISBN13: 9781595828637)

I am a fan of the TV series so  I thought I would give this one a try, just out of curiosity. I found that the art and the story were very well put together and detailed and I’d recommend it.

In this story, it’s all out war when anybody who picks up the phone can be turned into a soldier for the bad guys by a high pitched noise that erases their brain function and makes them a fighter body. It gives everybody the look of being zombie-like in character (minus the eating of people) and they are out to kill those that have not been converted.

Nobody is safe, even Dollhouse workers cannot avoid the conversion if they hear the noise.
Echo takes over as many people as possible to fight back, that is, she transfers herself into other people’s brains to take over their body. Some of her bodies die and some make it to the meeting point where they begin to form a resistance group who try to break into the company’s headquarters and take control of the brain-washing technology.

My favorite part about the story was the young boy that gets a computer plate put into his head, and by doing so he can just put a usb port in containing the knowledge he needs and upload it into his brain as required. He learns new languages and fighting skills in an instant. That was completely awesome.

If you have watched the TV series the Graphic Novel is an extension of that, it starts off where the show ends. For those who want to continue on with the characters, this was a fantastic way to do it, just as adventurous and great visuals as well.

Just an end note for those of you that do not know what Dollhouse is – the story or the television show. It’s about a company that uses young people to go on assignments. They hook the “vessel” up to a machine that downloads the software the girl needs to complete the mission into her brain. While she is on her mission she only knows what was downloaded into her, becoming a completely different person. When their missions are complete, they go back to the Dollhouse where they await their next mission and get the physical attention they need from the doctor for any damage that may have happened. They have no recollection of who they are or what happened during their assignments, they become an empty vessel until they are needed again.