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erickibler4's review
5.0
A great graphic novel exploring the secret world of hackers. It’s fiction, but it’s loosely based on the real life stories of several people. The protagonist start out phone phreaking, and figures out different hacks, from getting free long distance phone calls, to obtaining forbidden phone company info, to cheating radio contests, to writing computer code. Eventually (and by necessity) he ends up figuring out prison hacks to make prison life more endurable.
Piskor’s “underground” style of art works well with the subject matter of accumulating clandestine knowledge. Highly recommended.
Piskor’s “underground” style of art works well with the subject matter of accumulating clandestine knowledge. Highly recommended.
skoopnl's review
4.0
A fascinating book that I finishee in just two nights of reading, this book will appeal to anyone with a remote interest in technology. The only downside is that it does not feel complete. The book seems to end pretty randomly. Aside from that: excellent! 👍🏻
iancarpenter's review
3.0
Another great book by Piskor. This one was dense, long and detailed in a way that I wasn't craving. Definitely something I needed to break up over many reading weeks. But, it's full of his great art and it's the most richly plotted book of his that I've read.
devindevindevin's review
3.0
Could have been a bit shorter, and the jumping around in time probably didn't help the narrative flow more than hinder it. I enjoyed the characterization and history lesson. Pulling in real life examples of whistle blowers was a great way of showing why something like this matters, too.
toebean5's review
3.0
Pretty good- I'll admit that when I started reading this, I thought he was a real person. But the world of hacking and techno-puzzles in general is a fascinating one- one that I barely understand, but I would love to read more about. Parts of this reminded me of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother- just some really interesting stuff.
mgodissart's review
4.0
Piskor tells the tale of a hacker in Tarantino-like disjointed fashion. It's wonderful! Possibly the best original graphic novel I've read in years.
unread1975's review
4.0
По мотивам биографии Кевина Митника. Если бы мотивов было меньше, а биографии больше, было бы интересней. Но в целом хорошо.
geekwayne's review
4.0
'Wizzywig' by Ed Piskor is a graphic novel that gives some of the early history of hacking. It does it in a style that moves between past and present. I liked it, but I didn't totally love it.
Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle is a curious young boy growing up in the 1970s. At some point he ends up in prison, because we learn this in the first couple pages. Kevin as a younger kid was bullied, but it doesn't seem to phase him because he's got such a curiosity for things around him. That curiosity is for things like lock-picking and scamming bus drivers with discarded transfer tickets. He moves on to using dial tones generators to make free phone calls ("phreaking"). When he gets his first computer, things heat up more. He finds the world of the BBS, and starts selling copies of computer games to his friends.
Added in to this are the rumors of what Kevin can do. The media reacts to the unknown with it's typical fear. Unfortunately, this is about where my review copy ran out of pages, but I do want to find and read the rest of this graphic novel.
Ed Piskor is an artist who has worked on Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor" and the art reflects that sort of ugly character style. It suits the story really well. In the segment that I got for review, the story is a little patchy and seems to jump around, but it did hold my interest and I'm glad I got to read it. Now to find the rest of it...
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fine graphic novel.
Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle is a curious young boy growing up in the 1970s. At some point he ends up in prison, because we learn this in the first couple pages. Kevin as a younger kid was bullied, but it doesn't seem to phase him because he's got such a curiosity for things around him. That curiosity is for things like lock-picking and scamming bus drivers with discarded transfer tickets. He moves on to using dial tones generators to make free phone calls ("phreaking"). When he gets his first computer, things heat up more. He finds the world of the BBS, and starts selling copies of computer games to his friends.
Added in to this are the rumors of what Kevin can do. The media reacts to the unknown with it's typical fear. Unfortunately, this is about where my review copy ran out of pages, but I do want to find and read the rest of this graphic novel.
Ed Piskor is an artist who has worked on Harvey Pekar's "American Splendor" and the art reflects that sort of ugly character style. It suits the story really well. In the segment that I got for review, the story is a little patchy and seems to jump around, but it did hold my interest and I'm glad I got to read it. Now to find the rest of it...
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Top Shelf Productions and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fine graphic novel.
kitsuneheart's review
4.0
A fascinating and realistic look at the sort of life a technophile and career criminal may have had in the 1970s and forward. Kevin Phenicle has figured out all sorts of little tricks out. How to get free phone calls, how to make fake documents, how to pirate video games. But while his endeavors begin small, merely nuisances to society, they become more troublesome as he grows older, and soon he isn't merely a kid playing with a computer, but the dangerous hacker Boingthump.
Reminiscent of "Catch Me If You Can," this book is a nonstop list of little crimes and clever tricks. I actually spent most of the book thinking it was a biography, because I recalled learning about some of these tricks, such as the bird call which allows one to mess with phone systems.
It makes me long for a book about the lives of real phreaks and hackers. In the meantime, this will more than suffice.
Reminiscent of "Catch Me If You Can," this book is a nonstop list of little crimes and clever tricks. I actually spent most of the book thinking it was a biography, because I recalled learning about some of these tricks, such as the bird call which allows one to mess with phone systems.
It makes me long for a book about the lives of real phreaks and hackers. In the meantime, this will more than suffice.