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A review by geekwayne
Wizzywig by Ed Piskor
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.