| Title | : | Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1603090975 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781603090971 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 288 |
| Publication | : | First published July 4, 2012 |
Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker Reviews
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Unique look at hackers - art really fits the episodic form of the story. I really like the 'flow' of this GN - it adds to the frenetic feeling of always 'looking over your shoulder' when you are breaking the law. Will look up more GN by Ed Piskor - hope to see more works like this from him in the future.
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If you’re a fan of Harvey Pekar’s work then you’ll have encountered Ed Piskor’s art within issues of “American Splendor” and the non-fiction graphic book “The Beats: A Graphic History”, and while Piskor can draw with the best of them he proves with his debut graphic novel “Wizzywig” that he’s an enormously gifted writer as well.
This is the story of the most famous hacker of all, Kevin J Phenicle aka Boingthump who is an amalgamation of various real life hackers like Robert Morris, in one character. We see him as a child in the 70s learning how to scam by getting free bus rides and then beginning his hacking career by figuring out how to get free phone calls from pay phones (“phone phreaking”) and copying games for his schoolmates. It’s fascinating to see how low-tech the early days of hacking was where it could be done via a phone line and that internet boards existed way back in the 70s/80s as Bulletin Board Systems (BBS).
The book employs a scattered narrative jumping from the present to the past and all points in between so we know from page 1 that Kevin is in jail but we don’t know how he got there. The insertions of talking heads in between chapters from Kevin’s life reminded me of Seth’s “Wimbledon Green” approach to telling the story of a man, and Piskor uses it as well to superb effect.
The story is excellent, Piskor drawing you in from page one as you see this genius child develop into a person able to navigate the modern world with ease whose extensive skills and curiosity for knowledge leading him to become a wanted fugitive after breaking in to telephone companies databanks. The fugitive section is a thrilling read as we see Kevin survive on the fringes of society eluding the FBI at every turn, we also see the down side to hacking/scamming as he clings on in dingy bedsits working menial jobs for barely any money.
While the book is a look at hackers, it’s also an examination of media hype and fear-mongering and the use of sensationalist news to misinform people and manipulate them into believing almost anything. This culminates with the imprisonment without trial of Kevin in the United States, “the land of the free”.
There are lots of little asides that are very entertaining like a short story featuring a young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and there’s also a cameo featuring Harvey Pekar as a pizza store owner.
I loved this book. It’s thoughtful and clever, Ed Piskor’s style merges great art with a natural storytelling prowess to tell the fantastic story of a sub-culture which continues to be a source of interest today (Anonymous, Wikileaks). “Wizzywig” is a tremendous debut from this talented artist and is recommended not just to all comics fans but for any reader who’s looking for a fun and utterly absorbing read. -
Presents a composite character who fictionally pulled off the most innovative hacking of his age. Walks us through early phone-system hacking methodologies, as well as early Bulletin Board System legends.
Which is all very interesting, but to me, what stands out about this book is the HOW, more than the WHAT.
The Outside: The cover is fully saturated color, mimicking an old-fashioned computer on the front and a computer manual on the spine. I'm sure if I was more versed in computers, I'd tell you the exact make/model and manual.
The Inside: Piskor presents this story in short (like, one page, front and back), black and white, snippets, varying the perspective and presentation a lot. Most pages have six, regularly sized, panels. There are sections from the perspectives of:
- childhood classmates
- a fairly omniscient narrator
- a radio dj on his show (who happens to be a friend of the main character)
- his grandmother
- television news
- random people on the street
What comes through is a curious, intelligent person who's fairly unaligned, morally. From the very beginning, Piskor foreshadows how far this story is going to go, so there is a sense of suspense as we see the character's early years. Through his story, we are forced to reflect upon what we think about stretching the boundaries of technology, "victimless" crimes, online culture, the nature of fugitives, prison politics, and more. Piskor's style is accessible, but not necessarily sympathetic to the characters. The main character (and ONLY the main character, if memory serves) has
Little Orphan Annie eyes, which adds a shade of everyman-ness to the way the reader perceives him.
This is a book which surprised me. It is far more than one expects. Highly recommended to anyone even vaguely interested. -
I liked it!
Amazing artwork by Piskor and an interesting story that tells the story of Kevin aka Boingthump who starts his career as a hacker with hacking public telephones and ends up in big trouble when computers come long.
Fun read!
Would recommend to anyone who likes Piskor's work of course and to anyone who likes a break from all them superheroes. -
needless misogyny and crassness ruin what might otherwise be a good story.
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The more you know about hacking, the less interesting this volume is likely to be. It's interesting to see some of the old ways to hack into systems and to be presented with fascinating ways of beating the system that were possible in the past, as well as the hype around computer crime back before people understood what computer crimes were all about. It evokes a certain moment in time and a certain atmosphere okay, but... but.
Past the technical details and the long list of hacking schemes, the story is somewhat unexciting. Sure, the main character is on the run from the FBI for a few years, but you always know he'll be caught, and you can suspect he'll be released one way or another. There isn't much finesse in the delivery of the points the author wants to make.
Even though this is a "Portrait of a Serial Hacker", it feels more like a "Still life with serial hacking" - once you get past the hacking bit, the main character doesn't seem to have much of a life. One friend, one family member, no life beyond tech, no interest in women (except one interest in a girl, once, but nothing happens - then this one time when he jumps into bed with someone out of the blue. I was willing to consider him asexual and leave it at that, but the image of him wondering if he could have "scored anal" with her was a bit out of place for that). Not much of a reaction to his grandmother's death, either.
Also, despite the whole volume focusing nearly exclusively on tech and popular reactions to digital crimes, it has random bits of explicit sex thrown all around the place. Reaching a part where a guy killed himself with erotic auto-asphyxiation, all I could feel was an intense "Wtf, why are you showing me this, book?" -
This comic is like a hacker version of Forrest Gump, with fictional character Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle taking readers on an abbreviated tour of hacker history.
The story starts with the early blue-boxing and phone phreaking days, up through the rise of BBSes and the Internet, finally touching upon Wikileaks and Adrian Lamo. Real historical events are woven into the narrative (from Kevin Mitnick's exploits and the Morris Worm to comparatively obscure topics like the Secret Service's raid on Steve Jackson Games over the GURPS Cyberpunk RPG supplement), and like Forrest Gump, Boingthump often finds himself directly involved or tangentially associated with the events of the time.
While the history lesson is fun, the original parts of the story are compelling as well. While flawed and lacking impulse control, Kevin is an appealing character and his exploits were likewise engaging.
The artwork is excellent throughout. There's an artful ugliness to a lot of Piskor's portrait work that seems influenced by Mad Magazine and underground comix.
In addition to the printed volume, the comic can be read online at the artist's website:
http://www.wizzywigcomics.com/
Ed Piskor's more recent work has been popping up on BoingBoing, with both sporadic, stand-alone Brain Rot strips and the consistently excellent Hip Hop Family Tree series.
WIZZYWIG is a quick, fun read and recommended to people with an interest in computers. -
This book was dumb. It wanted me to be sympathetic with a computer hacker who was blond and Tin-Tin-esque and miniscule but bless his heart, just couldn't stop hacking the system. Poor little guy. It did do a good job of capturing the confused fear of a new-to-computers public about VIRUSES and TROJANS and systems-destroying computer nerds that, well, is still around. Computers are puzzling, it's true. But, dude, I thought the Phenicle kid was a heartless little punk and I kind of sided with all the gross people who wanted him out of the picture. I don't think it's super cool to never learn your lesson. Anyways, meh. Well illustrated, but in that alternative comix sort of a vein that skeezes me out in equal measure as it is good. And skeezed out and siding with the Bad Guys is not how I want to feel, thx.
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A series of comics that tell the fictional story of Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle, a hacker in the 70s and 80s whose threat to the populace is blown way out of proportion. Ending up in federal prison, Kevin has to contend with hardened criminals as his friend calls for a fair trial for him and pushes for his release.
I'm not much of a computer geek, but I found this graphic novel funny and absorbing. Some of the violence was pretty cringe-worthy for me, though.
It sounds like the book is based on an amalgamation of real people whom I know nothing about, so I'd like to learn more. -
Read this because I often fall asleep to Ed Piskor's Youtube channel about comics, and I've had so many great comics recommended through that channel that when he recently released his new comic Red Room I felt some obligation to read some of his own work. I was further encouraged by seeing a lot of his art and snippets of it and finding it all very likeable (even though it's very very gross and gory at times). I can't afford to actual buy Red Room, so being the scamp I am I read Wizzywig online for free.... and it's okay, it's even quite good, and clearly a lot of work and attention has been put into it, and it's really educational in terms of reading how hackers were dealt with by the US Government.
SPOILERS
The story follows a bright eyed if sociopathic genius kid who innocently(?) enjoys pulling pranks and cons through the internet and the telephone system, and then gets punished when caught with years in prison without actually being charged with anything tangible, who then gets out of prison and gets in trouble again; only to become a fugitive and live a horrendous life of constantly changing his identity to keep ahead of the law, and then eventually being arrested again, put in prison again, and then beaten up into a coma and having a hand amputated.
It's all very undeserved... and quite sad, and the art style works because the main character is presented initially as a cartoonish Dennis the Menace type tearaway with a luscious blond side partin and turn up trousers. From listening to Piskor talk about art so much I know that he thinks deeply about style and how to convey emotions and communicate feelings through visual language... he really knows his shit when it comes to this stuff... and it's very referential and painstakingly thought out. However, for me, some of the story telling and characterisation didn't quite work. An example of this is that the main character is presented as being asexual throughout the book, getting more of a buzz out of hacking and pranks than he does from having sex, in fact he doesn't have a romantic relationship at any point in the book... but then towards the end he sleeps with one of his fans, and then afterwards has a thought bubble saying "maybe I could have scored anal with this one?" It's strange to me that this character would make such a random and laddish statement... though maybe I'm missing something, as Piskor's storytelling is quite layered and very "show don't tell" so perhaps it's trying to indicate that the character has become more normal by the end of the book... it does seem to be a crass way of showing it though... "maybe I could have scored anal with this one?" implies that he's shagged before, if not managing to "score anal" before. Just minor niggles like this stopped this from getting four stars from me, because it took me out of the story.
This was made in 2012 so Piskor has likely improved since then... I think he has definitely improved judging from what I've seen of Red Room... so it's not put me off checking out any of his other stuff. On many levels this was really good, if a little long. -
There's a moving scene in the beginning of Wizzywig where a teenaged Kevin goes to meet a girl he's gotten to know over the phone for the first time in person. Y'know, meatspace meet 'n greet. In the scene, Kevin stands in the driveway of her nice suburban house while she looks on from a second story window. She smiles, but Kevin, overwhelmed by insecurity, can only see disappointment and leaves without saying hello, while she looks sadly at his retreating form. I liked the scene very much, but in retrospect, it also seemed to be the last moment where a female character was treated as a human instead of a mother figure (like Kevin's beloved grandmother) or someone to decide whether or not to pursue intercourse with (every other female character).
I wanted to like this book more than I did, but the lack of non-cardboard cutout female characters haunts me. Maybe because it's such a familiar feeling both when reading about anything tech-related and in my actual memories of those early computer days (I was a kid and awkward teen discovering BBSes myself). It's clear by then end of the book that we're supposed to see Kevin Phenicle, Jr. as a heroic everyman for the hacker/tech-y set but I just have this massive disconnect with his story. He seems to move in a world of men and men only (with the odd woman he does or does not want to have sex with thrown in, and there their stories end) and that's just not recognizable as my world. It's incredibly frustrating because while reading the book, so much of the world was recognizable. It's well-rendered and has genuinely touching moments. But it's a world with a hard shell around it if you're a tech-oriented feminine reader. It seemed designed to keep me out and it succeeded.
Oddly enough, it was the book's actual shell that made me pick it up. My dad let us, me and my sister, play on a broken Mac IIc when we were little and I couldn't help but be drawn to the cover design. And much of what's between the covers is good and important to read. It's just disconcerting for me to find a computer-shaped box that doesn't reflect the world around it. -
My father-in-law went into a store with a wide selection of graphic novels, described me to the bookseller, and walked out with this Christmas gift. I took one look at the title and said, "Oh yeah, Wizzywig, that's how you pronounce the acronym." That was met with blank looks. "What You See Is What You Get," I explained. "Wizzywig." That got less blank looks.
Wizzywig is a graphic novel about a hacker in the early days of hacking. It was pretty interesting and tosses out some arcane bits of information, some of which I've come across in other articles, podcasts, what-have-you. It was pretty interesting stuff though artistically nothing to crow about. Pretty standard black-and-white panels. One thing it does well is unglamorize the hacking life. -
Nice! Piskor's portrait of a fictional hacker is spot on. Everything is so plausible, and the book is full of telling details that those who know something about hackers in general will pick up on. There's also a Rashomon quality to the book. Everyone who meets Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle seems to see him differently. Piskor has crafted his tale well, merging it with real world events (Operation Sundevil and the Morris Worm, for instance) where appropriate. This is an excellent graphic novel, well worth checking out.
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Back in the good old days, the computer hacker was a favorite media bogeyman (post 9/11, the terrorist has taken over the role). WIZZYWIG tells the story of Kevin Phenicle in graphic novel format. Kevin grows up the 1970's and 80's as a social outcast with his only friend, the ironically named Winston Smith. Kevin loves intellectual challenges and puzzles, and has a lot of free time. He and Winston teach themselves to pick locks, and use an electronic tone device to trick the phone company into giving them free long distance service. Once Kevin gets a computer and modem for his birthday, he quickly becomes immersed in the electronic bulletin board hacker culture. As computer networks and technology get more complex, he devises intricate methods of scamming the phone company via his online persona "Boingthump." Along the way Boingthump inadvertantly releases an early computer virus and comes to the attention of Ron Shumway (a slimy Heraldo Rivera-type journalist). Soon the FBI is on his trail, as well.
WIZZYWIG does a nice job of invoking a certain moment in history before the internet was ubiquitous, and hackers were strange shadowy figures who might wreak unimaginable havoc and start nuclear wars. Piskor strikes the right tone in the parts of the story dealing with Kevin's alienation and loneliness along with the hopelessness of his time in prison. The Ron Shumway character and the portrayal of the media hype around hackers feels forced, though. The satire is too ridiculous and over the top for my taste, and distracts from the rest of the narrative. In general, Piskor is very heavy handed when he tries for irony. When he tries for simple understatement, his storytelling is quite good. -
Bought WIZZYWIG as an xmas gift for my son, who read my copies of Ed Piskor’s great HIP HOP FAMILY TREE series and, like me, loves them. It was my son who discovered that Piskor had written about the burgeoning hacker community in this story of a fictional composite of infamous real life hackers. It’s a good story, but I’m really pining for the third volume in the hip-hop history, which gets better and better.
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In addition to being full of information about early computer hacking and the public fears and confusion that came along with the times, Wizzywig is an entertaining story with a sympathetic but flawed lead character, adventure and comedy, and a bit of social commentary for good measure. I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading.
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This was better than expected. The main character seems like a composite of a host of hackers. The author tries to build empathy for the main character but he is way redemption and in too many ways is to asocial and sleazy to deserve redemption. Nice graphics. The writing and graphics deserved the high score--the ideas less so.
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This started out preachy but interesting, then got less interesting and more preachy.
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Wizzywig hardly control himself from pizza scam to phone calls to radio games, and it lands him into problems. Oftentimes, he can't really help himself. The plot is entertaining, although occasionally very heartbreaking. The artwork is sleek and striking.
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Kevin Phenicle is a budding young hacker in the early days of phone phreaking. He's smart, he's shy, he's not really social, not close to anyone except his grandma and his friend Winston. And he's just fascinated by computers and what you can do with them.
And all the information you can access with them, and a little ingenuity and social engineering.
Kevin in not a bad kid. He's a good kid. Even his first prison term doesn't change that.
He's in or near all the big developments in hacking over the next few decades. Except for a tendency to think stealing services from major corporations, like what is still Ma Bell for the early part of his career, he's honest, kind, respectful of others.
It's a view of the hacker world from the viewpoint of the hackers. The excesses of government responses is clearly portrayed, while the real and sometimes major damage that could be done by hackers is perhaps less clearly portrayed. It's worth noting that the totally over the top raid on a gaming company described in the story is, in fact, quite real, and as paranoically crazy as it's portrayed.
Kevin is likable, so is the often frustrated and perplexed Winston, and the art is good. It's an interesting look at the hacker world from a perspective not often seen.
Recommended.
I bought this book. -
I picked this up based on a recommendation from someone I trust. It sounded interesting but I wasn't especially invested in the subject (the persecution of a young computer hacker in the early days of BBS and phone phreaking). The physical object is adorable - a full color computer terminal with embossed floppy drive. The themes of justice, freedom, moral ambiguity, and technology carry the story, even if you don't care much about hackers. The narrative is nonlinear, but the reader is well-oriented. The style is accessible and engaging. A lot of the details unfold indirectly; for example, people calling into an anonymous tip line, old classmates reflect on time with Kevin, and women who inadvertently helped with radio show scams fill in the lost moments of Kevin's adventures. Even though the story is fiction/alized (I think?), the issues of security and due process are real. I loved that
Bradley Manning showed up. I thought of Manning when Keven sat in jail for years without charges filed against him.
By the time I finished the book, I loved this story so much more than I'd expected to. I learned some things. I laughed. I pumped my fist in the air. I almost cried. It was an enjoyable experience. -
This is a great pop culture introduction to thinking broader about the concept of hacking and the complexities (and problems) with our current legal approach to dealing with it...so, in that regard, this book deserves a four(ish) star rating.
/However/, I recently made a promise to myself that I would stop (at least temporarily) reading graphic novels about semi-autobiographical, decently well-off-but-none-the-less-socially-ostracized male protagonists and their quests to be slightly less marginalized by society. (For reference, see Scott Pilgrim, Asterios Polyp, Revolver, Y: The Last Man, etc, etc...) In and of itself, this plot arc doesn't make a work of fiction (or a memoir) *bad*, but it is a trope that seems to be becoming more and more common in popular graphic works, and it's one that I want to personally make sure to break outside of in my reading.
As for Wizzywig, although describing the themes of the book brings out the substance highlighted above, the plot itself just barely pokes its nose above the waters of the trope I've been trying to avoid, so I consider having read it as breaking my promise. For that -- and for a reading experience that simultaneously compelling and "meh" -- three stars it is. -
I received this book for free from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
It was not until I reached the end of my copy that I was informed I was receiving only an extract of the material contained in Wizzywig and as such my opinions may coloured by this.
I went into this graphic novel not knowing much about hacking and its history but I was intensely curious. Unfortunately this was not as informative as I hoped; while I was enjoying the progression of the story I'm not sure a graphic novel was the best format for it. This began to feel quite disjointed and I didn't get any closure on the story as the resolution was not part of the copy I was provided.
I also was not a huge of the art style and that it was completely back and white as far as I'm aware; it became quite difficult to recognize certain characters as they were shown almost completely skipping puberty.
A lot of hacker or computer terms were left unexplained so I would suggest this only be picked by those already versed in technical lingo. -
Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker is a love note to the early days of computer hacking and social engineering. We're presented with a composite character who has skills to manipulate the phone company for free long distance and begins to learns the ins and outs of hacking back in a time before many of us even knew what the Internet was.
Reading Wizzywig, I couldn't help but be reminded of Kevin Mitnick's books about his days as a hacker and some of his tricks that he used. Reading this now when it seems like we get a news story every other week about a data breach, you can't help but think that this is kind of where it all started.
Art wise, the book is a solid and the story is well told. We're given short, snippet that add to an entertaining whole.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. -
Yuck. This is a significant, compelling story, but it was filled with unnecessary content and I really hated it by the end.
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My near-complete ignorance of computer stuff is evidenced by the fact that I just wrote "computer stuff". I forget/occasionally deny that the internet existed before 1996, and that people were doing weird, fun, and illegal things with computers for years before then. This is a solid story about a young hacker's rise and fall, and it goes just far enough into the world of computer-speak for dummies like me to understand what's going on. My biggest complaint is the ending--it's abrupt, but I think there's supposed to be more.
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An interesting graphic novel loosely based on Kevin Mitnick. It's intense and engaging, but also slightly lacking. The book starts with Kevin figuring out a way to cheat payphones allowing him to make long distance calls for free. As he ages he creates a computer virus on bootleg games he was selling. He begins doing more hacking and eventually things get out of hands. I would give it a look at, but in no way is it a must read.
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I've heard the Kevin 'Boingthump' Phenicle character is a composite of many phreaks/hackers, but I can only a thinly veiled version of Kevin Mitnick especially having read Mitnick's
Ghost in the Wires. I liked the art; it's a cross between the Fallout game series and Tintin. The ending was a bit abrupt, almost to the point that it seems some pages are missing. -
Probably would have been rated higher but for the bizarre and sometimes misogynistic treatment of female characters. Here's a question: why weren't any of the main characters women?
