WIZZYWIG

May 21, 2012
In his solo graphic novel debut, Piskor does more than write a fascinating account of hacking, phone phreaking, and hi-tech hijinks. He gives us some very real insight into the peculiar motivations that define a subculture. Inspired by tales of real-life hackers like Kevin Mitnick, Piskor’s narrative follows the story of Kevin “Boingthump” Phenicle, who gets his start tapping into telephone lines as a teenager and works his way up to infiltrating the phone company and its database. At his side is his best (and indeed only) friend, Winston, who goes from helping Kevin with his hacking to defending him on the radio when Kevin is eventually caught and incarcerated. What stands out is the clarity with which Piskor is able to show us a protagonist whose mind is governed by an insatiable curiosity. Piskor also does a nice job using comics storytelling, periodically inserting radio and television broadcasts to comment on events or using an extended sequence of panels, each featuring a different character, to show the various attitudes toward his protagonist from those within and outside of the hacking subculture. Piskor superbly balances action and insight, and gives us a unique window through which to view the ingenious mind of a hacker.

July 1, 2012

Kevin "Boingthump" Phenicle can do voodoo on any phone or data system and knows enough social engineering tricks to manipulate people, too. He's not a real villain, though, just a picked-on, precocious kid starved for recognition. His crimes: phone phreaking, computer hacking, and wiretapping, for starters. Debut graphic novelist Piskor intercuts among Kevin's life story, pal Winston's attempts to ease Kevin's legal difficulties, various media commentators misrepresenting Kevin's adventures, and the word on the street from talking-head fans and enemies. The resulting cat-and-mouse saga frames Kevin as a not-so-bad guy set into a readable, tech-savvy account of how 1980s wonks could pull stunts like crashing all the phone lines on Mother's Day and rigging call-in radio contests. Indeed, Phenicle's exploits and talents are drawn from real cases. VERDICT With heavy technology content and social-issue relevance, plus hacker and comics industry in-jokes, this is a techie's dream read, enhanced by Piskor's thorough research and judiciously unpretty black-and-white art. Recommended for computer nerds and those interested in technology history, social justice, and the human/machine interface. Sexual depictions and nudity mean this is suitable for older teens and up.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
Piskor's saga of Kevin Boingthump Phenicle, an invented character gene-spliced from various real-life hackers, began as a series of self-published books, was serialized online, and is now a graphic novel handsomely packaged with a Mac Classic cover and Apple-fied Top Shelf logo. In fractured, single-page strips and longer, stretched-out scenes, Boingthump begins as a clever adolescent in the '70s with a knack for tinkering just below the surface of legality and an insatiable curiosity for new technology (he's more that lost breed of dissidence, the phone phreaker, than the sort of hacker we associate with the term today). Without much malicious intent, though, he winds up on the FBI's hit list, goes into hiding when a hysterical Geraldo type whips the public into a fear frenzy, and inspires a backlash among underground figures waging a battle for digital freedom. Piskor's accomplished, alt-comics-style art will be familiar from his collaborations with Harvey Pekar. Like Pekar's work, this solo outing is a story of endearing subversiveness, exposing the forgotten marginalia of society.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)