This review originally appeared on Goodreads on September 21, 2012.

Wizzywig: Portrait of a Serial Hacker

By Ed Piskor – Top Shelf Productions – July 4, 2012

Review by Robin Marx

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.

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.

★★★★☆

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