Pong in Hacker Graphic Novel!

[Ed Piskor]

http://www.edpiskor.com/wizzy.html

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/EdPiskor/wizzywig/COVER1.jpg

I finally got my shipment of a new comic that I'm distributing pretty much exclusively through my website and at cons. Here's my obligatory blurb about the story:

THIS 116 PAGE GRAPHIC NOVEL TELLS THE TALE OF HACKER AND PHONE PHREAK KEVIN “BOINGTHUMP” PHENICLE, AS HE BEGINS HIS FASCINATING CAREER WITH THE EASIEST ACCESSIBLE COMPUTER OF THE 1970S: THE PHONE SYSTEM. KEVIN’S UNQUENCHABLE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE LEADS HIM DOWN A DARK AND CRIMINAL PATH OF CHEATING, CONNING, AND TRESPASSING IN ORDER TO GAIN DIRECT ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION HE SO OBSESSIVELY DESIRES.

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/EdPiskor/wizzywig/pg_029.gif

There are more pages to check out at the site

http://www.edpiskor.com/wizzy.html

[MrRoboto19XX]

This looks good, I'll have to pick it up when I get some more money.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Figured out? Kid, TOP CAT did this years before you were even born!

[ryborg]

This looks pretty interesting, but what the hell is going on in page 53?

http://www.edpiskor.com/wizzywig/pg_053.gif

[Ed Piskor]

The character is a composite of many real life hackers and though I don't give a specific date, this comic takes place in the 70's.

Also, the characters on page 53 are caricatures of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who, before forming Apple computer, sold illegal devices called blue boxes to make free long distance calls. It's known that in college to make money one of their jobs was to dress up like Alice in Wonderland characters at a local mall.

I have so many crazy things going on in this book and I put sooo much research into it. I'm distributing it pretty much exclusively through my site so if you find it interesting grab a copy over there.

[Ed Piskor]

Wow, thanks to everybody who grabbed a copy. I'm going to ship them out tomorrow (monday) morning first thing!

I hope you dig guys dig it.

[Blackcrow]

This looks pretty interesting, but what the hell is going on in page 53?


Phone Phreaking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaking

[Ed Piskor]

Thanks for spreading the word a bit. Some really influential and iconic people in the hacker world have been picking the book up recently. It's pretty amazing since this is a completely grassroots effort relying completely on word of mouth. I can't believe some of the people who ordered the book. It's very exciting. Some popular podcast/vidcasts are going to be doing reviews of the book and I just got contacted by some people from a few major media venues to do interviews and/or they're gonna do a review. Unbelievable.

I'm working hard on volume 2 as I write this and I just thought of something that might be cool, and a way that I can show some appreciation and throw some props to the guys who bought/buy the book. I really value your support so much and its making the next volumes possible!

Here are the first few pages to volume 2
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/EdPiskor/wizzywig/pg_001pdf.jpg
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/EdPiskor/wizzywig/pg_002pdf.jpg
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa288/EdPiskor/wizzywig/pg_003pdf.jpg

Here's the offer: the first 10 people to buy or who bought the book can send me an email with the subject reading "Handle", include your real name(to match with your paypal order), and handle and I will replace the names of the characters in these pages with your own screenname/handle. You can make a request on which character you'd like your name to be attached but the spot may be taken and I'll have to put it in elsewhere at my discretion.

When the 10 slots go for this I will try my best to put the other names elsewhere throughout the book. Your name may appear as a handle for a bbs user, graffiti on a wall, the name on a vanity license plate, etc.

If the orders are staggering I'm going to do the above for as many as possible plus put together a section in the book highlighting and thanking you guys for picking the novel up.

I don't know how meaningful this is to anyone but its my way of thanking the guys who already bought the graphic novel, and maybe it will be incentive enough for you to scoop one up if you didn't grab one yet! I want my audience to be smart, unconventional, tech savvy, people with a hacker mentality and what better way for me to thank you than to drop your name personally in the next one?!

http://www.edpiskor.com/wizzy.html

My email address is at the site. Write "Handle" as the subject of the email, include your real name (so that I can match it up with the orders on paypal) and the handle of your choice and I will get busy making these changes and I will compile notes on who to include in my tale.

[Ed Oscuro]

I was about to ask if the string-coin trick really would work on a coin-operated game (I think Donald Duck uses it in a 30's cartoon; since then there was a lot of work done on various ways to prevent people from doing that), and then I noticed the character's name.

Fun stuff. I just have to know - is the bit in the lead about the "DARK AND CRIMINAL PATH" a sideways parody of mainstream views of computer/game users?

[Ed Piskor]

not really. He doesn't like pick up tips on how to be a bad guy from video games. He's sort of just interesting in knowing forbidden things and gets his information by any means possible which includes fraud and trespass.

A lot of the info is factually accurate

[Kitsune Sniper]

Funny how Dr. Psycho actually LOOKS like Dr. Psycho (http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/tag/dr.+psycho).