Review: Hacktivist #1 scores an 8/10 (with Preview)

Hacktivist #1 of 4

Created by: Alyssa Milano
Written by: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
Illustrated by: Marcus To
Colors by: Ian Herring
Letters by: Deron Bennett
Edited by: Rebecca Taylor
Design by: Scott Newman
Publisher: Archaia Black Label a Division of Boom Entertainment Inc.

On Sale: January 22, 2014
Price: $3.99
Format: Full Color
Genres: Cyber Thriller
Rated: Mature

Ed Hiccox and Nate Graft are young, brilliant, and the co-founders of YourLife, a social networking company that has changed the way the world stays connected. In secret, these best friends are also “sve_Urs3lf,” the largest, white-hat hacking group on the planet, exposing information and sparking revolutions across the globe.

I’ve been eagerly, if not so patiently, waiting for this book since I first heard about it months ago. At first it was curiosity of Alyssa Milano being involved with a comic. And as information about the book became available, the curiosity shifted to the premise of the book.

I am happy to say that the wait was worth it. I just finished reading a copy of the first issue and only wish I had the next three issues in my hands right now.

The Hacktivist story was well developed and paced. The characters are surprisingly believable, maybe instead of surprisingly I should say scarily. While on some level we might wish there were people out there doing this (come on we all know they aren’t out there ~cough cough~) at the same time we worry that there might be people out there capable of the things these characters do. Can’t say much more than that without giving away the story.

The story is interesting, timely and believable on multiple levels. As you read it you can envision certain people involved with either social media or info leaks being these characters, that in itself makes this book engrossing. Is it fact or fiction? In this day and age it is often hard to tell the difference between the two especially when dealing with topics related to social media, information, hacking and cyber warfare. Darn, can’t follow this chain of thought any further without asking questions that would result in spoilers of issue one and well, spoilers are a thing to be avoided here.

Final Score for Hacktivist #1 is a 8/10, for concept, story and delivery. Now if only I could have the skills of Hiccox and Graft so I could hack my way to issues 2 – 4, because well waiting is just not fun when the story hooks you from page 1.

Hacktivist #1 Preview: