Channel Zero: Jennie One

Channel Zero #1

by Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan (Illustrator)

What happened to Jennifer Havel that turned her into info-terrorist and media-slut Jennie 2.5, heroine of the internationally-acclaimed graphic novel CHANNEL ZERO? CZ: JENNIE ONE tells the story as she drops out of art school and builds her socio-political consciousness during one of the most turbulent and violent periods of American history... the passing of the Clean Act and the loss of free speech. Artist Becky Cloonan puts the perfect images to Brian Wood's story: a perfect complement to the original Channel Zero but with a style all its own. A must-have for even the most casual Channel Zero fan.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

72 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2003

About the author

Brian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.

From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.

His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.

He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those interested in picking up this book, I suggest you head over and read my review of Channel Zero first.

If you’re already in the know, then you came here to find out what events transpired during the summer of the Clean Act to turn young Jennifer Havel into the info-terrorist featured in Brian Wood’s Channel Zero graphic novel.

In this wonderfully realized prequel, Wood renders his story with more conventional narrative techniques than seen in Channel Zero. But what it loses in innovation, it gains in Becky Cloonan’s fantastic artwork. Cloonan is well on her way to becoming an industry superstar. But her work found in Jennie One remains some of my favorite art found in ANY comic book I’ve ever picked up. Visceral and unforgiving, Cloonan's art saturates each page with the spirit of Jennie and her first steps toward her guerrilla war against the Clean Act and the right wing political machine.

[Ciarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Jennie One as a part of Channel Zero and immediately fell in love with Becky Cloonan's style. The message behind this graphic novel was powerful and meaningful to me. It focused around a young revolutionary who wished to protest the implementation of "The Clean Act". Basically, it's set in an America where the entirety of the media is controlled by the government, and even street artists are killed by the "Cleaners". It shows how powerful the media is in making people think certain ways, and also how it teaches people to reject what isn't "normal". Jennie One is a must read after, or even before reading Channel Zero.

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sis snagged this for me based off of my picks on Amazon.com. I loved the original book which this came from (Channel Zero) which had a very counter-culture, rebellious tone to it that I found endearing as an advocate of First Amendment rights. However, this version lacks some of the vitality that Channel Zero had, though the art is definitely an improvement in some ways. It does however still have all of the valid points that the original did, as well as the same tone and sentiment - that your mind, and your art, are weapons, and that we should use them as such.

[furious · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was the first Brian Wood book that i ever read & it (along with its progenitor, Channel Zero) made me a fan of his for life. there's just something very genuine about his writing. i was also on a big indy comics tear when i read it. Becky Cloonan's art style here is raw & perfect.

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

the protagonist, a young art student in NYC, confronts a censorious police state in the not-so-distant future. a lot of anger, and a lot of beauty, in this graphic novel by the folks at channel zero.

[Sam McCanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

comics,indie,alt,drama

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

the intro to this got it an extra star. brian wood "found" becky cloonan and wrote this for her to illustrate. he did us a gift. very much a period piece.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not one of Wood's best works, but it's eerily evocative of today's civil unrest.

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's very...eh. Cloonan's art is great, but Wood's writing is so incredibly knee-jerk and adolescent here that I simply couldn't enjoy it.

[Michel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vervolg op Channel Zero. Meer van dattum.

[Zanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

9.95