Analog: A Cyborg-Dystopian Noir, Vol. 1: Death by Algorithm

Analog

by Gerry Duggan, David O'Sullivan (Artist)

2024: the world has been mass-doxxed, and the internet is only for porn. Every email, photo, and document ever sent rains down out of the cloud, and only a fool would send a secret over the web. This is the era of the “Paper Jockeys”: armed couriers with a briefcase of secrets who’ll get your sensitive information around the globe or die trying. Human punching bag Jack McGinnis and his partner Oona are two of the best couriers in the business. For a price, they’ll move your sensitive information where it needs to go as they fight off fascists, criminals, and spies. From new star DAVID O’SULLIVAN and GERRY DUGGAN, writer of Deadpool and Uncanny Avengers. Collects ANALOG #1-5

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Crime, Cyberpunk, Graphic Novels Comics

139 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2018

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the face of it Analog is a futuristic noir about your stereotypical private detective-type - trenchcoat, booze, clipped narration, dame troubles - who does shady stuff for shady types. That’d be ok by itself but Gerry Duggan tries to do more and ends up with a muddled mess of boring nonsense instead.

Our anti-hero is Jack McGinnis, a “Ledger Man”, which looks to mean that he delivers packages to mob-types but later on he acts as a hitman, private investigator and basically whatever else the plot needs him to be. Oh and he “destroyed the web” apparently even though it looks like it still very obviously exists? And he’s being blackmailed by “Aunt Sam” (the feminised version of “Uncle Sam” because PC) to do something with AI that’s inhabiting various robot animals…?

Er, yeah, it’s overcomplicated and silly to say the least. After that cracking opening scene in St Louis which had that unexpected repetition to it that made it stand out, things went downhill fast and never improved. I don’t know why half of the things in this book are happening and I don’t care enough to go back and re-read it to find out as I won’t be continuing with this series and I suspect the answer is bullshit anyway.

The world building is unconvincing, underwritten and shaky at best - apparently 2024 America is, sigh, a fascist state. There are, good lord, concentration camps, and Jack’s on-again-off-again wife/girlfriend/doesn’t matter is a hero for killing literal Nazis - so basically the far-left’s wet dream come true. There are underground speakeasies because I guess alcohol has become prohibited again and also illegal drinking dens are the best way to hide illegal immigrants… ? Duggan can write well occasionally but he’s wiffing it big style here.

I wasn’t that impressed with David O’Sullivan’s art. Oh, which brings me to the weirdest problem with this book: Jack starts off as a white guy and then, two issues in, his skin turns bright pink/purple for no reason! Whaaaaaat?! Combined with that chin and he looked like a less bulky Thanos cosplaying as a generic gumshoe! Jordie Bellaire’s a fine colourist but I have no idea what she was thinking there. It’s so unnecessarily distracting! And it’s not some printing error either as Jack’s in some scenes with others, like Aunt Sam, who’re white like he was at the start but he’s still pink/purple!

Analog’s a pile of pants - I wouldn’t recommend it. For a better futuristic post-internet-cloud-crash-crime-type comic, check out Brian K Vaughan and Marcos Martin’s The Private Eye instead.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Analog is set in the near future of 2024 when the entire internet was doxxed and everybody's personal information became public knowledge. In this world, Jack McGiniss works as an armed paper courier who delivers secret information from and to whoever trades in it, but he's also tangled in his own world of shit.

I really enjoyed this one! Gerry Duggan's Marvel stuff is usually hit or miss for me (primarily because I don't like Deadpool, and that's the character he usually writes), so I was pleasantly surprised to find out his new (first?) creator-owned series at Image is a really enjoyable and entertaining romp. This book borrows certain elements from film noir — the protagonist is a hard-boiled alcoholic human punching bag with a tough guy inner monologue, he likes to walk in the rain and brood about how the world went to shit, and his equally hard-boiled lady friend sometimes gets into trouble that he has to get her out of. But the book also doesn't take itself too seriously — it has plenty of quality ironic humour (Duggan's years of writing Deadpool definitely show). The characters are fun to follow around, their interactions are delightful, and the story is quite gripping and well told. It did lose me a little bit in an episode where Jack went to Japan on one of his assignments, that's when it started to introduce a certain concept that I felt was confusing and out of place. Thankfully, Duggan didn't dwell on it too much and the plot moved on from there quickly enough.

Overall, Analog volume 1 is a really nice read that shows a lot of Gerry Duggan's writing talent, something I wish I could enjoy more often in his Marvel work. I really was pleasantly surprised by this comic and will be looking forward to volume 2.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good. Better than I expected at least. A story set in the future of 2024!!
I guess the only negative is the hero is getting the bleep kicked out of him every issue (sometimes more than once). The writer is really overly focused on the lead character getting beat up. It makes me worry about Mr Duggan a bit.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice breezy read, some funny moments, and some brutal deaths. It's all about the world after the internet is basically exposed, and everyone's darkest secrets are shown. Now there's people who go full analog, and do some intense thriller shit. The first half was a ton of fun but the 2nd half kind of got a little too wonky. Overall though it was solid. A 3 out of 5.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know if I was going to like this "cyber-dystopian noir" series, because the main character has such a giant chin. Look at that cover! It's preposterous. But one does get used to it, and this first volume of an ongoing series turned out to be really good. It's 2024, and someone broke the internet so there is absolutely no online privacy. Jack, our large-chinned hero, works as a courier for secrets, which travel on paper in a briefcase cuffed to his wrist. What happens to people who have valuable secrets? They get dragged into power struggles between various bad people, what else?

It's a bit lighter and wittier than what I was expecting given the "noir" label, but I could definitely see how this dude could be doomed. I was left wanting to know more about his role in the downfall of online privacy, the A.I. who has questions about that exact topic, and how much worse things are going to get for Jack.

p.s. His girlfriend and business partner Oona is a biracial black woman, and she is wonderful.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this, really. I just wasn't convinced by the premise, that because the internet shat the bed, criminal enterprises would switch to paper couriers exclusively. It feels a bit like giving up on the idea of doors with locks because you were burglarised.

It doesn't help that I don't like the art very much, either. Everyone either looks pretty and non-descript, or they have faces square as a brick.

Not for me, this.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. The internet has been ruined. Now anyone can see everything on there. No lore cloud and no more privacy. So we have these “Ledger Men”, people who will physically move you secret information anywhere you need to go. Our main character is one of these guys. He is also the one who crushed the internet. However, they never show it or go into to too much detail as to why it was done. A new player has stepped in to hit our main character with ultimatum, allow her to copy everything they carry for delivery first before the delivery or else. There some other problems that rain down Jack as well that by then end, he’s in a tight spot. Artwork was solid and the story was cool but I feel like it left a lot of questions unanswered. Hopefully they het brought to light in the next volume.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’ll score one for a writer who thinks about all the forensics angles to a crime scene - Duggan seems to have written a murder where the assailant can’t get pinched for physical evidence because he does the deed with a bedsheet *and* uses it in the same way that the stated suicide would end up doing to the victim.. I is amazed - compared to the ridiculously implausible crimes in movies and TV where all I can think when watching is “how the hell will this not get figured out in ten minutes by the cops?”, this one looks completely escapable.

The rest of this book feels...not quite boring, but also not all that interesting or compelling. This hard-boiled noir-ish hero (complete with standoffish relationship and plenty of “questionable contacts in all cities”) is uninteresting to me - I don’t care that he’s about to get his ass kicked, or that he’s being pursued by an Uber-villain (almost literally).

There’s a little John Wick here - not the “I can kill all y’all” but the “oh shit now the whole world is unsafe for him”, which if I gave a shit for the character would give me a reason to want to read the next book. Not so.

The art style takes a bit of getting used to, but Jordie Bellaire’s colours definitely help.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melding hard-boiled noir with a post-Facebook breach world is a brilliant idea. When nothing is private, the world’s only choice is to turn to Analog Volume 1.

In 2023, Jack is a Ledger Man, a paper jockey hired to move confidential papers from place to place. He also literally broke the Internet. Now people have no privacy at all. Many welcome the all access. For those that don’t, Jack is hired.

The government wants to break up Jack’s monopoly on confidentiality. “Aunt Sam” uses Jack’s loved ones to coerce him to breach his clients’ documents. An old enemy returns forcing Jack to retreat. Jack is in hiding but not for long...

Analog Volume 1 has excellent worldbuilding. The art is suitably dark. I just wish that the characters were more fleshed out. I’m unclear about the back stories and underlying motivations of all three main characters: Jack, his father and Oona, Jack’s girlfriend. I also expected more sarcastic humor from the author of Deadpool. Hopefully, future volumes will fulfill my wishes. I will definitely pick up the next one because the setting is awesome.

Putting noir characters in a future setting has been done before. Fans of those tales like Blade Runner and Looper will enjoy this dark look into the future. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thanks to Image Comics and Edelweiss+ for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Václav · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4,5 of 5 for thrilling "blade runner with briefcase" comic)
I looked forward to this and I'm not disappointed. The art looks excellent, I love contrast thick inks combined with not saturated colouring, good scenes and austere panelwork and it's perfect. Very "Sean Murphy" like and that's my sweet spot in comics art. It even looks like "updated Transmetropolitan" sometimes, and the story/setting has this feel too, but it's less futuristic.
The story is fun, thrilling, full of action, well-executed storytelling so I just dig into it and had trouble stopping. The first and second book is just the whole story cut in half, and so far it just looks like I can copy-paste this as a comment for a second when I'm done...
I couldn't recommend it enough. It's clever, well thought, great worldbuilding, spy/crime/action with some comedy bits. Awesome art. Just go read it.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* The world has gone completely digital. No secret is safe. If you want information coughed you send in someone like Jack. It has this Brubaker type noir to the story but it never quite hits the mark. It kinda doesnt take itself seriously. We still get Duggans trademark humour and comedic dialgoue. The artwork is ok but Ive seen much better. The story isnt overly exciting nor is the main character. Solid first outing but probably will gove volume 2 a miss. Will still check out what Duggan has to offer with other stories.

[Matěj Komiksumec · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rozhodně miluju ten nápad, miluju world building a bezmezně miluju kresbu s barvičkama. No, a pak je tu ten zbytek...Analog začíná příběhově výborně ale během relativně krátké chvíle se zvrhne v průměrnou a předvídatelnou jízdu, která by prakticky víc než jedno TPB nepotřebovala. Minimálně jde o fajn akčňák, jen z toho šlo určitě vytřískat mnohem více.

[Alex Sarll]

When I saw the initial press and previews for this, I couldn't work out why Image were publishing something which just looked like a dull version of another book whose physical edition they already handle, Vaughan and Martin's The Private Eye. Here, as there, the internet suddenly disgorged everyone's secrets, leading a scarred and chastened society back to offline life. But where The Private Eye suggested it would make the world more interesting, a riot of tiny subcultures and extravagant costuming as people's urge to curate moved off their screens, Analog appeared to suggest a return to the drabness of the 1950s-80s, lots of grey men in grey suits arguing in grey landscapes. Why bother? And yet, I gave it a go, because it was on Edelweiss as an ARC so fairly risk-free, and it turns out that preview was seriously underselling it. For one thing, The Private Eye wrapped in 2015, before Cambridge Analytica and Russian bots helped send the world insane. So where that book was a bit old-man-shouts-at-Cloud in its complaints about the young people and their screens, this one has a far more pressing reason for its anger, even if it does slightly overplay its hand with the Zuckerberg stand-in, who's outright villainous and megalomaniacal instead of the somewhat hapless figure the real version has always struck me as. For another, Analog takes the position that given the degree to which the web has exposed many of us as exhibitionists, then even when all our secrets are revealed, there are people who'll just say 'Fuck it' and carry on with their weird lives out in the open. And that partial withdrawal from the net seems much more plausible than The Private Eye's total shutdown; it's just that nobody trusts anything that needs to be secure on there. Which does make me wonder about the way the Internet of Things seems to be everywhere here – not just delivery drones and driverless cars, but dogwalking bots and tourist guides. Surely, if the myth of online security has been exposed, nobody's going to allow roads full of hackable vehicles? Still, that's a rare mis-step in the worldbuilding; even its more jaw-dropping moments, like the new turn the surveillance state takes in an offline world, feel horribly plausible given how ridiculous the world's become lately. And the story which takes place against that backdrop? Well, yeah, that is fairly noir - a hard man who nonetheless gets beaten up a lot, his righteous femme fatale lover, double-crosses and bodies dropping, all that. But the art sells it with sufficient personality that it doesn't come across too rote, and I ended up caring what happens to these people in a way I don't always with a Rucka or Brubaker story in similar territory.

[Trike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has an interesting premise: the internet is brought low when everyone’s secrets are spilled to everyone else and sensitive information must be transported the old-fashioned way, with couriers. Some of them deal in secrets people will kill for, which brings us to the flavor of the story, a flavor that is decidedly in the hardboiked/film noir wheelhouse.

Unfortunately, we don’t get a complete story here, and some of the artwork is downright weird. There’s one two-page spread late in the book where the main character sees his sometime partner and part-time lover on the street and the panels seem randomly jumbled. At first I thought he was imagining the scene, then I thought I was reading it out of order, then I went back to thinking it was a dream sequence, but now I have no idea. I hate that sort of vagueness.

So it’s interesting but kind of a mess and incomplete, therefore 3 stars. When the next volume comes out I’ll borrow it rather than buy it.

[Paul Spence · Rating 3 out of 5]

In December 2020, the Great Unplugging occurred which led to the end of the Internet and the spilling of secrets stored in the cloud. Four years later, Jack McGinnis is a paper jockey, a courier that is paid to get top secret information from one person to another, by any means necessary.

Written in 2018 with a look to the year 2024, some of the plot points in this volume draw upon some of the fears that are starting to manifest themselves in the real world today. A mogul that is looking to transform the world being courted by Russia. The rise of artificial intelligence and humanity’s reaction to it. Rising tensions among the human race and the escalation of hate and violence – a powder keg ready to explode. As I read this OGN, I was shocked to see how right on the nose Mr. Duggan was with some of his prophecies.

Duggan does a phenomenal job mixing genres like dime store detectives and elements of crime noir thrust into a futuristic setting. It’s like if Sam Spade was dropped into the world of Blade Runner. David O’Sullivan helps Duggan bring this world to life and I enjoyed taking my time seeing how the world has changed. My favourite part was in Chapter Four when Jack travels to Japan to drop off a briefcase and meets his contact, Hideki. Imagine if the Tokyo of today went back to its original roots and you’ll get an idea of the updated landscapes of the once and future city of tomorrow.

Analog, like any good mystery book or novel, has many twists and turns you never see coming. As soon as you get accustomed to the direction the story is going, the rug is pulled out from underneath you and you get sent for a ride head over heels.

Sadly, Analog only ran ten issues, that fill two TPB's. There are rumblings that this series will be making the leap to live action but I’m not sure if that is still the plan or if it is currently in developmental hell.

[Darth Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, despite this adhering to my rule of Japan, I kinda actually really liked it.

What would happen to a futuristic would if all the secrets, all YOUR secrets, shared on the internet were shared? What would happen to humanity?

In Duggan's world, humanity goes back to old timey, 80's technology, which is awesome and I love it. Add a dash of fascism and racism and you've got a comic that's pretty in line with our current political and social climate.

I liked that though Japan shows up, it's not in the Weeby, Oh, Japan is a magical land of paradise, type deal.

Definitely will be picking up the next on in the series.

[Siona Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I’m honest, this more four stars but I’m bumping it up because the overall rating on Goodreads is too low.

This was a really fun book and I like the noir style. The main character was fun to follow and I really like Oona (I believe that’s how it was spelt, the font made it seem like an O or a D, not 100% sure which one but I think O). Definitely gonna pick up the next volume.

Not sure why this is rated so low tbh. I don’t think it does much new in the noir genre besides maybe the setting, but it was still a lot of fun to read.

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Namet je zajimavej, ale ta exekuce je prinejmensim prumerna. Skoda, ze se to neuzavrelo jednim bookem, z tohodle cejtim zbytecny natahovani.

Jako svet, kde “prasknul cloud” a vsichni prisli o vsechna tajemstvi, uz sme videli v Private Eye, ale tady je zajimavy, ze za to udajne muze hlavni hrdina, kterej je zaroven elitni kuryr, protoze svet se vratil do analogovy doby.

Bohuzel mi prijde, ze scenar uz je predem danej a nejak nemam chut cist dal.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good future-noir comic, with a great premise – it's unfortunate, then, that of the five issues in this trade, one really fell flat with me. In the near future, the whole Internet is open to everyone, and nothing digital can be called private, so Private Eye-types act as couriers of secretive documents. Our hero is one such, until he gets leaned on to share those secrets with someone else. That's fine – it's a gritty world, with a voice-over to match, but where the problem comes in is that our man has a past. For he was one of those that killed the Internet, which for some reason means he has to go to a weird playground-like abode and talk to a collection of avatars of some AI. That is going to key in to the bigger story, for sure – but that's not the best of news, when the rest of the book, with all the twists and turns and machinations our man faces and causes, is perfectly fine. Memorable characters, a quick Millaresque sense of humour, and a well-played milieu, still make this as one to be interested in, but that downer makes the rating one that's given quite grudgingly. Optimistically, but grudgingly.

[Valéria. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"ANALOG WILL RETURN" oooooor it doesn't have to. Really. Start was interesting, I like the main character but it is all like "here's the job, do it! - problems - killing - walking the streets", on repeat. I smiled here and there, writing is decent but I got bored in the end.. I liked it more than other things I read this week though.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This feels like a good start. Interesting premise that isn't far off, with the oversharing of people online. Nothing is hidden any longer. It takes a little bit of a weird turn when the former Zuckersy stand in that kind of lead to the downfall of society comes back after the hero detective. Meanwhile he's getting hounded by the feds for them to copy everything analog that he carries as a courier via photocopy so they can still know all the secrets. I'm looking forward to V2. I like the artwork as well, just gritty enough but clear.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started off to be very interesting, but was a bit too muddled some of the time. For example, it is set VERY near future, in ways that kept pulling me out of the story, considering things like robotics seem to be much more advanced than that would allow.
The idea that someone, or group of someones, could basically crash the whole Internet was intriguing, but the results don't seem to make sense. Secure non-Internet means of transmitting data already exist, so why invent a method that's more complicated and easier to spot while it's going on? I mean, if you use computers in your office that are NOT connected to the internet, encode the file you want to send, load the encrypted file on a USB drive, and have a courier carry that, it's a lot less obvious than the method being used in the story, which means you're less likely to attract large numbers of armed criminals to attack each courier. Really. Being subtle has a purpose sometimes.
In addition, I had a little trouble with the skill mixture of the main character, who is somehow a wonderful hacker and a courier with the survival toughness of a pulp detective. In just a few years he has acquired combat skills and an advanced reputation in a field that appears to be no more than a couple of years old.
On the other hand, the story itself is interesting, and even the crimes committed by the main character become interesting, because the author has thought them through. The artwork is good, especially in the violent scenes, because the motions, expressions and results are conveyed convincingly.
I don't know if I will continue to read the series, though, because the setup for the story just didn't convince me, and nothing in this first volume made it more believable.

[Pop Bop · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Little Rough, But the Patter's Snappy

Our hero is a courier. Since the internet has been opened wide and all secrets have been revealed anything important is put on paper and hand carried. So what you get here is sort of future-dystopia throwback. That's a nice angle.

The artwork is a little rough, but it's effective. Our hero, Jack, has the snappy patter down - whether facing assassins, taking a new job from a corrupt smoothie, or needling his Dad, he's got the right line. This is clever, edgy or witty enough to keep me reading, and I'm curious to see where we go from here. An interesting indie find.

(Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad.

It's dystopia light. In 2020 the internet disgorges everyone's secrets. Privacy is over. The world changes. I'm a little skeptical. Privacy is on life support if its still alive. All of the world's secrets coming out at once would produce some individual crises, but I think the volume would wash out the effect of most and that most people would continue to use the internet much as they had, maybe with slightly more circumspection.

The art is kind of rough. it's not a distraction, it's just not very sharp. The dialogue is snappy, but I wonder how long he can keep it up. It feels like some of his characters may fall into a pattern rather quickly.

[Ben Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really get into this one. The main character is a bit annoying and it's a bit too bloodthirsty for my tastes. Had to force myself through the last issue because I didn't care about anyone.

[tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
Oh, the irony! I was reading a digital copy on my phone!!! Ee gads

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the western world funnels and filters its insecurities into and through the digital periphery, so too do the social and political institutions at the head of each and every cultural paradigm manifest in their hubris an unwillingness to fall on their swords. The decline of the digital world may not prove near, likely, or inevitable, but the decline of the authority of western ideologues whom benefit from the digital world certainly is.

ANALOG pins back its ears and dives into a dystopic future only a few erratic social media campaigns and illicit videos removed from present day reality. Artificial intelligence has encroached on human curiosity. The U.S. government is spying on everyone. Nazis are a thing (again). And top-notch Ledger Man, Jack McGinnis, is known for shuttling paperwork and other documents across borders and whatnot (and not dying in the process).

Jack is solid at his job. And chances are high that if one should ever stumble into the profession of contraband executor, indeed, they must be good at their job, less they be deceased by day's end. Good thing Jack has a penchant for not dying. Good thing Jack has a steely intuition and a knack for navigating street violence like the back of his hand. Also, his father is a paranoid drunkard and his lady friend is an ace sniper.

ANALOG is fun, simple, and straightforward -- which can be said of most of Duggan-authored comics. Jack transports documentation and gets pinched when the government steps in. Not good. A smart person would go with the flow to reduce casualties. Jack, however, is not a smart person. So the bullets fly.

If this title should ever seek to do more than trail Jack as he strangles folks in their hospital beds and narrowly avoids getting poisoned by bad booze, then the comic probably wouldn't be on the right path. ANALOG is a cop noir for the next century. The fact that there are no cops and the timeline claims only a five-year jump into the future is fairly irrelevant. Dive bars, cryptic government messengers, underground headquarters, corrupt paramilitary ventures. Jack is one dude in an ugly profession trying to survive an ugly world.

Readers who enjoy the foreplay of a twisted man against a twisted system will find this series irresistible. For readers who prefer a little more nuance to tales of a former U.S. intelligence officer attempting to redeem himself, then Duggan's work leaves much to be desired. Readers don't learn much of anything concerning how Jack got to where he is other than acting on his conscience (once) in a manner that toppled the digital cloud. Such vague narrative entitlements are an entrapment of the subgenre, but they also represent an opportunity to cut loose the many dangling idiosyncrasies that make Jack's tale like so many, many others.

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a little bit of .... strange. It is future. there was a huge break-down of social media that caused people to separate themselves from the phones, smart devices etc although as far as I can see networked and autonomous vehicles, communication and infrastructure exists, AIs exists and cyber-enhanced bodies and persons also roam the streets. But this world is marked also by constant society turmoil, lack of food and constant riots.

Our main protagonist is ... troublemaker to say the least. He worked in the secret services but beneath his demeanor he is anarchist without cause. He is willing to break down everything (there are hints of his involvement in this critical breakdown of always-online society) because of his personal sense of justice - self righteous anger of a man that is for all means and purposes angry on everyone around him. In this brave new world (which he does not like with the same passion as he did not like the previous one) our hero is working as a ledger man, analog (as in non digital) courier of confidential documents for shadowy clientele. So when he gets contacted by government requesting opportunity to check the material before it reaches the destination our hero soon finds himself in quite a bad situation.

Story is written as action-comedy adventure (father/son scenes are hilarious). We follow our hero, genuine wise-cracker as he tries playing all the parties involved. What ruined a story for me a bit is this self righteousness that does resonate with our times but it is not aimed at anything and remains only goal-less anarchism. Our hero shook the foundation of the world but remains same bitter person who does not find anything noble in the new world he helped create.

Art is good, cartoonish to a degree but it worked for me. If you enjoy art of likes of Black Science you will enjoy this one too.

Good story, recommended to all fans of SF, thriller, noir story. I liked the twist and low-tech approach now required to trade in secrets. Hopefully in future issues they will give our protagonists more focused approach to life and events in the world.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two central ideas the the world this story is built in are based on, and only one of them really seems to play into the plot so far - the idea of the global doxxing is interesting but irrelevant beyond a motivation for the neo-luddites and the importance of paper jockeys as the carriers of secrets.
That being said, the story is very entertaining, as our protagonist Jack gets run through the wringer, gets co-opted by the US government (maybe), and has an... interesting experience in Japan. The writing is sharp, and Jack (and Oona) make for fun and sympathetic protagonists, and the action is whip-smart too. I laughed out loud several times at this book, even though it's not really a comedy - it was just darkly cynical in a way that pushed my buttons perfectly. And that scene in Japan is very unique and I really enjoyed it. There's a fairly complete story in this volume, but I really hope Gerry Duggan continues it because he's got a fascinating situation built here that I would love to see more of. The art works well, supporting the story and capturing the different locales and characters very well. All told, a very pleasant surprise.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is 2024 and the Internet has been hacked. Anything put online is available to everyone. So serious business has returned to paper. Which is where Jack McGinnis comes in. He is a "paper jockey" in that he takes physical paper (or other items) from one location to another for a fee. He is a former "Company" man and may have had something to do with the Internet turning into a sieve. But he has problems. People keep trying to kill him for his documents, the government has bought up a bunch of copiers and wants first crack at the contents of paper jockeys' briefcases. And then there is his girlfriend. And an unknown enemy gunning for him. So what is Jack to do? I mean besides, drink and bleed? An interesting future noir read.