Review: Hacktivist Vol. 1

A year and a half ago I reviewed the first issue of "Alyssa Milano's Hacktivist" (see review here).  With last week's release of Volume 2, Issue #1, I thought it about time to review the rest of the original story arc.

"Hacktivist" re-imagines the event of the Arab Spring uprising that occurred in 2010/2011.  This is the central focus of the story.  The sociopolitical events and accomplishments of the activists are much more important than the "hack" part of "Hactivist".

If you work in InfoSec or any other IT related field, you are going to have to suspend your disbelief when reading this story.  There is some effort to use language familiar to the technically inclined however, it's apparent that the writers don't really have a complete understanding of the lexicon.  Don't get me wrong, "Hacktivist" is not as bad as "Live Free or Die Hard" (a.k.a Die Hard: Hack all the Things) but, let's suffice it to say that some liberties have been taken.

Another aspect of the story I found particularly unrealistic is the interaction between the CIA and the founders of the Facebook-esque company, "Your Life".  The way in which the CIA initially approaches the founders and the nature of the business proposal (while common in entertainment) was not very realistic.  This is a little disappointing for a story that tries to take itself more seriously.  I also find fault with the government's response when things don't go their way.  To avoid any spoilers, let's just say that if Mark Zuckerberg decided to shut down Facebook and sell your personal information, he wouldn't be called the country's #1 threat.

If you can forgive these issues, there is an interesting, albeit somewhat short story.  All-in-all it's an entertaining read and for $1.99 per issue (4 total) there are worse ways to spend your money.


You can pick up "Hacktivist" at your local comic shop or a digital copies at Comixology.com.