I somewhat liked the story. I loved the old grandpa. I pribably will be like that when I'm old too.

The art comparably was much better than the story itself.

I hated the format of the physical graphic novel. It was so hard to read. ( )

Saga author Brian Vaughan creates a series about a dystopian world where the internet no longer exists following a "burst" in the cloud which revealed everybody's innermost secrets. In this future, everybody wears masks and adopts "nyms" to hide their real identity, and fears the dictates of the authoritarian Fourth Estate - news reporters.

Illegal private eye P.I. is engaged by a beautiful young woman with an odd request - to find out everything about her. When she is murdered that night, her sister forces him to take the case against his will. Soon they are caught up in a nefarious plot and are being pursued by a powerful businessman.

Ironically, given its theme, this series was originally published solely on the internet. It has now been released in print, which was the version that I read. Vaughan's story is pacy and exciting, and the panels are packed with pop culture references for the keen-eyed. This is the kind of graphic novel that immerses you in the author's world and leaves you wanting more. ( )

The concept for this book was so original and strange, it took a little while to get oriented, but I really liked it.
In the notes at the end, it sounds like it was originally offered online, and people could pay what they could afford for it. I hadn't heard of it until it was available in book format.
I would estimate the book weighs a thousand pounds, and the shape makes for awkward reading, but it's worth the extra effort.
In a post-Internet world, people guard their privacy so carefully they don't leave home without a costume. The creators of this comic had loads of fun with this idea.
Journalists are the police force, and librarians are allowed to use lethal force to protect their patrons' records. Private investigators are called paparazzi, and it's illegal to be one. Our main character is a P.I.
I appreciated the creativity of this story, and the artwork was stunning, if not always pretty. I enjoyed the story and the setting, but there's a lot of violence and nudity, so I wouldn't recommend this to kids. ( )

I wasn't really sure how to approach this graphic novel/comic collection (the fact that I don't even know which one it is should reveal something....) - while the synopsis and the plot drew me in (everyone has a secret identity! all secrets and online activity are now readily available!), the actual story wasn't quite what I expected. It felt as though I was missing a lot of backstory, not necessarily about the cloud bursting but about the characters themselves (though, of course, there were some questions that nagged at me: why were the press conflated with the police? Why, long after the cloud had burst, did people who were born after the storm need to adopt identities?). And while I guess it thematically made sense that, just as none of the characters really knew PI, neither did the reader, it just made it difficult to fully immerse myself into the action because I felt... held at a distance.

The art was great - colorful and confusing and unsettling and chaotic, which is how I'd imagine living in that world would feel. The interactions between PI, Mel, and Taj's sister were believable and lived in, and all the characters well-fleshed out and consistent. ( )

A weird thing about being in your 30s is starting to hear people from your generation and thereabouts start using variations of "kids these days." Even though this is set in 2075, this comic feels a lot like it's just saying, "kids these days," with all its outlandish, ominous, post-Internet ruminations. ( )