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The illustrated, inside story of the legendary hacktivist group’s origins and most daring exploits.A for Anonymous shows how a leaderless band of volunteers successfully used hacktivism to fight for the underdog, embarrass their rich and powerful targets–from Sony and Paypal to the Church of Scientology and Ferguson Police Department–all in the name of freedom of speech and information. Their exploits blurred the distinction between “online” and “reality,” and help shape our contemporary world.

Chapter 1

NAME?

DAVID KUSHNER.

NAME?

DAVID KUSHNER.

BUSINESS OR PLEASURE?

BUSINESS.

OH? WHAT DO YOU DO?

I’M A WRITER.

WHAT DO YOU WRITE?

WORKING ON AN ARTICLE FOR THE NEW YORKER.

COOL! DO YOU NEED A GPS?

I’M GOOD.

NAME?

DAVID KUSHNER.

DAVE

I’m here.

DAVE

I’m here.

COMMANDER X

Welcome.

DAVE

So… where do I go?

COMMANDER X

I’ll send you my address now..

DAVE

send away.

But make sure you leave no record of it.

Yeah.

X out of this chat window when we are done.

All right.

And if you have to write the address down, fine-

-but make CERTAIN you destroy the paper ok?

I will.

LATER

THIS MUST BE IT.

HEY, IT’S ME.

COME IN.

I HOPE YOU DON’T MIND THE SMOKE.

NAH, I’M FINE.

COFFEE?

SURE.

SO YOU MADE IT.

YEAH.

THOUGH IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASIER JUST TO FLY STRAIGHT HERE INSTEAD OF DRIVING FOR THREE HOURS.

I’M A FUGITIVE, YOU KNOW. GOTTA BE CAREFUL.

I KNOW.

NOW THAT YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR, YOU MAY LIVE TO REGRET THIS STORY.

WELL, LET’S GET STARTED.

WHAT IS ANONYMOUS?

WHAT’S ANONYMOUS? OR WHO’S ANONYMOUS?

ANONYMOUS IS NOT A GROUP, AND IT’S NOT A PERSON.

SPECIFICALLY, IT IS THE IDEA THAT ALL OF US DESERVE FREEDOM.

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT, OF SPEECH, OF EXPRESSION, OF KNOWLEDGE, OF BELIEF.

THE FREEDOM TO DETERMINE THE COURSE AND DESTINATION OF OUR OWN LIVES.

IF YOU SHARE THIS IDEA, THEN YOU ARE ANONYMOUS.

YOU HAVE LIKELY HEARD MANY THINGS ABOUT ANONYMOUS.

SOME OF THEM ARE TRUE AND SOME OF THEM ARE NOT.

WE ARE NOT TERRORISTS, OR VIOLENT.

WE ARE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD WHO BEAR WITNESS TO TYRANNY, OPPRESSION, AND CENSORSHIP.

WE ARE ACTIVISTS WHO SEEK TO CHANGE THE SYSTEM AND THE CYCLE OF CORRUPTION.

WE SEEK TO CREATE TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENTS AND ALL INSTITUTIONS OF PUBLIC SERVICE.

WE RESIST THOSE WHO SEEK TO VIOLATE OUR RIGHTS AS HUMAN BEINGS.

AS A COLLECTIVE OF AUTONOMOUS INDIVIDUALS, HOWEVER, WE HAVE NO LEADERS WHO DICTATE THE METHODS OF RESISTANCE.

SOME OF US ARE INDEED HACKERS, AND USE OUR SKILLS TO MAKE CRITICAL INFORMATION AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC.

SOME OF US ORGANIZE PROTESTS AND RALLIES.

SOME OF US VOLUNTEER OUR TIME TO FEED THOSE WHO CAN’T FEED THEMSELVES.

WE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR FRIENDS, AND YOUR RELATIVES.

WE PREPARE YOUR FOOD, REPAIR YOUR APPLIANCES, WRITE YOUR BOOKS, COMPOSE YOUR MUSIC, AND CREATE YOUR TECHNOLOGY.

WE ARE YOUR POSTAL WORKERS, BARBERS, STORE CLERKS, AND LAWYERS.

WE ARE SOCIALISTS AND CAPITALISTS. WE ARE ATHEISTS, AND WE ARE RELIGIOUS.

WE ARE EVERYONE, AND WE ARE NO ONE.

NONE OF US IS AS POWERFUL AS ALL OF US.

I GUESS THERE’S REALLY NO EASY WAY TO DEFINE IT.

NOT REALLY.

SO LET’S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING.

SO GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING.

FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER, THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW WERE BASICALLY THE FIRST HACKTIVISTS, RIGHT?

HAHA, YEAH, “HACKTIVISM” WASN’T EVEN A THING WHEN THEY STARTED.

IN THE MID-1980S, LONG BEFORE ANONYMOUS HAD A NAME, THE TEENAGE FOUNDERS OF THE GROUP THAT WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW HAD AN UNUSUAL HANGOUT SPOT.

… AN OLD SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN LUBBOCK, TEXAS.

THEY WERE CODERS, HOBBYISTS, AND ACTIVISTS EMPOWERED BY THE RISE OF PERSONAL COMPUTERS. THEY WANTED TO MESS AROUND AND HAVE FUN, BUT THEY WERE ALSO INTERESTED IN USING THEIR PCS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE.

WE NEED A NAME FOR OUR GROUP.

CODE WARRIORS?

MACHINE HEADS?

SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE?

TAKEN.

THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW.

I LIKE THE SOUND OF IT!

ONE OF CDC’S HIGHEST-PROFILE TARGETS WAS THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY.

THIS INTERNET FORUM IS MAKING A MOCKERY OF US!

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

CALL THE INTERNET. HAVE IT ELIMINATED.

LUBBOCK, TEXAS, THE FOLLOWING WEEK.

DUDE, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SCIENTOLOGY FORUM?

Genre:

"Scenes of hacktivists sitting at their computers are made compelling by Shadmi's clever use of surrealist imagery. A thought-provoking history of an oft-misunderstood subject, as well as the evolution of social protests over the past three decades."—Library Journal

On Sale: Mar 31, 2020
Page Count: 128 pages
Publisher: Bold Type Books
ISBN-13: 9781568588773

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David Kushner

About the Author

David Kushner is an award-winning journalist and author. A contributing editor of Rolling Stone, Kushner has written for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, New York Times Magazine, and GQ. His books include Masters of Doom andAlligator Candy. Kushner is also author of the graphic novel Rise of the Dungeon Master, illustrated by Koren Shadmi.

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Koren Shadmi

About the Author

Koren Shadmi is a Brooklyn-based illustrator and cartoonist; he studied illustration in the School of Visual Arts in NYC, where he now teaches. His graphic novels include Rise of the Dungeon Master, and his work has been published in the The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Playboy, and Wired.

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David Kushner

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