The revolution will be televised . . . and you should read about it
By Moe Abbas, Staff Writer
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Arts and Culture
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Bias and sensationalism runs rampant in today's mainstream journalism. As a result, according to recent polls, public distrust in reportage has peaked, mainly because the voice that represents the many is now coming out of the mouths of a select few. Media conglomeration has split news networks into partisan camps serving as spin-addled corporate mouthpieces, and Hickman's The Nightly News deals with the consequences of this corporate take-over with a worst-case scenario.
Comics rarely comment on journalism's grim transformation into the current status quo. However, the post-9/11 political climate has inspired the creation of lead characters as journalists who assume the hero's mantle, and who are critical of the American war machine. However, Hickman places his journalists between the crosshairs of the wrongfully accused and incessantly scrutinized.
Hickman weaves a plot with a straight-from-the-headlines timeliness: a quasi-religious cult, led by the mysterious "Voice", consists of members who have been victimized by intense media scrutiny. Along with their newest recruit, protagonist John Guyton, the cult murders journalists so that their colleagues learn to abide by the profession's traditional code of ethics.
Andy Diggle's foreward accurately pegs The Nightly News as "Network meets Fight Club"; its attention-grabbing tone conveys an indignant yet authoritative confidence that resembles that of Tyler Durdan. Some comic panels are true factoids in list form, detailing issues like globalization and media conglomeration, and creating a sense of verisimilitude. Hickman eschews conventional plot structuring and heavy character development to inform and raise questions. Just as enjoyable as the story are the included research and notes on his creative process, which reveal his personal philosophical, cultural and political views.
Hickman's art occasionally bombards the eye with too much information, but his style of illustration is unlike anything out in comics right now. Hickman emphasizes monochromatic colour and iconographic representation, transporting his characters away from a realistic physical reality to an expressionistic world of ideas and soapboxes.
Stuart Immonen claims that Hickman's avant-garde style has unveiled the future of comic book art. What's most striking about The Nightly News is not so much the style, but Hickman's interactivity with the reader by making his thought process transparent and showing facts pertinent to the story's sense of realism. Only time will tell whether comic creators will follow suit, but the story's current relevance will strike a chord even with those who are too jaded to bear the gloom-and-doom of today's headlines.
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