Don't Touch that Dial!: The Nightly News with Jonathan Hickman

Jonathan Hickman, whose Image Comics series The Nightly News has been drawing attention and good reviews from the comics and mainstream press since it debuted in November 2006, may have written a horror story that bemoaned the state of the American media-but he doesn't think that the situation is totally hopeless. "There's a lot of [lazy journalism] and it's incestuous," Hickman says. "It's going to be played out soon, though. I think we're about five years away from a major reorganization of what it means to be a reporter."

An odd mix of dark comedy, social commentary and actual journalism, Hickman's book is sometimes scattered, but often very clever and most of its observations are on-target. "The meta-narrative of The Nightly News is distilled down to their essence, there's no difference in the relationship between the news and their viewers, and cults and their followers," Hickman explains. "The whole essence of The Nightly News is making this comparison." He also puts the blame for what he perceives to be an irresponsible media on the financial demands that the owners place on the media. "The commodification of media completely devalues the virginal state of the news," he explains.

The series, collected in a trade paperback format in September, follows the exploits of John Guyton, whose life was shattered when false accusations about him surfaced in the media and he was convicted in the court of public opinion, not unlike Richard Jewell or other people who have endured "trial by media," to the detriment of their personal and professional lives. Incensed by the seeming impunity with which the media gets away with flagrantly ignoring its responsibilities and hurting people in the process, he is a perfect candidate to become The Hand, the violent, obsessed agent of a cult-like, shadowy figure calling himself The Voice.