In Out on the Wire, Jessica Abel provides and engaging and in depth look at the world of audio-based, broadcast (radio first and, now, through the internet as well) narrative journalism.  Abel first explored this world in comics way back in 1999, in Radio: An Illustrated Guide, a collaboration with This American Life co-founder and producer, Ira Glass, a healthy excerpt from which is included in this volume as a sort of preamble. Cartooning is both a labor intensive and isolating activity, so it makes sense that those so engaged would find themselves listening to hours of radio.  The hours spent inking and lettering are perfect hours to be listening to the type of stories found on This American Life, and now on podcasts of all stripes. The 200 pages of comics journalism that make up this full size softcover, crisply printed on flat white stock, provide many an anecdote, and lots of colorful personalities, but what really gets Ms. Abel's attention is the process:  How these stories are shaped and brought to life.  In this, it becomes clear through the pages of this thoughtful and well constructed work, as it has nowhere else before, that comics and radio have much in common.  So, whether it's comics or radio you're interested in, Out on the Wire has a good chance of floating your boat, and if you're interested in both, well then, "All Aboard!"