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Transmetropolitan |
Legendary man of letters Hunter S. Thompson has been cloned in the future, only his name is now Spider Jerusalem. Spider, like Hunter, is a bastard, a complete and total bastard, he drinks, takes lots and lots of drugs, smokes, swears and hounds politicians to the graves of their careers without remorse.
Spider does this by writing a column called "I Hate It Here" for a newspaper called "The Word" in a city called "The City", sometime in the future, the date unknown as people no longer care to have an absolute measure of time.
The world of Transmetropolitan is a view of a world transformed by transhuman technologies, Mercury has been tuned into a solar power farm, nanotech matter compilers are installed in every home, uplifts abound everywhere, cryogenic suspendies have been resurrected and you can even convert yourself into sentient utility fog. Yet something has gone wrong, the technology has changed, but the people and more importantly the politics has remained the same.
Transmetropolitan written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Darick Robertson, is without a doubt the most brilliant comic being published today, involving issues ranging from political corruption to racism to paedophilia, it remains both disturbing, thought provoking, darkly humorous and gut-wrenchingly funny. Transmet is the pinnacle of todays comic industry, currently in its fifth and final year it should not be missed by anyone with even the slightest passing interest in Orions Arm and Transhumanism.
In which we meet Spider and get introduced to The City, Mitchell Royce the editor of The Word, the mafia owned, drug addicted Goti nanofabers and the church of christ, Fred Christ, a former band manager and splice with a Roswell Grey.
Quote (from - The Summer Of The Year) :
"...Christ, I don't even have journalist's insurance. I haven't worked without insurance since that time the red catholics dropped the auto-cannibalism meme on karel square.
I still can't eat pork."
ISBN: 1-56389-445-9 Introduction By Garth Ennis
In which Spider gets an assistant, watches T.V for a day, has a look at religion, attends an upload, meets a revived suspendee, visits the reserves, receives a death threat in the form of a petition, has a run-in with the uplifted CPD and amongst many other things, shoots the president of the USA (aka: The Beast) with a bowel disruptor set to prolapse.
Quote (from - What Spider Watches On TV) :
"so we were in a shuttle, doing a trawl of the exo-atmospheric ring? Scooping up the orbiting garbage? Well we scooped this shit up, this frozen ashy shit, did an analysis on it...and it was Tim Leary. And god help us, we smoked him..."
ISBN: 1-56389-481-5
If you are a fan of politics, BUY THIS BOOK. Its election year, and the City's the host of the party conferences, without spoiling it, spider meets his nemesis, the next president of the united states, the Smiler. He also gets another assistant and visits a Long Pig farm ;-).
Quote (from - Love) :
"The fix is in. It remains only to be seen what it's been traded for. To get to this stage, anyone wanting to be candidate has had to learn to enjoy the special flavor of pressure-group dick. The question is: will the Smiler stagger on stage with lungs half full of steaming lobbyist semen? Or will he merely be licking his lips?
I so badly want to kill everyone in this room. Even the children.
especially the children."
ISBN: 1-56389-568-4
The Smilers riding high on the popularity that the assassination of his campaign manager and Spiders friend, Vita Severn. Whilst The Beast is hiding in a plush hotel, drinking himself into a coma, when Royce orders him to interview both candidates.
Again in this book, Transmet shows exceptional attention to detail, not only in the superb writing by Ellis, but also in Robertsons art and Ramos' inking. Every panel has some new wonder hiding in the background, whatever you do, don't miss the anti-clowns of the tolerable terror infant therapy institute or the foglet celebrating its unbirthday.
Quote (from - Next Winters) :
"You're probably wondering what the point of all this ugly rambling bullshit is.
It's this:
THE FUTURE IS INHERINTLY A GOOD THING.
and we move into it one winter at a time."
ISBN: 1-56389-627-3
Lonely City consists half of stand alone stories exploring the City and half the racially motivated, Rory Lockwood murder. Allowing Ellis to expand on Spider the professional horrible bastard, but brings the social activist aspect far more to the front.
Again BUY THIS BOOK, if only for the hilarious "Monstering" strip.
Quote (from - Monstering) :
"Monstering... is the art of abusing people. Of ambushing them with questions, following them with questions, hounding them with questions, driving them to their fucking graves with questions.
Its sort of being like a photographer, except we've never yet killed any royalty doing it...
Yet."
ISBN: 1-56389-722-9 Introduction By Patrick Stewart
OA's spiritual grandfather Bruce Sterling had this to say when asked about Transmet:
"I don't read a lot of comix these days, but I read Warren Ellis. He's a really bright guy."
but the last word should be Spider's (From - Next Winters):
"Spider Jerusalem: more famous than Jesus, better dressed than Santa Claus, wouldn't be seen dead on a cross and has never been caught up a chimney. So I deserve your money more."
Transmetropolitan is published monthly by the D.C Vertigo line.
All quotes copyright Warren Ellis
website: 
www.warrenellis.com
