Synopsis
After years of self-imposed exile from a civilization rife with degradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job that he hates and a city that he loathes. Working as an investigative reporter for the newspaper
The Word, Spider attacks the injustices of his surreal 21st Century surroundings. Combining black humor, life-threatening situations, and moral ambiguity, this book is the first look into the mind of an outlaw journalist and the world he seeks to destroy.
Thus a monster was born, Spider Jerusalem, the hole out of which Warren Ellis could vent his spleen. And other bodily fluids.
A superb and VERY mature series by a writer at their dis-enfranchised peak, Transmetropolitan is not for the faint of heart, easily offended, or anyone who doesn't enjoy a cackle at gratuitious fingers being given to any and all establishment idols.
A series that changed forever how explicit language could be in comics, while remaining intelligent, informed, funny and utterly relevant to the real world. Excellent art by co-creator Darick Robertson is the sky high building from which Warren's words can reach his audience, us older, more bitter and cyncial readers, that occasionally hope for a glimpse of someone actually standing up for something.
Volume One is only three issues long, and a wonderful snapshot of the series as a whole. It also has the greater pedigree in the series of having much ABOUT Spider Jerusalem himself, as some later volumes took tangents. Thankfully despite working well in setting up the premise for the series it can always be returned to as a readable entity in it's own right.
Set gun to Prolapse.