Transmetropolitan - Brilliant and hilarious!

[WebSlinger]

Just got my hands recently on the first TPB.

Spectacular and absorbing narrative from Warren Ellis in the form of my new favourite anti-hero - Spider Jerusalem.

The dark humour, Spider's lack of respect for authority (and anyone in general), and all-round wit from Ellis made this a highly enjoyable read.

Already looking very forward to the 2nd TPB.

[Forsaken_One]

Well they're all out there. I love a complete series, they just tend to be so much better than ongoing soapoperas like the Superman titles.

The sad thing about Transmopolitan is how when I was reading it I kept on thinking "I wish our politics were this honest." Still, as a Communications major focusing on the absurdity of modern-day media and corporate control I was thrilled at this amazing read.

[ChoasMAC]

Just got my hands recently on the first TPB.

Spectacular and absorbing narrative from Warren Ellis in the form of my new favourite anti-hero - Spider Jerusalem.

The dark humour, Spider's lack of respect for authority (and anyone in general), and all-round wit from Ellis made this a highly enjoyable read.

Already looking very forward to the 2nd TPB.


Oh number one was just the begining, but number two will blow your mind. I love the scene with Spider freaking out at the religion fair, like jesus did in that church. Anyone who went to catholic school will laugh your @$$ off.
You have picked one of the best vertigo books...period! :D

[WebSlinger]

It's story is very true in light of today's society IMHO. What with so much corruption , war, politics.

[Expletive Deleted]

The first few trades worth of material (at least up through THE NEW SCUM) are brilliant and hilarious. After that . . . eh, I thought the series went downhill. Maybe it'll read better in trade form, but the pacing of later issues, especially the "storm" story, really sucked a lot of the fun out of it for me.

[SPAfreak]

The first few trades worth of material (at least up through THE NEW SCUM) are brilliant and hilarious. After that . . . eh, I thought the series went downhill. Maybe it'll read better in trade form, but the pacing of later issues, especially the "storm" story, really sucked a lot of the fun out of it for me.

To me the quality of stories was always inversely proportional to Spider's success. The first two trades were top notch but as Spider moved into the bigger apartments the stories suffered. At the end when Spider was on the run the series got better again.

The middle just seemed to have a lot of Ellis spouting his personal beliefs through Spider.

[ChoasMAC]

To me the quality of stories was always inversely proportional to Spider's success. The first two trades were top notch but as Spider moved into the bigger apartments the stories suffered. At the end when Spider was on the run the series got better again.

The middle just seemed to have a lot of Ellis spouting his personal beliefs through Spider.

Yeah it did wind down a little in the middle. But some of those small stories that were spiders opinions did rock. The one about the boy prostitutes really smacked true of todays issues. The one page storie issue 21 days in the city was cool too. I loved the tech drug that turned your fresh to machinery when you came down. Ah...Ellis. :D

[WebSlinger]

Difference of opinion, and all that.

Looking forward to the next volumes in any case. :)

[Ilash]

While I do think that the second trade was the best, Transmet was a series that was, for me, pretty much great from beginning to end. Yeah the middle stories didn't move the overall plot forward too much the individual issues were still more than good enough to make up for it. Simply put, this is Warren Ellis' masterwork as far as I can tell. AMAZING future world? Check. Memorable characters? Check. Compelling overall storyline? Check. Brilliant biting satire? Humour? Drama? Action? Character development? CHECK!

Oh yeah and the arts pretty damn cool too because lets face it Darrik Robertson has an excellent grasp of facial expressions and a sense of detail that was absolutely required for this wild version of the future. Some of it may have been a bit cartoony but it fit the story to an absolute tee.

[The Xenos]

I got the first two trades and read the first one. I enjoyed it and need to read the second one and then some.

Oh number one was just the begining, but number two will blow your mind. I love the scene with Spider freaking out at the religion fair, like jesus did in that church. Anyone who went to catholic school will laugh your @$$ off.

Aw hell yeah. I need to read the second one ASAP then. Ha!

-Xenos

[Vector]

I loved the entire series from beginning to end. I read it on TPB form.

Glad you liked it Xenos!

[Scott Beeler]

The high point for me was the third TPB, "Year of the Bastard", the first extended political story. After that, with the focus of the series going into the politics hard and fast, it sometimes got less interesting to me. But it was still consistently good, with sporadic bursts of genius. A favorite series of mine.

[stealthwise]

Just got the first one and I highly enjoyed it. I was very skeptical up to this point, as I hadn't read anything of Ellis's (other than his old CBR column) that I really enjoyed, but I'll definitely get the next trade for sure.

[aelio]

I have also read the entire series and concur that it was awesome. Like any series that long it had its not-so-great moments, but I generally loved every issue. I got all of the trades and could not put them down. I read the entire series about once every 1.5 years. Great Stuff!

[will_butler]

Transmetropolitan is my favorite comic series of all time. I picked up the first trade on a whim because it was cheap and I had remembered hearing something about the character. After I finished it, I was buying two more trades a day, and reading them cover to cover multiple times in a desperate attempt to get as much Transmet in my head as possible. When I was reading them, the last trade hadn't come out yet, so I scoured six different comic shops before finding the back issues. Incidentally, I got my #60 signed by Warren Ellis at Dragon Con. :)

The beautiful art by Darrick Robertson, fully realized world, politics, dialogue, and ever so light dusting of incredibly touching moments (pretty much any time Spider kisses someone on the forehead) coheres for me in a way that no other comic has. To those of you just beginning to read the series, let me say this: while some others thought the series sagged a bit in the middle, I enjoyed every single issue more than the last. Because within two trades I was completely and irrevocably hooked, and every new issue, even if not plot intensive, gave me more information on this marvellous universe. Issue sixty is my favorite comic of all time. It is perfect and beautiful and does not cheat. I really love comics with a clearly planned, finite run. Preacher, The Sandman, and Starman were all great 90's DC books and I love them. But there was always something I found lacking in the way they ended. Transmet did not have that problem.

In any case, just thought I'd ramble on a bit. You new readers are very, very fortunate to be checking out the series with virgin eyes. It, for me at least, stands with Concrete, Sin City, Strangers in Paradise, V for Vendetta, Box Office Poison, and Planetary as some of the best this medium has to offer.

Will

[JLarson]

Transmet is AWESOME. Love it all - the first two for the drug crazed lunacy and the rest of them for the incredible story of Spider Jerusalem, American Hero.

Our present day could really use a guy like Spider.

[miss5050]

I remember how much I disliked transmetropolitan :)
Messy cover, didn't know if he is alien or what, ewww
Then I got into crisis (like I had nothing else to read) so I picked that 'back on the street' and lol - writing down all the quotes, 1issue took me 1hour bc I was laffin so hard.
Have em all, not finished yet...bc I don't want to end the greatest series ever...

Also agree with ppl who say that middle is kinda slow, not so jiucy, but that's life. Everything what happens next will (imo) get better and it will all make sence...I hope-spider cannot dissapoint me, for sure ;)

[One3D]

in vol. 7, some guy called annabelle with three tits kills himself. i've only read vol. 7, so i dont know what his significance in the story is. the "back to basics" storyline seem to have lots of seemingly random stuff every now and then.. someone kindly explaiN??

[Captain]

I just got the first three trades in the mail today, was well as the #0 trade. Would it be correct to say that the #0 trade should not be read before the #1? If not, where does it fit in?

I am almost done with the third trade, and I was going to find the rest of them on e-bay. Unfortunately, I don't think I can wait! I will buy at least two more at the comic store tomorrow. I had never really heard much about the book before, but got them cheap and said what the hell.

This stuff is excellent!

[dancj]

I just got the first three trades in the mail today, was well as the #0 trade. Would it be correct to say that the #0 trade should not be read before the #1?
Yes - you should at least know Spider a bit before reading it.
If not, where does it fit in?
Whenever you fancy reading some of Spider's columns instead of the comic

[aelio]

#0 Trade!!? What is this? Is it possible that there is Transmet I've not read? Uncacceptable! Someone fill me in as to what this is...is this the Tales of Human Waste? I have that.

[miss5050]

0= Tales Of Human Waste
1= Back On The Street

0 is collection...3 one-shots...I Hate It Here+Filth of the City+some Xmas story (dunno name) which is part of bigger Vertigo project called Winter's Edge 2

[Scott Beeler]

in vol. 7, some guy called annabelle with three tits kills himself. i've only read vol. 7, so i dont know what his significance in the story is. the "back to basics" storyline seem to have lots of seemingly random stuff every now and then.. someone kindly explaiN??

It's been a while since I read it, but I believe than Annabelle was just one of the odd random bits of local color which are sprinkled through Transmet but don't have any real significance to the main plot. (On the other hand, since you read Vol. 7 first, then other bits may indeed make less sense to you than to someone who read the volumes in order.)

[Scott Beeler]

I just got the first three trades in the mail today, was well as the #0 trade. Would it be correct to say that the #0 trade should not be read before the #1?

Yes - you should at least know Spider a bit before reading it.

I'd go further and say to definitely wait until you've read the first three volumes before reading those one-shots. I remember at least one big reference to events in Vol. 3 which would spoil them if read before reading Vol. 3. In general it makes sense too, as they're more little embellishments and riffs on characters, events, things that have already been introduced in the main series.

[One3D]

It's been a while since I read it, but I believe than Annabelle was just one of the odd random bits of local color which are sprinkled through Transmet but don't have any real significance to the main plot. (On the other hand, since you read Vol. 7 first, then other bits may indeed make less sense to you than to someone who read the volumes in order.)

ya, weird.. dont know why its there.. that part too with the guy who's crying coz he keeps eating his friends..

then that part about the psycho people, wow, 6-8 pages full of blurbs by psychos.. i thought it was a bit too much.

but spider still is cool as shit.

[azrapse]

but spider still is cool as shit.


He's awesome...enjoyed the TPB's so much I had to track down the whole collection of single-issues - they're sitting pretty in my cabinet and are in the never-part-with part of my collection.

Loved the last pages of the last issue..wrapped up Spider just perfectly - I was worried there for a while and just couldn't pull myself to read that last arc for some time. Finally did and gladly so.

On another related note - Warren Ellis had a blurb regarding Hunter S. Thompson a few days ago in which Hunter's wife released his last written words - very fitting to the already mentioned Spider-Hunter comparisons. RIP.

[stealthwise]

Just finished a grad paper on the first three volumes of the series and it made me realize just how truly damn enjoyable that it is.

Picking up the New Scum next week.

[Bright_One]

Reading Transmet made me want to be a journalist more than anything else in the world.

However, when I got into the reality of the profession I realised I was going to have to lie and cover-up and basically destroy every iota of creativity inside myself and just churn out dull, dull fact as it applied to life for decades before I could get a column. Forever trapped in pointless anti-news and denied a shot at making a statement.

So I knocked it on the head and I shall do things the hard way, as I always have, using the internet as my medium. I think Spider, Ellis and indeed Thompson would approve, and it doesn't matter to me if they don't.

Truly a life-changing book for me. Certainly not for everyone, but a no-holds-barred vicious club-waving square-dance with the savage hypocrasy of politics and civilisation nonetheless.

I've set my bowel-disruptor to "Nightmare-inducing rectal-deluge" http://www.gis.net/~cht/tmface.gif

[RickThunderclees]

Well they're all out there. I love a complete series, they just tend to be so much better than ongoing soapoperas like the Superman titles.

The sad thing about Transmopolitan is how when I was reading it I kept on thinking "I wish our politics were this honest." Still, as a Communications major focusing on the absurdity of modern-day media and corporate control I was thrilled at this amazing read.
Couldn't agree more.

With regard to the series, one of my favorites. When I'm reading Transmet, I always think of Hunter S. Thompson and make Spider sound like a combination of Bill Murray and Johnny Depp in my head. Haha, the parallels between Spider and Hunter S. Thompson are priceless.

Keep reading. I liked the entire series. Some might not, but it's worth reading it in its entirety.

[matt levin]

Ok, Will Butler, and all you rest:
you've convinced me: I will try Transmet. always looked too obviously rage-against-the-machine for me, and unappealing in content. However, I was convinced to read Preacher, against which I'd had the same prejudices and really enjoyed most of that. Sooooo---- next trip out to the comics shop, sigh, more money gone gone gone. but ah--if yer reliable.... ahhhh, some good new reading.

thanks. will letchall know after a volume or two,
Matt

[Exodus]

Transmetropolitan.

I recently finished reading all the TPBs, and i loved it ofcourse.

Not only is it a extreemly well written, in its entirety it makes a very good and well rounded story. I loved the ending.


Thou reading all of them in succession over a short amount of time, makes ur brain act funny, makes u want to say outrageous things to ppl...

...it passes.

-Exodus

[captain gloves]

Thou reading all of them in succession over a short amount of time, makes ur brain act funny, makes u want to say outrageous things to ppl...

...it passes.

oh no, it doesn't.
i think i've been permanently knocked down a couple of knotches on the sane-o-meter.

[stealthwise]

I wish I owned a bowel disruptor...