Transmetropolitan: Difference between revisions
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Spider Jerusalem begins the story as a long-haired private estate dweller who had retired from the City life, and from writing for a living. When he runs out of money, he is forced to pack his car and drive south back into the City —a twisted amalgam of pervasive consumerism, sex, violence, and drugs. The City (never named, but the [[Statue of Liberty]] appears to give it away as [[New York]]) is the largest in the world, and the center of the political and social culture. Jerusalem returns to working for his old partner Mitchell Royce, who now edits ''The Word'', the City's largest newspaper. |
Spider Jerusalem begins the story as a long-haired private estate dweller who had retired from the City life, and from writing for a living. When he runs out of money, he is forced to pack his car and drive south back into the City —a twisted amalgam of pervasive consumerism, sex, violence, and drugs. The City (never named, but the [[Statue of Liberty]] appears to give it away as [[New York, New York|New York]]) is the largest in the world, and the center of the political and social culture. Jerusalem returns to working for his old partner Mitchell Royce, who now edits ''The Word'', the City's largest newspaper. |
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The first of the two main storylines centers around Jerusalem's relationship to the current president, the man whose common nickname "The Beast" is among one of the various reasons he has for hating Spider. Spider soon picks up two sidekicks, Yelena Rossini and Channon Yarrow, who become his full-time partners in his journalist battles. |
The first of the two main storylines centers around Jerusalem's relationship to the current president, the man whose common nickname "The Beast" is among one of the various reasons he has for hating Spider. Spider soon picks up two sidekicks, Yelena Rossini and Channon Yarrow, who become his full-time partners in his journalist battles. |
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The second storyline involves the election and corrupt presidency of the new president, nicknamed "The Smiler," whom Spider soon finds is even worse than the Beast, whom Spider had badly wanted to see leave office. Jerusalem's investigations |
The second storyline involves the election and corrupt presidency of the new president, nicknamed "The Smiler," whom Spider soon finds is even worse than the Beast, whom Spider had badly wanted to see leave office. Jerusalem's investigations delve into the new president's well-cleansed background, immoral campaign tactics, and the assassination of Vita Severn—The Smiler's campaign manager, to whom Spider had taken a rare liking. |
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== Politics == |
== Politics == |
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The comic is reported to be an expression of Ellis' views on [[politics]] and [[consumerism]] and has been commented on by its author, Ellis as the comic where he can finally get a few things off his chest. |
The comic is reported to be an expression of Ellis' views on [[politics]] and [[consumerism]] and has been commented on by its author, Ellis as the comic where he can finally get a few things off his chest. |
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Some of the characters and events in ''Transmetropolitan'' seem loosely based on reality. Spider Jerusalem himself is clearly a futuristic incarnation of [[Hunter S. Thompson]], while The Smiler is identified with Thompson's nemesis, President [[Richard Nixon]] through caricatures of moments in Nixon's career such as the [[Checkers|Checkers speech]] and his helicopter departure from the [[White House]]. The mass uprisings and clashes with police forces that occur may be inspired by the social unrest of the [[sixties]] and early seventies. |
Some of the characters and events in ''Transmetropolitan'' seem loosely based on reality. Spider Jerusalem himself is clearly a futuristic incarnation of [[Hunter S. Thompson]], while The Smiler is identified with Thompson's nemesis, President [[Richard Nixon]] through caricatures of key moments in Nixon's career such as the [[Checkers|Checkers speech]] and his helicopter departure from the [[White House]]. The mass uprisings and clashes with police forces that occur in the series may be inspired by the social unrest of the [[sixties]] and early seventies. |
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== Publishing == |
== Publishing == |
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Revision as of 18:29, 9 May 2004
Transmetropolitan is a cyberpunk comic book series by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson, about the battles of Spider Jerusalem, infamous renegade gonzo journalist, against the corruption and abuse of power of two successive "US" presidents from a dystopian, ultra-cynical future.
The series of individual comics ended after 5 years in publication with the 60th issue and is reprinted in ten-volume graphic novel format. Two collections of short vignettes illustrated by different artists have also been published, I Hate It Here and Filth of the City.
Story
Spider Jerusalem begins the story as a long-haired private estate dweller who had retired from the City life, and from writing for a living. When he runs out of money, he is forced to pack his car and drive south back into the City —a twisted amalgam of pervasive consumerism, sex, violence, and drugs. The City (never named, but the Statue of Liberty appears to give it away as New York) is the largest in the world, and the center of the political and social culture. Jerusalem returns to working for his old partner Mitchell Royce, who now edits The Word, the City's largest newspaper.
The first of the two main storylines centers around Jerusalem's relationship to the current president, the man whose common nickname "The Beast" is among one of the various reasons he has for hating Spider. Spider soon picks up two sidekicks, Yelena Rossini and Channon Yarrow, who become his full-time partners in his journalist battles.
The second storyline involves the election and corrupt presidency of the new president, nicknamed "The Smiler," whom Spider soon finds is even worse than the Beast, whom Spider had badly wanted to see leave office. Jerusalem's investigations delve into the new president's well-cleansed background, immoral campaign tactics, and the assassination of Vita Severn—The Smiler's campaign manager, to whom Spider had taken a rare liking.
Politics
The comic is reported to be an expression of Ellis' views on politics and consumerism and has been commented on by its author, Ellis as the comic where he can finally get a few things off his chest.
Some of the characters and events in Transmetropolitan seem loosely based on reality. Spider Jerusalem himself is clearly a futuristic incarnation of Hunter S. Thompson, while The Smiler is identified with Thompson's nemesis, President Richard Nixon through caricatures of key moments in Nixon's career such as the Checkers speech and his helicopter departure from the White House. The mass uprisings and clashes with police forces that occur in the series may be inspired by the social unrest of the sixties and early seventies.
Publishing
Originally published under DC Comics's now-defunct Helix sub-label, Transmetropolitan moved to the fairly popular Vertigo imprint from issue #13 onwards.