DC's new editions of TRANSMETROPOLITAN begin here, with this volume collecting issues #1-6 of the acclaimed Vertigo series from writer Warren Ellis...
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reviews
Dec 06, 2007
Andrew
rated it: 
I found this comic pretty irritating. It's the story of gonzo journalist Spider Jerusalem, who's pulled out of sylvan retirement when his publisher demands he deliver on his contractual obligations. Impoverished and drug-addled, Jerusalem has no choice but to comply; he gets a job writing a column called I Hate It Here, a chronicle of his experiences in the scifi megalopolis known as The City.
Throughout the comic, Jerusalem is portrayed as an underdog, fighting for the rights of th More...
Throughout the comic, Jerusalem is portrayed as an underdog, fighting for the rights of th More...
Aug 13, 2008
Purple
rated it: 
Everyone seems to love this! Whether they are reviewing the series or just this first volume is sometimes unclear, but with this first installation I was mostly disappointed. It's one of those comics series that you hear about here and there, so I decided to give it a go. And to me it mainly seemed crude just for the hell of it, and with characters that you're not supposed to care about or relate with. Spider is supposedly meant to be a moral character, and yet when the story starts it is made a
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(6 people liked it)
Mar 07, 2011
Keely
rated it: 
Comics have been going through a very public struggle with maturity for some time now. They were well on their way until they were hit with the 'Comics Code' in the fifties. The code was an outgrowth of reactionary postwar witch-hunting a la McCarthyism, and succeeded in limiting the content of an entire medium for thirty years.
For example, all crime had to be portrayed as sordid, and no criminals could be sympathetic. There goes any comic book retellings of Robin Hood. Good always h More...
For example, all crime had to be portrayed as sordid, and no criminals could be sympathetic. There goes any comic book retellings of Robin Hood. Good always h More...
0 comments
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(8 people liked it)
May 24, 2007
Zan
rated it:
This is a great series but you are goddamned crazy if you think I'm going to write ten reviews of a single series I've been reading over the course of the year. The comic's main character is based off of Hunter S. Thompson and has a lot of similar humor to that man's writing. He, like Thompson, is a political journalist hounding a corrupt politician who pulls some very ominously 9/11 and Katrina-aid type ploys to gain control of the nation. Ellis is a very political guy and he gets to politic as
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0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jun 17, 2007
Punk
rated it: 
Graphic Novel. Spider Jerusalem's been living in the mountains for five years, letting his hair grow and hiding from his fans, but an unfinished book contract forces him back into the sin-infested city. Hot DAMN is Spider sexy and messed up. This really is the perfect place for Ellis. He gets to swear and hate humanity and write monologues about how shitty life is and that's the story instead of getting in the way of the story. The art is just as manic and pissed off as Spider, full of dirt and
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0 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Jun 06, 2007
graycastle
rated it:
No one does dystopia like Warren Ellis, is what I learned from this book. I'm letting volume one stand in for the whole series, at least for now...it's too many volumes for me to add them all! But suffice to say, I love this stuff. It's more self-consciously "in your face" and violent than I normally go for, but the writing is so damn clever, the world-building so complete and so fascinating, and the art so captivating that I cannot put these down when I pick them up. Just like Sand
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0 comments
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 11, 2011
Akshay
rated it:
Absolutely frikkin brilliant this is!
This is the book that made me bow my head and acknowledge the genius that is Warren Ellis.
Granted the man is so slow and annoyingly delayed as a writer (especially these days) that you want to pull your scalp off along with you hair but there is no denying that he can create stories and ideas that are beyond amazing and so damn good that you can't help but wait for the next one regardless of how long it takes!
Damn you Ellis, dam More...
This is the book that made me bow my head and acknowledge the genius that is Warren Ellis.
Granted the man is so slow and annoyingly delayed as a writer (especially these days) that you want to pull your scalp off along with you hair but there is no denying that he can create stories and ideas that are beyond amazing and so damn good that you can't help but wait for the next one regardless of how long it takes!
Damn you Ellis, dam More...
Apr 01, 2011
Julian
rated it:
Imagine if Hunter S Thompson really had been as mad as Doonesbury's Uncle Duke (back in the glory days before he went straight). Imagine him in a mad future where ebola grenades are considered to be small arms, the weapon of choice is the colon gun (mild, spastic, prolapse), where people inject themselves with alien DNA as a fashion statement, and religions hold massive trade-fairs rather like Comicon. And his only 'friends' are a demonic mutant cat and a stripper / journalism student.
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Aug 16, 2009
Ninja Sock Puppet
rated it:
In homage to Spider Jerusalem (the cartoon (sorry, graphic novel) character) every man wants to be and every woman wants to fuck (and let's face it, so do the men), I'm writing this review with my laptop warming my knees, an evil glint in my eyes, a cigarette dangling precariously from my mouth, whilst enjoying a thoroughly good dump on the crapper. I've taken to calling my wife 'filthy assistant' and making odd culinary requests involving the remains of Irish children and the eyeballs of endan
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0 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Jun 29, 2011
Soren
rated it:
I love Hunter S. Thompson. Really, really, love him. With the possible exception of David Foster Wallace, there isn't an author who I've read more thoroughly, or whose style I adore more.
But Warren Ellis, who is a great author in his own right, just isn't Hunter S. Thompson. Spider Jerusalem mimics Thompson's obvious traits: the drugs and the guns and the antics and the anger. But Ellis's homage to Thompson misses the more subtle, but more important characteristics of the great g More...
But Warren Ellis, who is a great author in his own right, just isn't Hunter S. Thompson. Spider Jerusalem mimics Thompson's obvious traits: the drugs and the guns and the antics and the anger. But Ellis's homage to Thompson misses the more subtle, but more important characteristics of the great g More...
Sep 08, 2009
Anton
rated it:
Transmetropolitan is a mad, fun romp through a dystopian future so over-stimulated and corporatized that the only rational response is to jack up on jump-start pills, run around naked, and shoot off as many guns as possible in an egomaniacal and holy quest for the truth. At least that's the philosophy of Spider Jerusalem, the Hunter S. Thompson inspired journalist-hero of this book, whom we follow as writes his weekly column, harasses priests and politicians, furiously buys things from infomerc
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Jan 31, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
I'm on a bit of a Warren Ellis kick at the moment, and this might be my favorite thing so far.
A crazy, disillusioned, world-hating author is forced to return to the city he thought he had escaped for good 5 years ago when he is told that he can either finish the last 2 books of his contract or be sent to debtors prison. He can only write in the city and so he returns, in a foul mood with a bunch of weapons. Needing money he takes a job as a reporter and goes into the world to see wha More...
A crazy, disillusioned, world-hating author is forced to return to the city he thought he had escaped for good 5 years ago when he is told that he can either finish the last 2 books of his contract or be sent to debtors prison. He can only write in the city and so he returns, in a foul mood with a bunch of weapons. Needing money he takes a job as a reporter and goes into the world to see wha More...
Jan 13, 2011
Bryce
rated it:
Staggering change of heart from when I first began this, I thing that the first two episodes lay somewhere between weak and okay, but in the final episode, a corner is turned. Sure, it still has the same gritty feel that the first had and you aren't exactly cheering on Spider even after it's all said and done, but it comes to a point where something bordering poetry emerges. For about 6-8 pages, you are immersed into this very observant nature of the harm inflicted on those who are less fortun
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Sep 12, 2010
Billcorcoran
rated it:
This is a review of the whole series not just this book.
The author Warren Ellis has mixed together an outrageous lead character, politics, and hard sci fi into a great little series.
The lead character is a chain smoking, drug and alcohol abusing, maniac that you can't help but love. As a journalist in the future he explores some interesting sci fi concepts and more importantly works to expose a corrupt politician who will do whatever it takes to stay in power.
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The author Warren Ellis has mixed together an outrageous lead character, politics, and hard sci fi into a great little series.
The lead character is a chain smoking, drug and alcohol abusing, maniac that you can't help but love. As a journalist in the future he explores some interesting sci fi concepts and more importantly works to expose a corrupt politician who will do whatever it takes to stay in power.
More...
Aug 24, 2010
Nathaniel
rated it:
Right then. This is to be a review of the series as a whole, but note that what is said could easily apply to the first one, which is just as good as the rest. If you don't like the first, however, continue reading- it gets even better!
Transmetropolitan is an amazing series about life in the fututr. The main character is lovably terrible- this definitely isn't a "G" book, or even a "PG-13" book. But it is good nonetheless, or maybe even because of this. It tells tales of More...
Transmetropolitan is an amazing series about life in the fututr. The main character is lovably terrible- this definitely isn't a "G" book, or even a "PG-13" book. But it is good nonetheless, or maybe even because of this. It tells tales of More...
Aug 13, 2010
Michael
rated it:
A wonderful start to a series. Transmetropolitan is the story of Spider Jerusalem, a journalist in a future full of biotechnical and biochemical advancements and modifications in the human body and psyche. Living in a fucked up city, full of corruption, human body modifications (including trans-species genetic modifications), and hyper-mediated communication, Jerusalem's investigative reporting is unorthodox and leads to some intriguing narratives. I found the introduction interesting not only f
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Jan 12, 2009
Melody
rated it:
This is a new favorite of mine. Warren Ellis is a genius and perfectly channels the gonzo journalist spirit of Hunter S. Thompson into Transmetropolitan's Spider Jerusalem. In the main character's own words: "Being a bastard works." In less than a week, I had burrowed through the entire series, unable to pull myself away from the alternating hilarity and drama of the book. How can you not love a man whose favored weapons are Truth (and by extention, the "chair leg of truth"
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Mar 18, 2011
Patrick J.
rated it:
I love this series. It has been at least 5 years since I have read it. Warren Ellis paints such a vibrant future, one that I both fear and desire to visit. I love the wide shots of various parts of the city, they are filled with so much detail, right down to the weird clothing and crazy advertisements. Even all of the technology is well imagined, including the weird ways people abuse it. As far as the story line goes I think this is the weakest part of the series, but if I recall correctly
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Mar 20, 2010
Jay
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Oct 18, 2009
Jack
rated it:
Don't know what took me so long to read this, but glad that I finally did. Read this volume on an airplane, which is not necessarily advisable as being in an enclosed space surrounded by a cross-section of humanity really magnified the overall feelings of misanthropy that one might get from reading this book and I started feeling like punching people in the face. However despite all the anger, weirdness, and over-the-top humor in Transmet, what really struck me about it was the political certa
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Mar 12, 2011
Hannah
rated it:
Bhahahahahhaaa that cat is hilarious! The drawings in this are wicked enough that I am pausing to inspect them as I go . . . OH OR I am just learning how to read graphic novels? In any event the drawings are wiiiiiicked. I really am a humongous fan of this very lifelike style, or lifelike if lifelike was just badass as hell all the time, I guess. Spider is a beast, additionally, and what woman doesn't love a beast? EXCEPT when he's like "Will you have dinner with me?" (which he do
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Jan 05, 2012
Gef
rated it:
Spider Jerusalem might be insane. Scratch that--there's no "might" about it. He's a nutter. That's not his biggest problem, though; it's the fact that he might be the sanest man he knows.
In one of those not-too-distant types of futures, Spider is living in seclusion on top of a mountain, and he's been doing it for the past five years. Why the Grizzly Adams routine? Well, he was a hotshot reporter turned author turned celebrity, which drove him up a wall, so he took his heft More...
In one of those not-too-distant types of futures, Spider is living in seclusion on top of a mountain, and he's been doing it for the past five years. Why the Grizzly Adams routine? Well, he was a hotshot reporter turned author turned celebrity, which drove him up a wall, so he took his heft More...
Jun 11, 2011
Leonardo
rated it:
Smart, spunky set-up for a promising series. Of course, I'm reading this more than a decade after it was a certified hit. I've always heard of how great Warren Ellis was, but his work-for-hire production has always tasted a bit too much par for the course, paling even before his excellent blog. THIS however, is something entirely different. THIS is what they were really talking about, I finally see.
I type this already in the middle of volume two, and out of the sheer gratitude of feeling lu More...
I type this already in the middle of volume two, and out of the sheer gratitude of feeling lu More...
Mar 14, 2009
Kimberlee
rated it:
This is probably the most messed-up, depressing, bording on nihilistic, disgusting work I have ever read... and I loved every minute of it.
Okay, it's not that bad, but if you're familiar with Warren Ellis, you know what I mean. His look at a not-so-distant, distopian future is full of humor, depravity that is so overwhelming you can't help but feel that this actually will be our future, and just a little bit of heart. I laughed so hard I hurt something, and it even made me want to be More...
Okay, it's not that bad, but if you're familiar with Warren Ellis, you know what I mean. His look at a not-so-distant, distopian future is full of humor, depravity that is so overwhelming you can't help but feel that this actually will be our future, and just a little bit of heart. I laughed so hard I hurt something, and it even made me want to be More...
May 14, 2010
Stacey
rated it:
Some things I remember, some I forget...
I kind of remember some things from my first reading of this - and it's the quasi-disturbing things; this, and Preacher Vol. 1: Gone To Texas were my first introduction to Vertigo graphic novels. So I remember the Angels 8 riot, and the bowel disruptor, and vaguely some of the plot.
All told, it's a good start to the series and I look forward to reading more - I have the next 4 waiting for me. More...
I kind of remember some things from my first reading of this - and it's the quasi-disturbing things; this, and Preacher Vol. 1: Gone To Texas were my first introduction to Vertigo graphic novels. So I remember the Angels 8 riot, and the bowel disruptor, and vaguely some of the plot.
All told, it's a good start to the series and I look forward to reading more - I have the next 4 waiting for me. More...
May 27, 2010
Boden
rated it:
While offering some interesting world building and an entertaining, eccentric character, the pages of Transmetropolitan Vol.1 don't include much, if any, cohesive plot.
Vol.1 is all about the character, Spider Jerusalem, a no-boundary, no sensor journalist out to get his next column. The homage to a famous journalist is sometimes there, but mostly lost. Regardless, I'm always interested in near-future extrapolations, just to see where the imagination has taken the writer, so I'll More...
Vol.1 is all about the character, Spider Jerusalem, a no-boundary, no sensor journalist out to get his next column. The homage to a famous journalist is sometimes there, but mostly lost. Regardless, I'm always interested in near-future extrapolations, just to see where the imagination has taken the writer, so I'll More...
May 05, 2010
Nick
rated it:
A comic book winner. I had been a little disappointed with Powers but decided to try out another recommendation from Matt. I read this in one evening and I think I am even appreciating it more than "Watchmen" right now. It takes itself a lot less seriously, but I think it still has important things to say. Spider Jerusalem is not exactly a likable character, but he's very complex and well-portrayed. Sometimes the book was a little too scatological for my taste, but I think that's an im
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Sep 01, 2010
Nicole
rated it:
Ho.Ly.CRAP. I'm so annoyed that I've never read any Warren Ellis until now. This is so deliciously good. Violence aplenty, but hardly senseless. Hilarious, heinous, heartbreaking writing.
And over 50% of the credit goes to Darrick Robertson for the art. I'm no student of figure drawing, so I can't comment much on the look of the characters, but the city is as much a character as anyone in this first volume and it's there in all its terrible wonderful complex glory.
YAY! So gl More...
And over 50% of the credit goes to Darrick Robertson for the art. I'm no student of figure drawing, so I can't comment much on the look of the characters, but the city is as much a character as anyone in this first volume and it's there in all its terrible wonderful complex glory.
YAY! So gl More...
Jul 01, 2010
Matt
rated it:
This is probably a contender for Most Profane Comic I've Ever Read. It definitely takes top honors for creativity in cursing and vulgarity.
Transmetropolitan was an interesting read, but I'm not sure I'm going to go back to it. The book is regarded pretty highly by critics, but I'm not sure I see the point that Ellis is making. At the least, it's hard to see it while meandering through all the blatant vulgarity. While I may take another pass at this some day, I think I've got othe More...
Transmetropolitan was an interesting read, but I'm not sure I'm going to go back to it. The book is regarded pretty highly by critics, but I'm not sure I see the point that Ellis is making. At the least, it's hard to see it while meandering through all the blatant vulgarity. While I may take another pass at this some day, I think I've got othe More...
Feb 03, 2012
Lindsay
rated it:
I read a lot of comic books, and they mostly fall into two categories: comics about grown men wearing tights, and comics where people say "fuck" a lot. Transmetropolitan is a comic where people say "fuck" a lot.
Other than that, it's awfully hard to categorize. It's about the return of its protagonist, Spider Jerusalem, to investigative journalism after five years of almost complete isolation from the world. His editor has called him up asking about a book Spider w More...
Other than that, it's awfully hard to categorize. It's about the return of its protagonist, Spider Jerusalem, to investigative journalism after five years of almost complete isolation from the world. His editor has called him up asking about a book Spider w More...
