Transmetropolitan Book One

One of the best, maybe the best sci-fi story. It's THE BEST!!! Everyone should have a full collection of Transmetropolitan on their shelf, that's just the rule!

30 years old and still as relevant as it was back in the day. It could have been written yesterday.

I've been an avid science fiction fan most of my life, but I've kinda struggled to get into comic books until recently. I know, I know, some people like the term "graphic novel," but if "comic book" is a good enough term for Alan Moore, it's good enough for me. I always seemed to find books in the middle of a series and had trouble tracking down enough of a series to get into it. So now, I generally prefer to read omnibuses and stuff so I don't have to go hunting. I get that some people love that, but shoot, I work full time, you know? OK, enough context, review proper: This is the story of Spyder Jerusalem, a gonzo journalist in a vaguely-dystopian cyberpunk future. He's living in in a cabin up in the mountains, sick of dealing with people. But a publisher gave him an advance for his next book and it's enough money that they could conceivably hire hit-men. And for whatever reason, Spyder needs to be in the city to write about it. So Spyder reluctantly returns to the crowded, high-tech insanity of The City. He gets a job working as a columnist to keep a roof over his head while he writes his book. He bounces from bizzare future event to bizarre future event, dodging headless assassins, psychotic sentient police dogs, and even stranger conspiracies against the harried journalist. I'm a huge William Gibson and John Varley fan. The world of Spyder Jerusalem feels like one of Varley's Eight Worlds grounded in a William Gibson future. Additionally, the main character feels a lot like Hunter S. Thompson's Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Oddly, I really struggled to get into Fear and Loathing and relate to that novel's protagonist, but I love Spyder in Transmetropolitan. I don't know if the sci-fi setting makes it work or what, but Spyder is the perfect viewpoint character to explore this particular cyberpunk dystopia. The story has these bizarre premises and convolutions but these weirdly human moments scattered throughout.

Transmetropolitan is one of those comics that came out when I was deep into the X-Men. As I got older, I kept looking for complete runs of comics to read. Y: The Last Man, Preacher, 100 Bullets, etc. All phenomenal, and I needed something new. I saw these new release books with 12 issues each (60 in total, 3 books currently out, Book 4 slated for November). The price was right. I picked up the first 3 and dug in. First and foremost, they look great on my comic shelf next to one another. I am excited to grab Books 4 and 5 for the completionist in me. The art is Darick Robertson (The Boys) at his best and most detailed. Some panels can be poured over. The story will make you cringe at times. Spider Jerusalem (the main character) is a manic personality. He's Hunter S. Thompson in Grant Morrison's body (throw on some pre-Google Google glasses and some ink). Frank Quitely and Jae Lee pitch in on some amazing covers. The story is Warren Ellis at his boundary pushing best. He seems to know that 2020 would be the world of Fake News and Trump and he parodies it incredibly. We accept the transmorphism, the cancer pills, the 24 hour news coverage, the lies, the deceit, the fluid genders and we follow Spider as he navigates it all with an ever burning cigarette and plenty of vitriol to go around. The best comics last forever. Transmetropolitan will be relevant long after 2020 has finished and I expect it will be relevant in 2040, 2060 and 2099. It's the pursuit of truth amidst change. It's navigating increasingly muddy waters and never losing sight of what's right. Spider's story only starts in these first 12 issues. But like a good editorial, they welcome you. They lay the groundwork for the technology you see and the lunacy presented. I'm not sad I didn't read these when they came out. But I am glad I did eventually. Enjoy - I give this 4 stars because book 2 is already better. It's a cleaner look at what book 1 gives us. And that's okay. We need book 1 to get to book 2.

Just Perfect!

It's funny looking back on how much this comic has done. The art is deep and just as detailed. The writing is Warren ellis so it's got depth in every direction of the story. Great price for the amount of comics collected. I cannot wait for future volumes released this way.

This is a pretty great comic. "A Colder Place" is one of the best passages I've ever read in any format. Superb speculative sociopolitics. Spider is one funny man.

This is my first time reading Transmetropolitan. I've always wanted to get into this series but I'm not a fan of how short most TPBs are compared to the price, so I usually go the omnibus route if they're cheap enough. Unfortunately before this re-release the prices of those for Transmetropolitan were crazy high (like $40+!) so I'd usually pass on this series. So when I saw an omnibus that has about two volumes (12 issues) for around $13 I was ecstatic. So, if you're like me and wanting to get into this series without a lot of commitment this is the way to go it's longer than a standard TPB and at a great price.

Great story. Wish the following volumes were available easily

Ich bin durch eine Cyberpunk Referenz auf den Comic gestoßen und habe es nicht bereut.

The content is amazing, I love the series. Stories, characters, drawings are beyond good. The expressions are funny as hell and make me laugh out loud. But in this edition they make a HUGE NEWBIE MISTAKE when ordering the pages! I can't believe it. Most pages are NOT as the original comics intended. That's borderline criminal. For impact comics usually know which page will be to the left and which on the right, so they have artistic coherence, avoid text near the middle, and when you turn the page can be used to surprise you with change. In the attached examples I added photos from this edition and another edition. Guess which version has the intended order and makes sense and which one doesn't. Well the BAD, INCOHERENT one is this edition. Too bad because the comics are really really great :(

This is Warren Ellis at his finest: behind Spider's cynical and nihilist demeanor, there's still compromise with the truth and social criticism. Darick Robertson is the perfect guy to bring this to life. A brilliant and very relevant comic.

I haven't finished reading it but I love it so far. I'm sure I'll read more in the series when I finish reading this.