Reviewed : Transmetropolitan Vol. 1 - Back on the Street

Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street by Warren Ellis

(Publisher : DC/Vertigo)

"After years of self imposed exile from a civilisation rife with degradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job he hates and a city he loathes. Working as an investigative reporter for the newspaper The Word, Spider attacks the injustices of his surreal 23rd century surroundings. In this first volume, Spider ventures into the dangerous Angels 8 district, home of the Transients - humans who have decided to become aliens through cosmetic surgery. But Spider's interview with the Transients' leader gets him a scoop he didn't bargain for."

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, damn you...

But back on track - this is the introduction to one of the greatest (in my humble opinion) characters in ANY medium ever: Spider Jerusalem.
Caustic, psychotic, brilliant, maddeningly aggravating, disturbingly magnetic, drug-crazed maniac, caring and true journalist, hateful bastard... these and so many other colourful and oft contradictory terms are all perfect when describing Spider.

Following his first days back in The City - after abandoning civilisation at the peak of his infamy/fame back in the day in favour of a hermetic life in a weapon encrusted cabin on a mountain - these early stories give such a shockingly intense glimpse of this future world that at first you keep reading without knowing what the hell is going on as just keeps hitting and bitch-slapping your innate sense of decency and niceness...

But despite its harshness and negative leanings it is a powerful beginning to one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Following Spider's crusade through the series is fascinating enough by itself - but its these first baby steps (or smoking, drinking, pill-popping angry charges really, same thing...) as our hero rediscovers the ins-and-outs of this cesspool that he once called home, sees faces old and new and guides us through the basics of this disturbingly fascinating future world that stings the contemporary sensibility regarding what lies ahead.

Raw, charged and full of piss and vinegar - this is truly one of a kind in all the varied books and genres Ive read and stays so even if I throw in TV, movies and the like.
Never before has there been anything like it and never again I feel. I mean I cannot even imagine how you could top this without entering dangerously close to straight comedy or disgusting extremes.

My rating: 4.9 / 5