Transmetropolitan Vol. 02: Lust for Life

Everything i remember of this series (apart from the Smiler stuff) seems to be from this volume. It has so much to say, the issues about the culture reserves, downloading, religion, tv, cryo-stasis, all really interesting but the episodic nature was only leaving it on a 4.5.
Until the last story... (despite disliking the way that last issue was edited), learning just how much of an ass Spider can be was enough to push it to 5.

Apparently I'm re-reading this series. Hadn't planned it, it's just happening.

A lot of people first noticed Warren Ellis's writing with this series, and with good reason. It is all-out, thought-driven sci-fi with a nasty edge and a sometimes unlikeable main character. But for all of that, it still has a lot of heart.

Ellis's vision of the future can be fairly dim, but I hesitate to call this dystopia like some reviewers. It's a future where nanotechnology has made anything possible and humans have chosen to do a lot of questionable things with it. Our guide through this future is Spider Jerusalem, a columnist for a popular news site (and maybe an homage to gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson). He has seen and done it all and yet he is show more still capable of being knocked flat by the lows and highs of human nature.

Ellis's writing is paired with the art of Darick Robertson, the artist for all 60 issues of the book. Having the same team work on every issue of a run is no small feat in comics and it speaks to the commitment of both creators to the title. Robertson's art is fluid enough to capture the craziness of a future where roving gangs of security werewolves don't make anyone blink, but can also capture the subtlety of any facial expression you care to mention.

And, to top it all off, the book is funny. Hilarious. Funnier than most any other comics I've read ever. Seriously. Oh, and it has a lot of swears.

This series shows that, nearly all evidence to the contrary, sci-fi can work well in comics. show less

While the first volume was awesome, this one just gets better (though there are some sub-plots that felt too gimmicky). The art gets better, the biotechnologies get more interesting, we learn more about Jerusalem's past, and it's an exciting, engaging read.

A dizzying journey through the future world in which Spider Jerusalem seeks out the Truth. Warren Ellis spins a demented world living through a high-tech race to the bottom where nanotechnology has drastically lowered the barriers to entry of new products of any sort, and all manner of wild behavior ensues. We get looks at a world that frenetically creates new religions and subcontracts the revival of cryogenically frozen people to the lowest bidder, but still makes the effort to create reservations to preserve historical cultures that would otherwise be swamped in the incredible noise coming from mainstream society.

The first book was an introduction to the characters and their world and this is the book where you really start to get to know them.
I loved the use of both darkness and humor in this book, it felt far more balanced here than in the first one and I felt far more connected to the stories here as well. Warren Ellis's take on religion, TV, human nature and the social/political scene were spot on and will probably still be relevant ten to twenty years from now.

1. Moments of tenderness in Transmetropolitan are much more effective than moments of tenderness in other comics, I think because they're so rare. 95% of the time Spider is being as loud, coarse, and vulgar as possible, and then suddenly the vulgarity all turns into - something not at all vulgar. Which is a lot like non-comic life, if you bother to sink down into it.2. This episode in particular seems like something that might actually happen. It does. I hate to be that cynical, but it does, and you know that if you follow events to do with the police and genderqueer and/or transgendered folks.

1. Moments of tenderness in Transmetropolitan are much more effective than moments of tenderness in other comics, I think because they're so rare. 95% of the time Spider is being as loud, coarse, and vulgar as possible, and then suddenly the vulgarity all turns into - something not at all vulgar. Which is a lot like non-comic life, if you bother to sink down into it.2. This episode in particular seems like something that might actually happen. It does. I hate to be that cynical, but it does, and you know that if you follow events to do with the police and genderqueer and/or transgendered folks.