Transmetropolitan Vol. 05: Lonely City

Lo and behold, the overarching plot has come into play strongly. Now that the elections are over, and the president is known to be after Spider, we begin to see just how corrupt the city has become. Racism is no longer about skin color, but about genes. The police are as corrupt as the politicians and the truth is caught in a stranglehold. What will Spider and his "filthy assistants" do?

The question has now become: what can they do?

The stories are flowing together seamlessly and now that we know the characters the plot is becoming the main focus. The writing is stronger than before, and since the interviews in the previous volume, pure gold. The artwork in many cases doesn't even need a caption. This has gone from something amusing to show more something genuinely compelling, and I am loving every second of it. show less

I really have to pat Warren Ellis on the back, because boy has this re-read of “Transmetropolitan” felt so relevant and timeless. I’m now halfway through the volumes, and every time I pick one up I say to myself “Boy, this sure feels like the stuff that’s going on in today’s world of politics and government.” The journey of Spider, Channon, and Yelena continues to be absurd and over the top in a lot of ways, be it the cyber punk setting or the various side characters and plots that involve genetic mutants, crazy technology, and a crazed society. But at the very heart of it, there is always truth and relatable heart. And “Lonely City” is no exception, as it tackles the question of the Free Press, and Police Brutality. show more Like I said. Familiar.

It’s kind of funny how these stories are so over the top, and yet there is that grain of truth to them. It starts out innocently enough, this collection, with Spider and his Filthy Assistants deciding to take on a Senator who is caught up in a potential sex scandal. It’s a move that they’ve done before, and how they usually operated when The Beast was President. It’s humorous and it’s fun watching them pursue this guy relentlessly, knowing that he’s going to expose corruption and hypocrisy, all because of a new invention called a G-Reader, which can read genome structures and genetic code on any individual. For Spider he can read where this Senator has been, based on what he left behind on a number of prostitutes. But the G-Reader is also used by a gang of thugs to read the genetic make-up of someone who they then beat to death (because Lockwood, the victim, had modified his genome in a way that is considered ‘perverse’. It’s hard to explain in full here so just think of it as a hate crime). The same machine used in two totally different ways, the ups and downs of technology. Spider, Channon, and Yelena decide to take on the story of Lockwood, and why the police are being so cagey about it.

And what happens next is yet again an example of me completely forgetting parts of this series that are now blowing me away.

Ellis does a great job of portraying a corrupt system from top to bottom, from the White House to the precinct house. Because when Spider, Channon, and Yelena find themselves the targets of a dangerous plot (which I won’t spoil here), and hope to expose just how far it goes….. they are stymied by the White House, who makes Spider’s paper crush the story. Up until this point, Spider has always had the Truth to rely on, and his ability to move that truth from his screen to the masses of the public. Even under The Beast such truths were not suppressed, making Spider an enemy, yes, but an enemy with a voice. Now, however, he doesn’t even have that. And once again, we leave this collection on a bit of an “Empire Strikes Back” kind of moment. A moment that, after certain news outlets have been shut out of White House Press briefings in retaliation for the stories they run with, feels all too resonant and really hit me in the gut as I turned the last page.

Spider’s character is slowly evolving as well. He still has that cocky and manic swagger about him, confident in his role as truth teller and remaining both a Greek Chorus and Shakespearean Fool to the story. But he’s also starting to crack. The Smiler has a very tiny role in this one, but even if he makes no appearance his power and influence is everywhere. This world that Spider lives in is changing, and it’s changing for the absolute worse. And he’s finding himself more and more powerless to fight against it.

I also wanted to note, just for funsies, that the introduction to this volume (at least the copy I have) was written by Patrick Stewart! Apparently he’s a “Transmetropolitan” fan, which really made me smile. But he also completely sums up exactly what it is about this series that I love. “I know this City, I have read The Word, I have listened to these politicians, I have smelt the stink of greed, I have thrown things at the TV, I have wondered what future there is for Truth and Beauty. I have wanted to go and live on the top of a Yorkshire moor… Warren, tell Spider to stay healthy and keep writing the column.”

“Transmetropolitan” continues to strive for that truth and beauty, even when it gets super dark. That’s what I love about this series. show less

The beginning of the series is great and the election plot was fantastic - but Ellis and Robertson take readers to another level, starting here. The story, as well as its preceding one-shots, moves beautifully through squalor and loveliness all the while showing us a bit more of the human underneath Spider's manic aggressive shell. There's a lot of soul in there - and they're starting to show it to us. Too bad it happens just as sh!t really starts to hit the fan for Spider and the filthy assistants... and we're talking in the biggest of ways...

More at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-Hn

This series continues to be excellent. Latest volume darker, seemingly a lot more violent (this is not for people who are sensitive to such stuff) and more disturbing - what responsibility do journalists have? Should you trust the police (no)? How about the government (definitely not)? And apparently hate crime exists in the far future, too. Siiiiigh. Depressing, but nonetheless excellent.

This is the darkest book so far with little if any of the previous twisted humor from before and it needs to be dark to set up the story to come. The threads from the last few books are coming together and a war is about to start.
The set up for this has been amazing and the quality of the writing, art and characterization just keep getting better and better. As much as I'm dreading what is to come, I can't wait to read the next book.

This volume of Transmetropolitan starts out with some vignettes providing more depth to Spider Jerusalem and the future in which he lives, then begins to dig into governmental corruption ranging from the City’s police department to the office of the Presidency. For something written in 1999–2000, it certainly reads like a commentary on more recent messes like Free Speech Zones and bogus attempts to suppress information in the name of national security.

This was good, but not as good as some of the others. I was glad to see the bowel disruptor make a return appearance, it's been a while. What I didn't like was that it was kind of sparse. A lot of mental rambling (Spider's writing) with a little bit of story. As usual, Ellis is entertaining with creative vulgarity and the cat jumping on Spider's head was hilarious. Another bonus was the intro by Patrick Steward (Capt. Pickard!), I'm wondering if it's the bald thing that drew him to the comic? To bad he's too old to play Spider in the movie, he would have been great.