Transmetropolitan Vol. 08: Dirge

I hate it here, but I love this series.

[a:Warren Ellis|12772|Warren Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1316469074p2/12772.jpg] has crafted the outrageous gonzo journalist from sheer hate, cynicism, rage, and good humor. He has infused him with an altruism that is remarkable and relentless, a thirst for justice purely unquenchable, and a righteous wrath that would set any red-blooded human's heart a-pumping. Transmetropolitan is priceless, and truly shocking in the way the cyberpunk series continues to hit home.

With the [ author: H.L. Mencken] quote in [b:Gouge Away|22422|Transmetropolitan, Vol. 6 Gouge Away|Warren Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167349100s/22422.jpg|978453] [a:Warren Ellis|12772|Warren show more Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1316469074p2/12772.jpg] set the stage for the final story arc, the only story arc in some ways, that is bringing the series racing towards its finish. The startling pace and the true tragedy of this issue bring it home to the reader that this isn't your normal graphic novel - nor even remotely close to being such.

What I mean is, I care about these characters. The worry I feel is as real as the way my throat closed when the diagnosis was set down. I care about these characters, I care about their quest, and I care about the final dredges of humanity that [a:Warren Ellis|12772|Warren Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1316469074p2/12772.jpg] has so cleverly infused into the new scum and the dreaded audience that Spider Jerusalem preaches to.

Man, I care about these characters... and as much as I want to finish the series, to see how the final battle goes down and watch the e-ink dry on the strangely iPad like tablets... I also don't want to finish the series and see these characters go. They've touched my heart, and the plot has set the wheels in my own brain racing.

And I thought I loved Preacher. Transmetropolitan takes this medium to a whole new level. show less

I've deducted a star because you could skip this entire volume and you probably wouldn't notice.
There's some good art and a bit of character but no one-shot issues to pull focus from the main story arc and that main story arc doesn't advance.
Spider is still in the same condition he was at the end of the last volume and the Smiler is still up to the same kind of crap as last time so we're really just threading water.

Read this while I was on my NYC trip. It's not bad but felt like a segue into the bigger story. This is probably the first time ever you get to see a "soft side" to Spider. Not a lot happens but it is a fun read. I don't think I would have enjoyed reading it over a 6 months waiting for the next episode to come out - just not enough happening.

This is perfection, as far as this series goes. I really hope it sustains at this level for the last two installments, because I'd hate for this to've been the crowning moment - especially when everything seems like it can only get even more awesome. For fans of the series, this will make you want to rush out and buy the next two installments without delay - and if you aren't reading the series, how many times do I have to tell you (in the words of Spider himself) to get off your asses and get cracking? We all hate it here - but Spider makes us remember that it's still worth fighting for.

More (as of tmrw) at RB: http://wp.me/pGVzJ-MV

Absolutely brilliant. Ellis pulls from what's going on in the world and just keeps raising the stakes.

And you can feel him working toward the endgame. Amazing series.

I missed reading Volume 7. However, this book begins with a 'ruinstorm' in city. Spider figures something is happening in city alongside, premediated under 'blue flu' operation - where cops don't show up. A blur suit sniper is firing away in the city. In the end,he collapses unable to write his column based on what he found - his assistant Yelena steps in and writes a column under his name just so that his commitment is not delayed. That's as sentimental as you can get from Warren Ellis. ;) Turns out Spider has a brain degenerative disease with only a year to live and meanwhile Callahan seems to have moved to get all his evidence wiped from Word's archives. Yet Spider must get the truth out in the little time he has.

There are black show more nice panels when Spider is stirring to consciousness and he wakes up yelling, 'Drugs is good for me'. The street signs are funny and antagonist as ever 'Sweet Corpse toffee', advertisement of home cloned 'piglet', kid wearing T-shirt saying 'little shit', woman with tattoo 'fuck me', Message in cab 'Do not maim or kill driver', popcorn bucket that reads as 'pup bucket' (QI is eating from it) and so on. show less

Spider Jerusalem only has a year to live— and he intends to make the most of it. He gets to confront his own mortality, but with his usual perversity, he wants to take the President with him before he goes. This is another dark part of the storyline, but I am hopeful that it will make the resolution all the better when it gets there.