sevenstories’ #CBR4: Transmetropolitan Vol. 1 – Back on the Street by Warren Ellis
“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.”
The very first few pages made me laugh a couple of time and therefore I had high hopes for the rest of the volume but unfortunately I felt it lost any subtlety and slipped into coarseness for the sake of coarseness with horrendously unlikeable characters, a plot I didn’t really care about and finale I felt like I was supposed to find triumphant but instead found somewhat dull. I appreciated the art in an abstract way and can also see why other readers enjoy it, but it’s just so far away from what I find pleasurable to read. I read the whole thing as it was recommended to me by a colleague who normally gives me things I do enjoy and also because it’s short, even for a graphic novel so it only took me twenty minutes to read. For me, it is too coarse and crude and I found the depiction of the city (and Spider) verging on repulsive at times.
You can read the full review on my blog.
First Line: ‘So that ignorant, thick-lipped, evil whorehopping editor phones me up and says, ‘Does the word contract mean anything to you, Jerusalem?’
