TRANSMETROPOLITIAN #S 1-3

It starts with a futuristic Earth and a guy who is waaaaaaaaaayyyy to hairy getting a phone call about how his contract says he owes two books to this publisher. Enter Spider Jerusaleum, who leaves the mountain he stayed in for five years, and returns to the city. He catches up with an old friend who gives him a job as a journalist and a house. He then wanders the city and looks for stories. Spider finds one that involves Transients - people who buy alien genetic structure and become half-human, half-alien. The story continues as Spider gets his story as he finds a two-headed cat, visits a strip joint and reports on a Transient riot.

This is Warren Ellis's forte, you can tell how he has put energy into his writing in Transmet. Garth Ennis describes it the best - "forced to filter his own poison through the dubious medium of the superhero story. The work's been great, but at the end of the day it's still about grown men in tights."

The humour is dark as night, and Spider is cranky, on edge and a plain, true bastard, but you can't help but admire him. He has a human side that is under all the angst and tattoos, is a guy that you can respect. The future is bleak, and wierder than ever expected, but it looks like something that is inevitable.

The art is good, with detail and crazy futuristic contraptions that are funny in themselves. Robertson is accurate in his visual representation of Ellis's ideas.

This book is great, and if you like wierd, dark humour and stories this book is for you to pick up. I enjoyed the read, and will more than likely find #4 in my hand soon.

4/5 Spiders