Transmetropolitan
Trans Metropolitan is a Cyberpunk - comic book series of the author Warren Ellis and the signer (Pencillers) Darick Robertson , the first time in 1997 when DC Comics published and describes the struggle of the journalist Spider Jerusalem against the excesses of a frenzied metropolis of the future and against political abuse of power and indifference.
content
The beginning of the series introduces the main character, an extroverted and egomaniacal gonzo journalist named Spider Jerusalem, who is strongly influenced by Hunter S. Thompson , who is threatened by his publisher, to whom he still owes two books, from his existence as a long-haired, paranoid Mountain hermit is driven back to the nameless city, where he takes up the fight against indifference, abuse of power, social grievances and unscrupulous exploitation as a columnist . The sometimes slightly dystopian , but exuberantly colorful metropolis, which is the scene of the series, is an absurdly over-the-top place in the best cyberpunk tradition, that of people modified with alien DNA , intelligent police dogs, drug-addicted machines, nanotechnical wonders and countless bizarre microcults and Subcultures abound.
Armed with unconventional photo glasses and his laptop , the protagonist pillories his self-chosen opponents with caustic words. The main target and focus of two storylines are two politicians; initially the president, always just called "the beast" (the beast, in the German version "Das Monster"), later, after his election, his fascist successor, "the smiler" (the smiler, in the German version) "The Smiler").
In the course of the action, which can be divided into three acts, Spider Jerusalem wins two female comrades-in-arms, Channon Yarrow and Yelena Rossini, who are probably based on Hunter S. Thompson's assistant Deborah Fuller and his last wife Anita Bejmuk. Similar to them, at the end of the series they accompany the spider, who is sick of a degenerative neurological disease, back to the secluded refuge of the mountains.
About the series
The first episode of Transmetropolitan appeared in 1997 in the then new, science fiction- specialized imprint Helix by the American comic book publisher DC Comics; From episode 13, the series after the end of Helix was taken over by the Vertigo imprint of the same publisher. The series spans 60 episodes and ended on schedule in 2002.
Today, Transmetropolitan is distributed by Vertigo in the form of ten edited volumes. In addition, two special volumes were published. Unlike usual at DC, the team of authors did not transfer the rights to the publisher.
In German was Transmetropolitan the speed Publishing, an imprint of the publisher Thomas Tilsner, published in 32 volumes, which in addition to the 60 regular issues of the US series also reprints some special issues.
Stylistic classification
As part of a cyberpunk , hardboiled and neo-noir direction that is also increasingly establishing itself in comics , other similar series have emerged since the nineties. The series " Preacher " by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon , " Sin City " by Frank Miller , " Midnight Nation " by J. Michael Straczynski and " Violent Messiah " by Joshua DM Dysart and Tone Rodriguez can be compared with "Transmetropolitan" .