Is it a bit unfair to make this my pick? I mean the stuff I read this week on a whole was not worth as pick. Not to make excuses for this fantastic trade; but now I’m starting to see why people prefer trades then single issues at this point.

I’ll state this again: Transmetropolitan has become my new favorite series. Every single page of this comic is full of comedy, politics, and more importantly; hate. Spider Jerusalem is filled with so much emotions (mostly anger) and it’s just fun to read the rantings he have to say. Those are my favorite moments with this series by the way. Any time where Spider just scream at people or just beat them up for no reason; it’s all gravy. He beats up an old lady giving out flowers in this, and it’s all silent, and it just made me laugh. It’s horrible, but it’s the type of dark humor Ellis is known for doing. What I like most about this series is the heart of the story. Spider wants to just be a reporter and tell true stories on how horrible these politcians are. Sure it’s horrible he takes drugs, sure what he does is pretty much against the law; but it’s his passion as a journalist that makes me proud of reading this. He’s just commited to do the right thing, but it’s so misguided sometimes which makes it funnier.

I can’t do a review on Transmetropolitan without praising the art of Darick Robertson. It’s sick, it’s disgusting, and I’m pretty sure if I showed this to my grandma she would throw up. That’s what makes it perfect! Seriously though, he does some amazing work in this. It’s the backgrounds of this series you have to pay attention to. It’s so full of life and just anything can happen in the city. The city is essentially a character as it brings the hate to Spider in so many ways. But Robertson’s character designs are well done as well. No character looks the same and again; the inhabitants of the city are very unqiue. I notice the futuristic stuff in this is pulled back a bit. It’s still an underlining current through out the book, but it’s more of the people and politics that are focused in here.

This will be the second time I make a Transmetropolitan trade my pick. What can I say? A trade of this series is better then any single issue that comes out this week. If anyone hasn’t tried this out yet I urge anyone to give it a try. The first three trades are out with reprints so it’s easier to find now. But once you get these trades out of the way, you can get the older prints without any overlap problem. Either way, it’s a fantastic series and I could read this from beginning to end adnausem. Now if only we can get the rumors of this being a TV series a reality…