|
''Transmetropolitan'' is a cyberpunk, transhumanist comic book series written by Warren Ellis, co-created and designed by Darick Robertson, and published by DC Comics. The series was originally part of the short-lived DC Comics imprint Helix, but upon the end of the book's first year the series was moved to the Vertigo imprint and DC Comics shut-down the Helix imprint. ''Transmetropolitan'' chronicles the battles of Spider Jerusalem, infamous renegade gonzo journalist of the future, an homage to gonzo journalism founder Hunter S. Thompson. Spider Jerusalem dedicates himself to fighting the corruption and abuse of power of two successive United States presidents; he and his "filthy assistants" strive to keep their world from turning more dystopian than it already is while dealing with the struggles of fame and power, brought about due to the popularity of Spider via his articles. The monthly series began in July 1997 and concluded in September 2002. The series was later reprinted in an array of ten trade paperback volumes, and also featured two "specials" (''I Hate It Here'' and ''Filth of the City'') with text pieces written by the Spider Jerusalem character and illustrated by a wide range of comic artists. These were later collected in trade paperbacks. == Story synopsis == Some time in the future (how long precisely is never specified, but said to be in the 23rd century) Spider Jerusalem, retired writer/journalist and bearded hermit, lives in an isolated, fortified mountain hideaway. Following a call from his irate publisher demanding the last two books per his publishing deal, Jerusalem is forced to descend into The City, a twisted hedonistic amalgam of pervasive consumerism, sex, violence, and drugs where one can indulge in taboos such as cannibalism and child prostitution as a part of daily life. However, this futuristic culture is highly self-centered and focused almost exclusively on present-day matters. "Revivals" from cryogenic stasis are largely ignored and left to fend for themselves on the streets, and people almost never visit the cultural "Reservations" which were established for the sole purpose of preserving past civilizations and which are now left to run the course of their timeline in peace, with the sole exception of the Republican Party Reservation, which has its own television show due to the reservation being a hotbed of sex and erotica. No one even knows the current calendar year (this fact revealed by Spider in Issue #42), so the dates of events are always referred to ''relative'' to the present day or by famous events that occurred around the same time (i.e. the death of a celebrity) and as a result of this disassociation from time has a very odd relationship with infamous events of the past, including a chain of restaurants named after Jeffery Dahmer and the heavily sexualized glorification of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Jerusalem returns to work for his old partner and editor Mitchell Royce, who now edits ''The Word,'' the City's largest newspaper. His first story is about an attempted separatist secession by the Transient movement (people who use genetic body modification based on alien DNA to become a completely different species, forced to live in the Angels 8 slum district). The leader of the movement, Fred Christ, is paid to incite a riot and provoke the police, who use it as an excuse to clear out Angels 8. However, Jerusalem publishes a story revealing the truth and the brutal methods of the police; Royce publishes it live all over the city, and the public outcry forces the police to withdraw. Spider is brutally beaten by police on his way home, but defiantly says that he's here to stay. The first year of the series is a set of one-off stories exploring The City, Spider's background, and his often tense relationship with his assistants/sidekicks, Yelena Rossini and Channon Yarrow (referred to as his 'filthy assistants'), who become his full-time partners in his journalistic battles as the series progresses. The main storyline of the series, the election and corrupt presidency of Gary Callahan (or "The Smiler"), begins in the series' second year and lasts the rest of its run. Spider initially considers Callahan the lesser evil compared to the incumbent president ("The Beast"), but his investigation into Callahan's past and his ties with a right-wing hate group leads to Callahan having his own campaign manager, Vita Severn, a friend of Spider's, murdered. In a one-on-one meeting, Spider realizes that Callahan is not merely corrupt, but is a complete lunatic who wants to be President solely to hurt people with his new power. To Spider's horror and disgust, the people vote Callahan into office by a wide margin. Once elected, Callahan begins to use his presidential power to torment Spider, the source of his trouble during the campaign. Spider narrowly escapes a police massacre of people protesting how a recent hate crime was investigated. The police refused to release footage of the incident because it reveals several police officers watching the crime occur without interfering. Spider writes a story revealing the truth about the crime and subsequent engineered massacre, but Callahan spikes it via "D-Notices," government censorship of stories that could "embarrass" the country and the Callahan administration. After being informed of the "D-Notice," Spider leaks the story via a straight-text news feedsite called "The Hole" and follows it up with a story exposing Callahan's corrupt circle of advisers, one of whom is a pedophile. When Royce runs the story, Callahan forces the paper's board of directors to fire Spider, who makes an agreement to publish his future stories with "The Hole." However, Callahan arranges for the City to be left defenseless from a hurricane-like "near-near-near ruinstorm" (as an actual ruinstorm can skin anyone caught in it) that ravages the City and kills thousands, using the chaos to destroy the evidence Spider has gathered against him, and places the city under martial law after the storm ends. Royce reveals that he had archived most of Spider's evidence and delivers it on disk to him, but during the ruinstorm Spider collapses and is diagnosed with an incurable degenerative neurological illness with similar symptoms to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease caused by constant exposure to the now-defunct informational substance known as I-Pollen. With about a year before dementia renders him dysfunctional and with only a 2% chance of escaping this fate, Spider increases his vendetta against Callahan, ultimately exposing his evil deeds and bringing the President down. Spider returns to his mountain home in the final issue epilogue. Royce comes to visit, and the assistants show him around the house while explaining that Spider's disease is progressing. It is revealed that Channon has a book deal, and Yelena is taking a journalistic role similar to Spider's; Channon and Royce note Yelena is Spider's spiritual successor, displaying his trademark rage and passion as well as talent. Out in the garden, Spider tells Royce that the disease is so advanced that he cannot light his own cigarettes, and he forgets one day out of seven. However, when Royce leaves, Spider pulls out a package of cigarettes and what appears to be a handgun. He appears to be placing the barrel under his chin, until it's revealed in the next panel that it's actually a lighter. He lights the cigarette and then spins the lighter on his finger, suggesting that he was in fact one of the 2% of patients who recover from the disease, and is now merely faking his illness so that he may enjoy his retirement in peace. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Transmetropolitan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|