Customer Reviews

Transmetropolitan Vol. 3: Year of the Bastard

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ye gods, such an incredible combination...

*Transmetropolitan* is quite obviously Ellis' platform for ranting frantically about what he feels is wrong with the world (real, imagined, and otherwise).

For those of you who are Ellis fanatics, the story falls in the not-too-near future in the world that exists around the time that Lazarus Churchyard was busy being a terrorist.

"Year of the Bastard" is something of a homage to Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72."

In other words, this is DEFINITELY NOT a comic book for your average child or teen. Ellis makes no pretense in writing for an adult audience.

Mixed in with the off-color jokes and futuristic musings are meditations, of a sort, on what's wrong with the world - gerrymandering all the poor people into a single community with cheap housing, traitorous political tradeoffs that sell out all the principles that the platform supposedly stands on, and the futility of voting between two evils, to name a few. Can't happen? Try urban housing projects in 50's and 60's, Clinton's presidency, and the current presidential election (robotic liar who sold out to the Chinese and writes extremely bad environmental legislation vs. inexperienced governer with a bad pollution record and not a strong grasp on all the issues).

Too bad we're not all as outspoken as Spider Jerusalem, the beloved outlaw journalist who needs to be in the City he hates and to be hated himself to write well.

It's a great read, folks. I'd suggest you pick it up after watching a couple campaign adds and feeling your brain mush into gel from all the bull that you're being fed.

I'm going to end this with something beautiful:

A bald man with a spider tattooed on his forehead has just injected a stimulant into his tear duct. He is bleeding slightly from that eye and from the opposite nostril. His eyes are bugging out, he is sweating profusely, he has tobacco smoke exiting his orifices, and he has a death-head's grin playing on his features.

Why is this beautiful (btw, I'm not condoning drug use)? Because this is the picture of a man who is about to do something vital, something terribly necessary, something that shows that he is a passionate and dedicated person. He is ALIVE.

An image of Spider Jerusalem, ladies and gentlemen. Now buy the bloody book or I'll have to lob steaming moose entrails into the nearest crowded playground.

8 years ago, Spider saw the Beast come into power. After that, he went to his mountain. But he was called back, and in Lust for Life, wrapped his fingers around the pulse of the city. Now, it's election time again, and his editor has spoken. Spider will cover the election, since his readers demand it. Not a threat, but advice for someone who wants to make money for himself and Spider.

You might think that a comic book is for teenagers. Maybe even younger. Some might be. This is not one of them. Spider is a drug crazed maniac. But he's not the worst of the lot.

The politicians are. Heller, with his "America for Americans" catchphrase, and a Hitler lookalike in the crowd - in case you missed the point with the Gothic lettering of his name and having his rallies compared to Nuremberg, it's driven home is a rather unsubtle manner.

The Smiler is just plain deranged. It's not clear if politicians look like that before they've been prepared by their handlers, but the scary thing is I don't find it implausible.

Vita is an interesting character, a nice addition to the cast of maniacs that populate this world. The story line flows well, and demands several re-readings to see all the details that the first reading misses.

The artwork in this novel is simply at its best. Yelena is a character that Darick Robertson is meant to draw, and he does the things he does well, well here. No experimentation, no compromises.

This is easily the best of the series, and makes "The New Scum" all the more disappointing as a follow-up.

Absolute must read.

Here in Volume Three, Spider Jerusalem finds his life once again driven further into madness by the demands of his Editor. Spider has been back into the city for a while, and except for a short but memorable run-in with The Beast, he's failed to address a seemingly unavoidable topic of the news (by choice of course): politics.

It's an election year, and his hated enemy, The Beast, on whose depravity Spider literally wrote the book (the same book which made his career, and drove him out of civilization entirely), is seeking reelection. The Opposition party is in town, and Spider is being dragged kicking and screaming into discussing their imminent convention. Unfortunately for Spider, the front-runner in that race is a neo-fascistic nutjob, and his adversary is a man who only seems to do one thing: smile dementedly.

Can Spider save the American Electorate? Can he pry himself away from the needles, pipes, and pills long enough to find The Truth?

Read Transmetropolitan Volume Three to find out.

Perfect. No less. When it comes to graphic novels, this is all one could hope for. It is fascinating. Spider's harsh truth seeking, foul mouthed, character is a brilliant creation. In 'Year of the Bastard' Ellis begins -- in very subtle notes -- to reveal a softer side to this character. In his growing relationship with Vita Severn we begin to understand Spider more, and the fate of this relationship at the end of the novel is Spider's key motication for his actions until issue 60. The ideas, political machinations and wit of the book are all brilliant. Read and be amazed.

Another great book in the Transmetropolitan series. The art is amazing, the story is great and I love the black humor that permeates everything in the story. Great read.

If your like me you've probly never heard of Spider Jerusalem, sounds like a terrorist, or a new bio weapon. He is a weapon, but not the shooting kind (he has plenty of those), no hes a weapon against the truth. Spider Jerusalem's world is very similar to ours except far more advanced

At first I found Transmetropolitan offensive. VERY offensive. It took some serious will power to put away my views on things like religion, and politics, but when I did I enjoyed these books much more, and I suggest you do the same.

Year of the Bastard covers an election that in all honesty reminded me of the Kerry Bush election. Neither candidates are the right choice. But now Spider Jerusalem's large fanbase want him to support one. I won't go into more detail because I don't want to spoil it.

Transmetropolitan is deep. Not like "Animal Farm" "Hey were in the 12 foot end of the pool, and I can't swim" deep end. Its a 6 footer. It became obvious which candidate was which party. But its one big metaphor for this time, and how there isn't that one voice whos REALLY telling the truth. When i finished Transmetropolitan, I had a new perspective on every political situation thats happened "Well you have to look at it this way" and "Is that really what happened?" I have to say Transmetropolitan is probably the best Graphic Novel I've read. Ever. Its what a comic book should be. Not something just kids and nerds read, it something that could be read in a Government class if you cleaned up the language and shooting. It is also one of the greatest books I've read. If you want the truth (and you CAN handle) then give this a shot

Warren Ellis, Transmetropolitan: Year of the [censored for Amazon consumption] (Vertigo, 1999)

As a non-review note, it's really kind of ludicrous--the kind of thing Spider Jerusalem would be amused by, no doubt--that this review got redlined for me putting the title of the book in the header. Do something about the sillier aspects of your filters, Amazon, plzkthx.

In its third volume, Transmetropolitan managed to do something I didn't think it could: get even funnier. Feeling the old ennui creeping back in, Spider pumps himself full of everything known to man (and some things that aren't). His editor snags him a new assistant, but with a catch: she's his niece, which will (hopefully) stop Spider from doing the same things that have caused him to lose his other assistants over the years. Fat chance. How, Ellis asks us, to find meaning in a meaningless world? I'm not entirely sure he'll ever come up with an answer, but it's certainly fun to watch him try. ****

An awesome book that one just cannot put down. Warren Ellis does such a good job of controlling the seriousness and comic relief of this book. Just when you think Spider can't do anything crazier he does it, and it is believable too. In this volume we dig deeper into the Spider Jerusalem character and the dsytopia he lives in. Robertson's art is perfect this story. If you liked the first two volumes pick up year of the bastard and you will not be disappointed.

can't get enough Ellis. Smart, relevant, the way a sci-fi Hunter S Thompson homage ought to be.

Warren Ellis has created a fictional world that in many ways resembles ours. Warren has a lot of guts. He probably is on the hit list of the KKK, The American Nazi Party, The Religious Right Wing, and The Arm White Militia e.g. The Oklahoma Federal Building Bombers and all Jingoistic Americans that believe we are a Militaristic Empire. We are the new Conquistadors/Conquerer of the world. Amazon's books were in mint condition as usual. They are still the best online store on the internet.