Transmetropolitan Vol. 4: The New Scum [Paperback]

Warren Ellis (Author), Darick Robertson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Transmetropolitan | Publication Date: September 1, 2000

It's no wonder he hates it here. Spider Jerusalem, journalist and heroof sorts in Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, wades through a sewer ofpoverty and high-tech despair daily in his efforts to understand and report onAmerica. In The New Scum, Ellis contrasts the powerful, in the form ofpresidential candidates, with the powerless, who are begging and hustling on thestreets. The satire is savage and rarely subtle, but the author takes care toshow some human warmth lest the comic descend into the nihilism it warnsagainst. The plot, largely secondary to the characters and background events,focuses loosely on Jerusalem's assignment to interview the two candidates, eachpsychotic and unfit for any office. His bodyguard and personal assistant,meanwhile, discover the terrors of pleasure in a post-nanotech world withunlimited credit. The election-eve climax fully captures the anxiety anddepression that come from having no real choice in matters of great importance.Either Ellis or his creation deserves a Pulitzer. --Rob Lightner

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's no wonder he hates it here. Spider Jerusalem, journalist and hero of sorts in Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, wades through a sewer of poverty and high-tech despair daily in his efforts to understand and report on America. In The New Scum, Ellis contrasts the powerful, in the form of presidential candidates, with the powerless, who are begging and hustling on the streets. The satire is savage and rarely subtle, but the author takes care to show some human warmth lest the comic descend into the nihilism it warns against. The plot, largely secondary to the characters and background events, focuses loosely on Jerusalem's assignment to interview the two candidates, each psychotic and unfit for any office. His bodyguard and personal assistant, meanwhile, discover the terrors of pleasure in a post-nanotech world with unlimited credit. The election-eve climax fully captures the anxiety and depression that come from having no real choice in matters of great importance. Either Ellis or his creation deserves a Pulitzer. --Rob Lightner

About the Author

Warren Ellis has created and written The Authority, Transmetropolitan, Orbiter, the award-winning Planetary, Ministry of Space and much more. Darick Robertson is the artist and co-creator of Transmetropolitan. He is also the artist on The Boys and Fury, and creator of Space Beaver. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563896273
• ISBN-13: 978-1563896279
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, December 8, 2011

By 

LML - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Transmetropolitan Vol. 4: The New Scum (Paperback)

New Scum is all about Spider's involvement in the political campaign, how he fights for the little guys all around him who he sees and describes throughout the book. This particular book is more story driven than some and shows the presidential campaign up against Spider's journalism. Fun read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Transmet just gets better., January 9, 2010

By 

Philip LD "Ben" (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Transmetropolitan Vol. 4: The New Scum (Paperback)

This is an amazing series. It continuously gets better and better as you go along. At this point in the saga of Spider Jerusalem and his filthies I knew I was reading a work like no other, and that I was going to love it forever. This particular volume also includes a little bonus at the end, with the winter/Christmas shorts that were released in a separate compilation from Vertigo. If you're new to Transmetroplitan then start at the beginning. If you've got the backbone, then you'll read them all.

11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good, November 26, 2000

By 

C. Bickford (Round Lake Beach, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Transmetropolitan Vol. 4: The New Scum (Paperback)

This is the most disappointing Transmetropolitan offering so far. Which doesn't mean that it's that bad, it's just not as good as the other novels in the series. Spider loses his edge. He goes around doing good deeds, and generally being pushed around by the people he hates the most. After the manic whirlwind of first three novels, it makes for disappointing reading.

The story focus in a peripheral manner on the election, but since Spider has been removed from the streets by fame, he's too far away to really get at the heart of it.

Lastly, the artwork seems to have taken a turn for the cartoony. It's a lot more '4 color' than previous efforts and just doesn't fit with the world of Spider Jerusalem as previously depicited.

The most interesting thread focuses on the relationship of Channon and Yelena. Which is, while interesting, not what I buy Transmetropolitan for.

Overall, if you liked the first three novels, this is still worth reading. If the first three novels were too offensive, you might find this one tolerable, but since so much of it is built on the first three, it's not that good a story in its own right.