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noahapples 's review for:
Transmetropolitan, Vol. 2: Lust for Life
by Warren Ellis
I listened to the episode of the WTF podcast where Marc Maron interviews Gallagher this week, and it's sticking in my head, inextricably tied to my experience reading this comic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BChMJQcGIY
The premise of a once highly regarded satirist, with a genius level intellect and a cutting worldview, whose sensibilities just don't hold up under a contemporary reading, seems like such a strong parallel to me. (I know this is NOT how people generally view Warren Ellis, and to be fair to him, I haven't really read any of his more recent comics, so it's possible his ongoing work has matured more gracefully than Gallagher's; I guess it wouldn't be hard.)
This comic has so many really cool ideas in it, and there were parts I thought were genuinely interesting to think about. I can easily see why so many people loved it, and I can see why people continue to love it now although I think that the fact that they do is mildly depressing.
Spider Jerusalem is the disaffected man's Mary Sue: a strong-principled journalist standing opposite corruption, who kills people with guns regularly and infallibly, who always "sees through everyone else's bullshit," who exacts revenge on all who slight him, who has no time for feelings and sentimentality and knows people need to stop taking themselves so seriously, while simultaneously operating on an unwavering honor code of gut-level dignity. It's kind-of boring.
It's hard for me to not look at a panel of Spider physically maiming another human blocking the way to his story, shouting, "I'm a journalist!" and not think about Gallagher excusing his homophobic jokes with, "I'm a satirist!" There are more noble things in life than being the most correct smarmy guy, I think.
Anyway, there's enough going on here that I'll keep reading, and I've got three more volumes left in the stack I picked up from the used bin at my comic shop. So if you're following me on here, you can look forward to several more reviews where I don't really like this seminal, beloved comic book series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BChMJQcGIY
The premise of a once highly regarded satirist, with a genius level intellect and a cutting worldview, whose sensibilities just don't hold up under a contemporary reading, seems like such a strong parallel to me. (I know this is NOT how people generally view Warren Ellis, and to be fair to him, I haven't really read any of his more recent comics, so it's possible his ongoing work has matured more gracefully than Gallagher's; I guess it wouldn't be hard.)
This comic has so many really cool ideas in it, and there were parts I thought were genuinely interesting to think about. I can easily see why so many people loved it, and I can see why people continue to love it now although I think that the fact that they do is mildly depressing.
Spider Jerusalem is the disaffected man's Mary Sue: a strong-principled journalist standing opposite corruption, who kills people with guns regularly and infallibly, who always "sees through everyone else's bullshit," who exacts revenge on all who slight him, who has no time for feelings and sentimentality and knows people need to stop taking themselves so seriously, while simultaneously operating on an unwavering honor code of gut-level dignity. It's kind-of boring.
It's hard for me to not look at a panel of Spider physically maiming another human blocking the way to his story, shouting, "I'm a journalist!" and not think about Gallagher excusing his homophobic jokes with, "I'm a satirist!" There are more noble things in life than being the most correct smarmy guy, I think.
Anyway, there's enough going on here that I'll keep reading, and I've got three more volumes left in the stack I picked up from the used bin at my comic shop. So if you're following me on here, you can look forward to several more reviews where I don't really like this seminal, beloved comic book series.