"Two candidates, the Beast and the Smiler, are facing off in the presidential election, and in all the media only Spider Jerusalem seems to have the intestinal fortitude to hack his way through the campaign propaganda and find out the reality behind the spin. But even if he manages to bring the public the unvarnished truth, the larger question still remains: will they do the right thing once they have it?"--Page 4 of cover.

The saga of outlaw journalist Spider Jerusalem written by comics superstar Warren Ellis in Absolute format. Black humor, life-threatening situations, and moral ambiguity, give a look into the mind of an outlaw journalist and the world he seeks to destroy.

TRANSMETROPOLITAN begins here, with this volume collecting issues #1-6 of the acclaimed Vertigo series from writer Warren Ellis and artist Darick Robertson! After years of self-imposed exile from a civilization rife withdegradation and indecency, cynical journalist Spider Jerusalem is forced to return to a job he hates and a city he loathes. Working as an investigative reporter for the newspaper The Word, Spider attacks the injustices of his surreal 23rd-centurysurroundings. In this first volume, Spider ventures into the dangerous Angels 8 district, home of the Transients — humans who have decided to become aliens through cosmetic surgery. But Spider's interview with the Transients' leader gets him a scoophe didn't bargain for. And don't miss Spider's first confrontation with the President of the United States . . . in a men's room.

Within the expansive mediascape of the 1980s and 1990s, cyberpunk’s aesthetics took firm root, relying heavily on visual motifs for its near-future splendor saturated in media technologies, both real and fictitious. As today’s realities look increasingly like the futures forecast in science fiction, cyberpunk speaks to our contemporary moment and as a cultural formation dominates our 21st century techno-digital landscapes. The 15 essays gathered in this volume engage the social and cultural changes that define and address the visual language and aesthetic repertoire of cyberpunk – from cybernetic organisms to light, energy, and data flows, from video screens to cityscapes, from the vibrant energy of today’s video games to the visual hues of comic book panels, and more. Cyberpunk and Visual Culture provides critical analysis, close readings, and aesthetic interpretations of exactly those visual elements that define cyberpunk today, moving beyond the limitations of merely printed text to also focus on the meaningfulness of images, forms, and compositions that are the heart and lifeblood of cyberpunk graphic novels, films, television shows, and video games.

Outlaw journalist Spider Jerusalem attacks the injustices of his surreal 21st century through black humor as an investigative reporter for the newspaper The Word in this critically-acclaimed graphic novel series written by comics superstar Warren Ellis, the co-creator of PLANETARY and THE AUTHORITY.In this volume, Jerusalem targets three of society's most worshipped and warped pillars: politics, religion, and television. When Spider tries to shed light on the atrocities of these institutions, he finds himself fleeing a group of hit men/kidnappers in possession of his ex-wife's frozen head, a distorted creature alleging to be his son, and a vicious talking police dog.

Comics and the punk movement are inextricably linked--each has a foundational do-it-yourself ethos and a nonconformist spirit defiant of authority. This collection of new essays provides for the first time a thorough analysis of the intersections between comics and punk. The contributors expand the discussion beyond the familiar U.S. and UK scenes to include the influence punk has had on comics produced in other countries, such as Spain and Turkey.

As the City suffers through a storm and a sniper in the print district, Spider and his assistants continue trying to prove their allegations against the President, and Spider learns the horrific nature of his mysterious affliction.