When someone described Transmetropolitan as “Hunter S. Thompson fighting the future”, I knew it was a book I had to pick up.  Collected in 10 paperbacks, Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s Transmetropolitan tells the story of  journalist Spider Jerusalem who comes out of retirement and isolation to fulfill the agreements of his publishing contract. From there, Jerusalem gets caught up in politics, corruption and violence as he attempts to expose a presidential conspiracy, all the while exposing himself to every drug imagineable. Jerusalem, like many of Ellis’ protagonists, is an abrasive and confrontational bastard, but it’s obvious that he is the way he is because he cares more than he’s willing to let on.

In Jerusalem, Robertson has created a character that is instantly identifiable, with the iconic red and green glasses and the intricate tattoos. Where Ellis provides the heart of the story, Robertson crafts the details to let that heart beat. Robertson’s art in the sixty issues of the series is gorgeous, with an attention to detail that a lot of modern comic book artists overlook. Robertson rewards readers with repeat viewings of his art.

Now, you may have noticed that while I enjoy comic book techniques and art when it comes to these pages, what really gets me is when a page can affect me emotionally, such is the case with Black Bolt’s despair on the moon or Fell’s suspect finally asking for help.

By issue 19 of Transmetropolitan, a lot of the world-building is finished and the seeds for the book’s meta-story have been planted, and while we’ve had brief glimpses of Spider Jerusalem’s sensitivity, this scene is the first time where we can see that he is as vulnerable as the rest of us:

What’s interesting about the scene is that while there is a sense of relief for the reader that Jerusalem feels like we do, there is also concern. This emotional outburst raises the stakes of the story, because the danger has been clearly established, and if our hero is to make it to the end, he’s going to have to be stronger than this.

And now we understand completely why he’s such a bastard.