Comic Pimping: Transmetropolitan

[cicipsychobunny.livejournal.com]

Warren Ellis is a god among men, and Transmetropolitan is my favourite comic of all time, somehow beating Lucifer and Dogwitch. Maybe it's that I was raised on dystopic sci fi. Or maybe I'm in love with furious, sarcastic political commentary. And the art's damned shiny. The trades I have in front of me at the moment credit Darick Roberston and Rodney Ramos. Love you.

Our protagonist is Spider Jerusalem, a misanthropic columnist in a not-quite-near-future-but-not-Star-Trek-future USA. Things are much as they always have been, but amped up. And Spider hates it. He just wants to go back to his mountain and grow strawberries, but unfortunately there's the small matter of an unfulfilled book contract. So he's back.

It's a bloody hard comic to describe, but I love it. I love the concept of an alien species leasing their genetic code to people who want to literally become little green men. I love cops with holographic badges on their cheeks. I love capitalism gone so horribly amok that there's a restaurant franchise called Long Pig, supplied by clone farms where they grow anencephalic humans to be eaten. Oh, and I love Spider's weapon of choice, the bowel disruptor - settings from "mild diarrhoea" through "rectal volcano" right up to "shat into unconsciousness".

It's crude, hilarious, sarcastic, philosophical. I'm a sci-fi-lovin' girl and Transmetropolitan shows a future which you could see really coming to pass, crazy technologies, historical-period reservation parks, everything. All the nihilism and isolation and being a small guy in a big world that hates you of Blade Runner, in vivid technicolor.

As an aside, 'cause I'm a reader of Girls Read Comics and They Are Pissed, there are plenty of kickass female characters, particularly Spider's two filthy assistants, Channon (former stripper turned bodyguard) and Yelena (budding journalist and daughter of political figures).

Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. Should be available at good comic stores everywhere, in 10 volumes of delicious trade paperback goodness.

(no subject)

[moonbeamdancer.livejournal.com]

Has anyone seen this from Mary Janice Davidson's blog?

http://maryjanicedavidson.blogspot.com/2006/11/back-but-still-bad_01.html

Scroll down to the part where she's the mod of the paranormal panel with her, Charlaine Harris, and Laurell K. Hamilton on it. Now the only part of interest I found was that when MJ starts the panel, and says that the fans may ask whatever they want, LKH grabs the mic out of her hands and makes a huge damn list of shit to not ask her. I.E. her sex life, asking for threesomes with her and Jon, etc.

She apparently carried on in that vein for five fucking minutes.

...

I just have this to say.

1. I understand that getting asked questions like that gets boring, either start coming up with form answers, or just say that you don't want to answer that. It will get around that you don't want those questions asked any more. Don't need to be a bitch about it.

2. MJ let her go for 5 minutes, if it had been me, I would of taken the mic back, thanked Laurell and then got things back on track.

3. How many times has she been asked/how many people have asked questions like that, that makes LKH rant about it?