Transmetropolitan: The New Scum

This continuation from Year of the Bastard takes us through the last few days of the Presidential election. Superstar columnist Spider Jerusalem gets exclusive access to both candidates for frank and forthright discussion. On the side there are snapshots of life in Jerusalem's city, both good and bad, so we get an understanding of the people whose lives are likely to be affected by the final result.

The book is crammed with political comment, with Jerusalem continuing to find fault with both candidates, frustrated at the power that even a no-hope out-going president can have over him, let alone a media-savvy slick operator like the likely incoming candidate.

Ellis' writing is forceful and to the point. His politicians are genuinely scary and thoroughly believable. The one-on-one interviews are deftly written, more like discussions than anything else, with the politicians confident that the franker they are, the less Jerusalem can print about them without looking stupid.

On the art side, Robertson and his team make the usual good job of breathing life and portraying emotion on the characters, fluctuating between chaotic dioramas of life on the street to subtly shaded pages of talking heads.

This is Transmetropolitan taking no prisoners. A must-read volume.