Talk:Transmetropolitan

Kudos
Kudos to whoever constructed the phrase "infamous renegade gonzo journalist of the future". While being perfectly true, it sounds exactly like a sci-fi movie poster&mdash;which is just the tone I think it should aim for. I love it. Journalist from the Year 5000! Anville 16:50, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Blair
I liked this bit 'passing resemblance to Tony Blair, Ellis' own Prime Minister.' I makes it sound like he's Ellis' own personal Prime Minister. Len, 14:30, 8 July

Politics
It's been mentioned before that while a lot of the political issues in Transmetropolitan are based on past American politicians, Warren Ellis has himself said that a lot of it is still as much about British politics as anything else.--MythicFox 09:32, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

Spoilers
Being personally not very gifted or concerned with editing Wikipedia, I have no idea how to add a spoiler box above the plot synopsis, but I definitely think it should be added, considering it summarizes everything in the comic from beginning to end. Shralla 08:42, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

The Name of the City
The article says that the city that transmetropoltan is never named. That is not true

"The City" is the name of the city. The city has its own congressmen and senators. One might draw on this that The City is a megatropolis the stretches the length of the Atlantic coast

-This seems obviously true to me. There has been some restructuring of America in the comic's past; Note the "retirement states" formerly known as the west coast, and if memory serves the southern part is called something like "gun state". When the entire east coast has been united in a single city - it will actually happen, you know - why not call it the City?

-I would also like to add that the presence of the 'Statue of Liberty' does not prove that The City is New York, regardless if the name was simply changed. The statue holds a sword in place of a torch. Its possible the statue was changed, but it could also be a different, though similar statue. Also, toward the end of the series, a number of corrispondents in Washington refer to it as "The City", it seems to be the accepted name everywhere. Also I dont know much American geography, but is New York anywhere near any mountains? That The City is boardered on one side by the Atlantic ocean and another by mountains may alow us to conjecture its location. Or maybe Warren Ellis doesnt think such things are worth thinking about so much, and The City's location isnt even possible, which is fair enough.
 * 1 it's megalopolis, not megatropolis. #2 if The City is truly New York City grown to ridiculous proportions, it's entirely possible it could have pushed to the edges of the Appalachian mountain range, which run up the eastern seaboard of the united states, with the edges about 100 miles inland


 * California still exists: it's where Gary Callahan is from, where his wife still lives and where Channon Yarrow visits in between the climax and the epilogue (volume 10).  Florida also&mdash;that's where the monstrous Joe/Bob Heller has his power base.  (Hmmm, maybe a good ol' boy like Heller got christened "Joe Bob" and just uses both names from time to time? )  The maps of the country shown on TV during the election night party (volume 4) might be useful in this regard.  I don't recall any notable differences, but I don't have the books with me to check.  Anville 16:20, 10 January 2006 (UTC)


 * In an interview, Darick Robertson said, "We never really established it other than it's American and in my mind it's the entire country coast to coast. All of the US is one giant teeming city." Anville 16:28, 10 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Landmarks seen in The City need to be taken with a grain of salt -- various depections have shown the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, and the Transamerica Pyramid. (references needed)--66.92.73.217 22:51, 15 September 2006 (UTC


 * Perhaps The City is basically just New York State renamed? If you look at the campaign map, all the states that currently exist are still there and where they belong, so it can't have pervaded into other states, since it has its own electoral college. Shralla 05:58, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

-I've read the series several times, and before I looked here, I was convinced that The City was a tremendously expanded San Francisco. The main reasons were:


 * The revival, Mary, lived in San Francisco until she died and was presumably revived in the same place, though I suppose her head could have been picked up and moved somewhere.


 * The mountains look a lot more like the Rockies than anything on the East Coast, and seem to be closer to the City than any mountains are to New York (though geography could have been messed with in this comic. Everything else has been.)


 * People often travel to and from California, which could be what's left of contemporary California after San Francisco split off.


 * Landmarks are unreliable, as noted previously. A duplicate Statue of Liberty is as likely as the enormous statues with their enormous penises that fell off and crushed people.  I mean, one of the police precincts is named after Richard Daley, which is a Chicago reference.

But then, it is mostly just a big city with a coast, and does seem to be sort of generalized beyond that.

Another point in favor of the NYC theory: Issue 32, pg 14, top panel, Spider is cast as the figure with his back to us in an updated version of Edward Hopper's Nighthawks. According to the entry for the painting, the diner was based on a Greenwich Village diner. On the other, the diner has been demolished since Hopper's time, so It could have been rebuilt anywhere. I get the distinct impression that the City is an amalgam of all the great American cities, and being an LA resident I of course think that New York tops that list. I half wonder if they don't have some weird kind of space-wrinkle thing that makes the city literally an amalgam of all the great cities. Sherpajack joekepps@gmail.com 68.190.216.13 (talk) 19:19, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

I've removed the statement regarding The City being loosely based on a futuristic New York. There are simply too many conflicting references. I've lived in NYC and San Francisco, and see references to both; driving down from the mountains and crossing a bridge to get to the city - that's San Francisco. The nickname "The City" - arguably both lay claim to this nickname (as does London), although I've only seen it memorialized in a logo for San Francisco (the GG Bridge in a circle with the term "the City" below it on t-shirts and posters). HST lived in San Francisco when he pioneered gonzo journalism. The revival - Mary, as previously mentioned, was in SF. The Mission District (in the comic) is the exact name of a neighborhood in San Francisco. For that matter, the Civic Center neighborhood in San Francisco (as it is actually named) is on the US Register of Historic Places (and shows up first on a WP search of the name Civic Center). And the hyper liberal, outside of mainstream nature of the City is more reflective of SF than NYC.

Note that I'm NOT saying the City is based on SF. I see the parallels with NYC, too. It's clearly an amalgam. I'm simply saying it's not "based" on either, and to say that it is is false. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.206.0.179 (talk) 23:58, 21 May 2011 (UTC)

Release date
This article lacks the release date of the comic, which is an important piece of information. I noticed because I wanted to know whether the blog-spirit in the comic was very avant-garde at the time. Unfortunately I'm currently in a state of mind that doesn't allow me to research and add it on my own :o, so I add this comment. 62.206.74.26 22:08, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree. Where are the dates on this?? -Branddobbe 07:16, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

Spider Robinson?
Is it confirmed that Spider Jerusalem is named after Spider Robinson? I'm a big fan of Transmet and Spider Robinson, but I have difficulty seeing any logical connection.

Political development of the future
Both the parties use both red and blue colors, probably because the red and blue parties of today become more and more alike. At some point at least the republicans have become extinct - note the numerous references to the "republican party reservation" - and the parties in the comic's present aren't easily recognizable by today's standards, though they're mostly characterized by preservative contra progressive ideologies. And it seems they're simply called "The party in government" and "The party in opposition", trading names as they trade places. Anyway, I was thinking maybe some of that would have a place in the article?


 * Good point. Early on, a video screen says that Gary Callahan is a "D-Cal", which I presume means the "D" senator from California.  "D" might stand for "Democrat", presumably, in which case the two parties might be something like the Democrats and the Constitutional Unionists.  However, the only names ever given explicitly are the "party in government" and the "party in Opposition", which sounds like a British turn of phrase to me.  At one point, Spider actually calls the Smiler's party "the party formerly in Opposition" (volume 7, I think).


 * Also, at some point, the two-term limit got repealed. The Beast defeated Senator Longmarch eight years before the story opens, and the weird pol-turned-pusher (Kristen?  Kirsten?) says he could stay in the White House at least eight years longer.  Anville 16:16, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

True on all counts. 'Opposition' is in fact the British term for an opposing political party, usually, the one that came in second. In the case of the present government, it is the Conservatives who are in Opposition. A point that could be made about the absence of clear bi-partisan labellings and of a 'name' for The City is that it's the writer's way of reiterating a point he makes in the the first issue of the second volume, Lust for Life: 'There is no real America, you living afterbirth! There's no real City! All there is, is what we make it.'

Radical AdZ

Heller
Is there any word about the connection between real word writer Joseph Heller and President Heller? The first time the Beast is called by his birth name, it's "Joe Heller", though it seems to be consistently "Bob" for the rest of the series. I smell a DC cover-up to avoid lawsuits. ..

-If I may correct you there, Heller was the other opposition presidential hopeful besides Smiler, and was only refered to as Bob I think, since he was only in one issue. I think Heller may just be a very Germanic name (a search in Wiki turns up a number of German, Austrian and Hungarian people) I dont think the Beast's name is ever revealed, his campaign material only ever refered to him as 'The President'.

--Maybe Joe Heller was someone else, but this is the Beast: http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/7144/heller1qv.jpg


 * Heller is a senator from Florida and a contender for the Opposition Party candidate; Spider describes him as "Hitler stuffed to the gills with jumpstart" or some such. His campaign slogans are all like "America for Americans" and "Give 'em Hell, Heller!"  When Spider is tripping out in the Greenbrook Tower bathroom and typing his first anti-Smiler column, he says the Smiler "considers himself on close moral terms with the monstrous Joe Heller" (I'm quoting from memory, but I'm pretty sure on the name).  Later, in "Notes on a Rally", Spider says, "Bob Heller has a really punchable face."  Heller doesn't make a personal appearance until the rally, and he vanishes entirely after the election.  Anville 16:09, 10 January 2006 (UTC)


 * And the JPEG image is of Heller, not the Beast. Anville 16:21, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. 'The Beast', whilst probably about a half-foot or two taller than Heller is a lot stockier built, has dark hair and an unsmiling face. His campaign literature frequently uses the slogan 'Hard Man. Hard Job.'

Radical AdZ


 * Yeah, I had confused the Beast and Joe/Bob Heller. But still - any Joseph Heller connection? 81.225.148.147 12:01, 10 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I believe, none/accidental, the name being a play on words "Hell" and "Hitler". Sharpfang (talk) 09:37, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Smiler
I was under the impression that smiler was (at least physically) Robert Kennedy, JFKs bro... Have a look at his wiki entry,, or go to http://www.americanphoto.co.jp/pages/celebrity/K/Previews/Plans-11332.jpg Tony blair seems a long stretch as well.


 * The smiler also shares Kennedys favourite poem (according to Ellis anyway)- see what spider says in "Year of the Bastard" Part 2 (which is Issue 14, i think) Suicidal mongoose 15:31, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

So considering that the Beast is Nixon, Smiler is Kennedy, where does Blair fit into it, should it be changed?

List of Characters
Did this article actually exist at one point and just got moved, or does this need complete creation? Having an empty link be the only item in a section seems a bit off to me. Deafgeek 00:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
 * No I don't recall a list of characters. Most of the major characters have their own pages (which should perhaps be collected as they're all quite short) Elijya 04:59, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

Steve Chung
I've noticed in several issues that grafitti says "free Steve Chung." In the last (or near enough) issue, a background item proclaims "Steve Chung free!" or somesuch. I'm not sure on the specifics, but the references happen at least once an issue towards the last half of the comic's lifespan. It's not a central theme, I know, but it seems like something deliberately put in there, an 'easter egg' of sorts. We might want to put that in the article. 129.237.90.24 03:34, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

>>Oh, I know this one on hearsay from a friend. Steve Chung was apparently some guy who, in the early run of Transmet, would send long emails to Warren Ellis about the tiny little details in every panel of the comic. Apparently Ellis and Robertson decided that Steve Chung was some guy who was kidnapped and locked up somewhere with nothing but a new copy of Transmet every month and needed to be freed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.248.40.221 (talk) 22:09, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Quick Suggestion
We should probably have a contents box on the entry...I don't know how to do it, but the article has enough subsections to justify it. 68.102.179.135 05:15, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
 * You mean a box that lists all the sub sections fo the article? there already is one. Content boxes automaticly appear when there are enough headings, and following the opening sections of articles. Elijya 19:39, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

Quote worth using...?
D'you think we can fit this in somewhere? Noted here so I don't forget it, as I won't get the chance to do it properly right now. Warren Ellis said: I really don't see the City of Transmet as dystopian. It's just like where we live now. There are horrible fucking things and there are things of sublime beauty, and they all live in the same place. --Mrph 10:16, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

Overzealous Dragonfiend
I added a link from the Transmetropolitan page, for a site that stars Spider Jerusalem in ongoing webcomics. (I won't bother to mention it or post a link, because I'm sure the reference will disappear.) The user Dragonfiend has taken it upon himself to erase this, and other bits I've posted, regardless of whether or not the links I added were relevant. This came about after I had the "audacity" to post a relevant link in the webcomics page. Since then he has systematically "edited" out just about everything I've posted, or edited myself. This kind of behavior is nothing new for Dragonfiend, and if you read his page here, you'll see what I mean. Put simply, Wiki doesn't belong to ONE person, nor should ONE person decide what is and isn't appropriate. Unfortunately, Wiki's rules of "mediation" favor the individual who deletes material, and the burden of proving the relevance of material lands on the original poster. People like Dragonfiend pick and choose what THEY think is appropriate to appear in Wiki, all the while hiding behind Wiki's policy of non-hostility when they decide to obliterate someone else's contributions.

I'm not particularly concerned that my username here will become invalid or get banned, so please spare me the (obviously memorized) warning about Wiki's code of conduct, Dragonfiend. Only a sad, misanthropic individual would devote so much time to policing a website that doesn't belong to him or her. Someone needs to contribute a piece on Wiki Fascists, the folks who know what you need to know, before you even think to ask. Anothermic 21:36, 7 June 2007 (UTC)
 * And a sad, misanthropic individual would waste his time whining that his inappropriate edits on an online encyclopedia keep getting deleted. This isn't the place to complain, anyway. Looking through your history of supposed "contributions", it's clear you have an agenda to promote this webcomic, seeing as you've added it to several entries, and basically nothing else. This means, in all likelihood, you're the creator of that web comic, in which case you're just shilling your own stuff. Sorry, but wikipedia is not a place to advertise fan creations of minimal notability. I don't know, nor care, who Dragonfiend is, but I agree with him in removing your edits and would do it myself if you add it again. I've read the comic before, it's mildly funny, but it's not an appropriate addition. You're not adding it to enhance wikipedia entries, you're adding it to promote the strip.. Elijya 16:30, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the unsolicited review of the link, I'll pass on your thoughts. However, I don't believe either you or Dragonfiend are in a position to dismiss the relevance of that link, which was posted in *two* entire pages. For months, I might add, until Dragonfiend took it upon himself to single out what I had posted for removal. What got this started was my posting of a third link, in the webcomics page. I edited that entry three times, trying to create what I thought was an in-context link, but hours after posting it I returned to remove it. Yes, it was an inappropriate link for that particular page, since so few active webcomics were mentioned or linked-to. If Dragonfiend had been a little later, he wouldn't have had to edit anything. If you are not inclined to take the word of a "link-spammer," I will understand. Since my actions are being called into question, I am simply responding with the truth. I'm curious if you or Dragonfiend would like to explain why a webcomic that stars Spider Jerusalem, with ample references to the Transmet book is "inappropriate" for people who are interested in the character? The site in question can live without the half-dozen referrals Wiki sends in a week, so no one is going to cry themself to sleep over this. But I find the actions of Dragonfiend at least as suspect as he (and you, it would seem) find mine. I'm not in a position to press my case, so no one needs to worry that the problem will escalate. Without a cadre of vocal supporters to say that those links were valid, Dragonfiend (and you, perhaps) would continue to follow my infrequent edits, and "correct" them. If that's what Wiki is about for you, I'm genuinely sorry. I use this website every day, and the posts I made were in the way of contributions, not project pimping. Anothermic 22:15, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

net.kook rant
one of the crazy people on the street (in a later issue of transmet, i don't recall which one at the moment) has an excerpt from a rant that's been around on the net for a while, about people being reborn from their asses. http://people.tribe.net/ferrarabrainpan maybe link it as an external reference?

NB: before ferrara brain pan used it, it showed up as a "true statement by delfim sousa" http://web.archive.org/web/20020802023933/http://www.esophagus.com/sousa.html Rmd1023 04:38, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Continuity
2 Continuity statements were removed by me for the following reasons:

The "Revival Mary" camera claim that she received the camera after events is not a continuity error. No mention is made of when she recieved the camera and it is safe to assume it was given to her before the Sacht meeting with Fred Christ. (ConallB Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. 08:59, 12 September 2007 (UTC))

It is true that no date is mentioned for Spider giving Mary the camera, yet an honest reading of the comic points quite well towards a continuity problem. Let's recapitulate : Mary is introduced in #8. Vita Severn is killed at the end of #18. In #22, which is naturally supposed to take place afterwards (if anything, because it is part of a story arc that comes after the "year of the bastard" arc), Spider gives Mary the camera, and the dialogue (p.16), though more allusive than anything else, does not make sense if it is not about Vita's assassination (at least, I can't make any sense out of it without that in mind : what would "little vendetta", "gathering evidence" mean at a point in the story prior #18 ?). Mary does not reappear until #57, where she gives Spider a photo she is supposed to have taken quite some time before Vita was killed. Not mentioning the deus ex machina dimension of that event, which is not relevant here, it quite strongly indicates some kind of continuity break. I think, if it is established as a subject worthy of dealing with in the article (which it might not be), that it would be fair to mention both the ambiguity of the chronology and the number of elements that indicate a an error. Sorry if this was a little too long...129.199.159.148 (talk) 01:12, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Channon Yarrow's nipples changing from bar codes to normal is not a continuity error. Just because the authors don't venture down a completely inane and irrelevant sideline does not make it a continuity error. Put down the comic and get some fresh air if you think it's that important to list in the article. (ConallB Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur. 08:59, 12 September 2007 (UTC))
 * Especially considering radical body surgery is -canon- in this comics (re: the woman who became a dolphin for a while, it made Spider happy. Awww.). Lots42 (talk) 14:40, 25 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Channon only had barcodes for nipples in one of the "versions" of her, I'm not sure if it was the feature film version or the porn movie version. The real her never had barcodes... Jacobshaven3 (talk) 00:01, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, no. In her first regular appereance in the comics, she had the bar codes. Lots42 (talk) 02:04, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Actual volume when that's shown? I can only recall in "The New Scum" the "filthy assistants" throwing a party in Spider's penthouse during the election night, Channon wears a white dress with a triangular cut-out at her breast showing a regular nipple. Sharpfang (talk) 09:45, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Citation dump
Remind me later to add these to the article: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  *  * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *m/?page=article&id=13372 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *ISBN 0312275447 *ISBN 1844110044 *ISBN 1900486261 *ISBN 0595299237 *ISBN 0595289436 *ISBN 1840238089 Skomorokh 16:19, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Politics and Trivia.
I deleted the 'Politics and Trivia' section for multiple reasons. Mainly because it was literally mostly guesswork and random observations. Clever ones, mind you, but all original research. Suitable for a LiveJournal or weblog but not Wikipedia. But the most important reason I deleted it was because it compared real people to murderous insane psychotic people. This, quite simply, cannot be allowed on Wikipedia and is, in fact, not. You can't compare real people to fictional bad guys. Just not allowed. Lots42 (talk) 14:44, 25 June 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Comics B-Class Assesment required
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C-Class rated for Comics Project
As this B-Class article has yet to receive a review, it has been rated as C-Class. If you disagree and would like to request an assesment, please visit WikiProject_Comics/Assessment and list the article. Hiding T 14:39, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

District 9 movie plagiarizing Transmetropolitan?
Is the plot to Peter Jackson's and Neill Blomkamp's movie "District 9" suspiciously reminiscent of the Greys in "Angels 8"? --Eldin raigmore (talk) 21:28, 19 August 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eldin raigmore (talk • contribs) 00:37, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
 * No, it's really not. Not by a long shot.  Nutiketaiel (talk) 11:51, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Transmetropolitan story arc seperate article
I think we need a separate List of Transmetropolitan story arcs article. With this new article, we could clean up the main article by shortening the plot synopsis section and cleaning up collected edition section with currently include the back cover summaries from the trades.--Marcus Brute (talk) 00:06, 11 November 2009 (UTC)
 * That doesn't really seem necessary to me. The article in its current form doesn't seem cluttered, and a list of story arcs would be pretty much all plot by its very nature.  Nutiketaiel (talk) 17:33, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Plot
The plot section is crammed with run-on sentences. Also, I think it's noteable to somehow mention that Spider's weird glasses were because his A.I. 'maker' was screwed up on mechanical-drugs. I'd do all this myself but my computer is running wild. This comment serves double duty as a test message. Lots42 (talk) 10:58, 22 June 2010 (UTC)

Political Classification
I don't know much about Wikipedia, so it's possible I'm misunderstanding the way things are classified here, but I was a little surprised to find the City described as "liberal." It seems to me it's liberal on social policy and conservative on civil liberties and economic policy. Any thoughts? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.73.153.254 (talk) 18:19, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Absolute Edition
It may be worth adding that the first absolute edition is released containing the first 3 TPBs. 87.173.245.49 (talk) 13:44, 14 July 2015 (UTC)

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