Transmetropolitan

Author: Warren Ellis

Helix was a science fiction imprint of DC comics which barely lasted eighteen months. It produced two incredible titles, one of which was picked up by Vertigo and continued for five more years. Transmetropolitan, written by the amazing Warren Ellis and designed by the equally, yet differently, amazing Darick Robertson, it brings us the story of Spider Jerusalem, a gonzo journalist who is on a mission to keep Earth from falling into a dystopian hell. Well, into a more dystopian hell. The funny thing is, while it's a cyber-punk, transhumanist comic, it has so many ties to the present that it feels current even fifteen years after its finale. Jerusalem, and his Filthy Assistants, are trying to save the world from The Smiler, President Gary Callahan. He's got ties to right-wing hate groups, and even had his campaign manager murdered. The political intrigue, combined with the power of Ennis' characterizations of Spider, Filthy Assistants Channon and Yelena, and especially the nanobot cloud Tico Cortez, all make Transmetropolitan into an absolute paranoid and all too prescient joy! Why it's on the list: One of the finest examples of comic book cyberpunk, Ellis and Robertson created an incredible universe and peoples it with the finest characters!