646 TRANSMETROPOLITAN
as another presidential election campaign grinds on. His rare and genuine aff ection for
Dr. Vita Severn, Political Director for Senator Gary Callahan, leads to a backhanded
endorsement from Spider of Callahan, whom he refers to as the Smiler. Spider later
exposes Callahan’s running mate, though, as having been grown in a “bastard farm”
within the last two years by an extreme fascist wing of Callahan’s party. While Calla-
han’s ratings plummet, the approval rating of Severn remain extremely high, and as she
is about to address the press to answer Spider’s charges, she is assassinated on the orders
of Callahan. Th e sympathy vote for Callahan wins him not only his party’s nomination,
but ultimately the presidency. Over the course of the next few years, Spider, with the
help of his “fi lthy assistants,” fi nally amasses enough evidence to expose Callahan as a
murderer and bring down his presidency.
Transmetropolitan contains many postmodern elements. Commodifi cation, loss of
historical sense, waning of aff ect, and fragmentation are all readily illustrated by the
City. Ellis quickly establishes the City as a postmodern consumer heaven/hell where
anything and everything is for sale. Denizens of the city can buy virtually anything,
including Ebola Cola, bowel disruptors, dolphin steaks, trained attack cancers that
grow on faces, packets of fresh baby seal eyes, powdered children, both temporary and
permanent body modifi cation, and air Jesus sports shoes that enable the wearer to walk
on water, to name only a small sample. Everything is a commodity, and everything is
for sale. Spider also notes that City dwellers seem to live more in the present “because
it’s diffi cult to refer back to the past.” Th is loss of historicity is another symptom of the
postmodern condition. Humanity has also become a relative term, with some deciding
to become half alien, others becoming cyborgs, and some even becoming “foglets,” which
are billions of tiny machines that fl oat in the air. Yet Ellis keeps them all recognizably
human in their behavior. Oddly enough, though, even with all this technological prog-
ress, the City is still saturated with religion, although in a highly fragmented way: it has
“one new religion invested every hour” (Transmetropolitan #6).
Ellis utilizes Transmetropolitan as a vehicle to satirize media, politics, religion, mar-
keting, and consumer capitalism, among many other subjects. Th e dark humor injected
into the series, however, only serves to balance the stories of very real suff ering that hap-
pen every day in the City. Spider may be a loathsome person, but he does believe in the
truth, and it is this unwavering belief that drives him to confront President Callahan.
Will Allred
