This is one of those reviews that probably doesn't need to be written, from a "convincing you to buy it" standpoint. It's the last issue of a five year series, and at this point you either know it's for you or you know that it's not or maybe you're just waiting for all the trades to be in print before you dive in. (Which, given the speed of DC's collections, will be somewhere between 2004 and never.) However, it seems worth commenting on a series that has been a favorite for so long, and which ends in a satisfying, if surprisingly low-key, manner.
For most of this series, we've watched Spider Jerusalem in manic phase, battling a corrupt President. Before that, he was battling a variety of social ills caused by the slow social disintegration of Warren Ellis's fictionalized future society. So it's interesting that, in the final issue, we have come to a state where Spider Jerusalem's battles are over. There are still fights to be fought, but the sense is that he doesn't have to fight them. He's made a difference. And there are some pretty clear parallels there to the battles that Warren Ellis has fought to change the industry, although Ellis isn't able to rest as fully as Spider just yet.
Though Spider was the main character, though, some of his supporting cast deserved a send-off as well, and they get one. Yelena fulfills what has seemed to be her destiny from early on, although in a more original mode than expected, as perfectly summed up by Channon's "Actually, I'm pretty sure she's the old Yelena, but I get the point." Channon, for her part, seems to have hit a state of semi-retirement as well, and given the hell she's been through, it's nice to see that as well. Just as it's reassuring to see that Royce and Yelena are still in the fight.
There's a softness and friendliness to the artwork that indicates the general shift from war to post-war. While the smiles in the book have generally reflected a sort of devilish glee in the misfortunes of others, brought about by exquisite planning, the smiles in this issue are those of old friends gathering together. There's a sense of calm in the book, even with Yelena's frantic charge for Royce, or Royce's stunned reaction to the garden. Robertson, Ramos and Eyring have always given this book a lot of its mood and atmosphere, and seeing them shift from the amazing but dirty streets of the City to the more idyllic setting of the Mountain is a pretty solid indicator that things have changed for the better through the course of the book.
Transmetropolitan has, in its time, been accused of being angry, and cynical, and even mean-spirited. However, in the end, Ellis reiterates what many of us have always known, that Transmetropolitan is about hope, and about the power of words and the power that directed anger can have to change the world for the better. The ending gives readers everything they could have wanted: a nice satisfying conclusion, a warm fuzzy feeling to go out on and plenty of laughs.
