Tacos and Comics Day - Spider Jerusalem

Before we jump feet-first into Tacos and Comics Day, I wanted to relate this little thing that happened when I was spending some time meditating on revising my Rule of Life.

So, there I was, with my Bible open, dutifully reading along in a quiet corner of my room and praying for the Holy Spirit, and there was a song stuck in my head. And I was cheesed off. Even though I love the band that sings the song, confound it, I was trying to be holy! Then I bothered to listen to the words running over and over through my head:

Excess ain't rebellion,
You're drinkin' what they're selling.
Your self-destruction doesn't hurt them.
Your chaos won't convert them.

So, of course, I put that section of lyric as the header of one of the sections of my Rule. The song, by the way, is Cake's Rock and Roll Lifestyle.


So, on to the series Transmetropolitan, and its main character, Spider Jerusalem. Transmet is, alas, no longer a floppy, but you can get the collected issues in trade paperback form at most major bookstores (I can check them out at my public library, because I'm cool like that). Transmet is not for the faint at heart. How can I put this delicately? Oh, yeah, Spider's superpower is pottymouth and his main weapon is a bowel disruptor, which, when you're hit with its beam, makes you immediately poop your pants.

He's a jerk. He's not the kind of guy you want to bring home (unless you really, really hate your family). He does the bare minimum amount of work that he can get away with, beats up friends and enemies alike, and then gleefully trumpets his (and others') violence across all the news channels.

So, why do I like Spider Jerusalem? Because for all that he's a big ol' jerk, he is trying to make the world a better place. He actually cares about people, in a world where when you get sick of being a person, you can easily change your species. He challenges the ruling powers, and they fight back. He goes from riches to poverty to riches as regularly as a clock, and he still keeps writing the truth, as he sees it. You might even say he's a prophet for his age.

Sometimes, sometimes his words have great and profound effect, like stopping riots with his words. And other times, he just makes a little girl smile.

I like Spider Jerusalem because, when I think that this world can't get worse, and that I can't do anything to help, I can look into his world and see that, even when it does get worse, there's still ways to help.

And sometimes, it's just fun to watch him use the Chair Leg of Truth (it does not lie!)

If you want to read one of the Transmet issues, and I want to warn you, it's got all the usual goodies of nudity, cannibalisim, bad words, and dirty streets, go here. Dialup beware.