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Underground > Comic Books >

Confused by the final Transmet issues

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17:00 / 17.08.03

Recently, out of impatience waiting for the graphic novels to be released, I ordered the final 12 issues of Transmet. However, there seems to be a huge inconsistency in one of the final issues.

Mary, the revival lady Spider helped, sends him pictures of The Smiler's advisor, Alan Schact, talking to the assasin who killed Vita Severin. She took these pictures using the camera Spider gave her in the New Scum storyline.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Vita was killed by the assassin before Mary got the camera. So how on earth could Mary of taken those pictures? Furthermore, how did Spider and friends even know that was the assassin? The killer used a disassembler suicide pack immedietly after killing Vita, so no one could identify him. So how did Spider know that was the guy? What the fuck?

My only conclusion is that either Ellis forgot what he wrote previously (which I doubt) or he wrote himself into a corner and put that in there hoping the reader wouldn't remember (which is silly as he expects readers to remember Spider being exposed to I-Pollen all the way back in the first 10 issues: I remembered that, but my memory is quite good). I was a little surprised by this, as Ellis seems to be a good writer. Then again, it seemed like the last 12 issues were really lacking compared to the previous 48. I'm glad I read this one mostly in trade format: It must have been unbearable collecting it monthly as some issues not much happens at all.

Still, I did like the very last issue. Spider being in the lucky 1% and all.

I also can't fathom why the Smiler would let Spider do all this stuff without barely even lifting a finger (except for one lazy assassination attempt that even Spider observed was "crap".

00:23 / 19.08.03

I mentioned the whole camera inconsistency at least once on the delphi forum that Ellis used to have and was completely ignored. Maybe someone should ask him in person at some point, because I think he'll dodge the question otherwise.

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03:51 / 20.08.03

H'mm... That's interesting.

04:12 / 20.08.03

Transmet really struck me as kind of sloppy overall, especially towards the end.

the first time Ellis really struck out with me as far as inconsistency goes wasn't so much with a glaring plot inconsistency as it was an inconsistency in tone with the whole his-running-mate's-a-clone thing.

the world of Transmet up until that point had been aggressively weird. Long Pig, the Transients, the foglets, Taste My Urine Day, etc etc etc.

then comes Spider's shocking revelation that the VP-to-be is a clone.

it took me a second to realize that i was supposed to be surprised and horrified, and another second to realize that that didn't make any fucking sense at all, given all the other weird shit that goes on in the City in every fucking issue. the fact that this revelation becomes a major plot point just struck me as bizarre, and, frankly, bad.

the series as a whole started going downhill fast when the focus shifted from Spider reporting on his wacky world to Spider vs the Smiler.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

16:34 / 20.08.03

Indeed. I was surprised that, as they seemed to able to replicate human bodies (including children) as foodstuffs, that paedophilia was still a taboo. Surely there was some way around that as there was for everything else? And what about that member of the gang in the third year that looked like a slightly younger version of The Smiler, was that just Darrick? Spider saying the assassination attempt on him at the start of the fourth year being deliberately awful, seemed more like Ellis justifying how they could survive.

I tend to feel that Transmet works fine up to the end of the third year. The issues in the fourth year aren't bad per se, but as the first three issues take pace over the time span of about a day, and most of the second half of the year over the span of about a couple of days as Ellis decides to play with his new manga inspired storytelling techniques it kills the momentum dead and requires several deus ex machinas in the last year to get things back on track.

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17:03 / 20.08.03

I think it was less the fact that the VP was a clone then it was he was brought off that facist Heller guy or something.

18:26 / 20.08.03

I think it was less the fact that the VP was a clone then it was he was brought off that facist Heller guy or something.

Spider seemed to give equal weight to the Heller connection and the "he's a three-year-old clone!" angle. i bought the significance of one but not the other.

while we're at it, i found it hard to swallow that a society that needs to debate "religion-capping" still functions under a two-party system, and that all the state and national boundaries of the US look the same in a world where grey aliens have an independent city-state.
it really seemed sometimes that Ellis wanted to play with all these cool high-tech sci-fi ideas, but he only wanted to deal with their ramifications when he chose to do so. it's almost as if he's got two comics going at the same time: a really good gonzo futurist sci-fi book and a really very conventional and dull political satire. it seems like he more or less subordinates the former to the needs of the latter when it suits him, which really makes the whole thing suffer.

also, the timeline has always seemed a little foggy. sometimes it seems like this is all happening in, say, the late 21st century or so, and then some random thing will come up like the Gladiator Wall in one of those art collection books which says we're talking about multiple centuries here. i know it's left a little vague on purpose, but still it seems weird...

04:12 / 21.08.03

Plus, you know, the fact that you can track almost every cool idea to another, earlier writer. On the pro side, Ellis is a fantastic synthesiser.