Everything i remember of this series (apart from the Smiler stuff) seems to be from this volume. It has so much to say, the issues about the culture reserves, downloading, religion, tv, cryo-stasis, all really interesting but the episodic nature was only leaving it on a 4.5.
Until the last story... (despite disliking the way that last issue was edited), learning just how much of an ass Spider can be was enough to push it to 5. ( )

Hilarious and thought provoking at the same time. Unique. ( )

Something approaching a coherent story here, at last. Probably still not going to get deeper I to this series, though. ( )

Apparently I'm re-reading this series. Hadn't planned it, it's just happening.

A lot of people first noticed Warren Ellis's writing with this series, and with good reason. It is all-out, thought-driven sci-fi with a nasty edge and a sometimes unlikeable main character. But for all of that, it still has a lot of heart.

Ellis's vision of the future can be fairly dim, but I hesitate to call this dystopia like some reviewers. It's a future where nanotechnology has made anything possible and humans have chosen to do a lot of questionable things with it. Our guide through this future is Spider Jerusalem, a columnist for a popular news site (and maybe an homage to gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson). He has seen and done it all and yet he is still capable of being knocked flat by the lows and highs of human nature.

Ellis's writing is paired with the art of Darick Robertson, the artist for all 60 issues of the book. Having the same team work on every issue of a run is no small feat in comics and it speaks to the commitment of both creators to the title. Robertson's art is fluid enough to capture the craziness of a future where roving gangs of security werewolves don't make anyone blink, but can also capture the subtlety of any facial expression you care to mention.

And, to top it all off, the book is funny. Hilarious. Funnier than most any other comics I've read ever. Seriously. Oh, and it has a lot of swears.

This series shows that, nearly all evidence to the contrary, sci-fi can work well in comics. ( )

Just not my thing. A friend gave me the first two volumes, the first one was ok, this was just more of same. I couldn't wait to be done with it. The artwork is well done, and I tend to have a rather bleak vision of the future, but this is a bit much. ( )