Matt Lazorwitz
Apr 25, 2005, 06:00 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/headshots/dc/spiderjerusalem.jpg" align="left">Real name: Spider Jerusalem
First Appearance: Transmetropolitan #1
Known Allies: Channon Yarrow, Yelena Rossini, Mitchell Royce, Vita Severn (deceased)
Major Enemies: The Smiler, The Beast, Fred Christ
Eyes: Brown
Hair: None, formerly brown
Spider Jerusalem was the best reporter the world had seen in years. He reported the truth, and pulled no punches. He lived hard, drank hard, and did more than his share of drugs. But when the fame got to be too much, Spider retreated to a mountain retreat, where he would live away from all human contact. But he had outstanding contracts for books he had not written, so Spider returned to The City to write the articles he needed to finish his contracts and once again retire.
Upon his return, Spider went to his old editor, Mitchell Royce, who offered him a column with his paper, The Word. But Spider was not finding anything worth writing about. Until he found out an old acquaintance of his, Fred Christ, had set himself up as the leader of the Transient movement, a group of people who mingled their DNA with extraterrestrial DNA. With the police ready to storm the Transients homes, Spider watched and wrote, becoming famous once again.
Spider was assigned a new assistant, Channon Yarrow, and she began to follow Spider around on his research journeys. Spider did his best to rile people, writing about everything from religion to the fate of people displaced from their century. But Spider had made his share of powerful enemies, and the police attempted to exact revenge on him for his attack on them in his column. Spider made it out of it, but Channon left him.
With the beginning of the presidential election season, Spider Jerusalem began to work on columns about the candidates. Years ago, Spider made his name writing columns about the last election, the one that put the candidate he dubbed The Beast in power. Spider found the Beast running for reelection against Gary Callahan, a candidate so sickeningly smarmy Spider dubs him the Smiler. But along the way, he met two women who would prove immensely important to him: Yelena Rossini, his new assistant, and Vita Severn, the Smiler’s campaign manager, who was a genuinely decent person who cares for Spider. Spider’s research proved that the Smiler had been manipulating the genes of his running mate, and nearly brought him down, but the assassination of Vita Severn gave him the sympathy he needed to continue on.
Spider’s continued investigation of the candidates proved that maybe the Beast was the lesser of two evils. While the Beast was simply arrogant and uncaring, the Smiler admitted to Spider (having disabled all his recording equipment), that he was responsible for Vita’s death simply to gain public sympathy, and he wanted to be president for no other reason than to hurt people. Channon returned, and with his two “filthy assistants” Spider watched as the Smiler was elected president.
With the election of the Smiler, Spider decided that he needed to do everything in his power to bring down his administration. Their investigation of the murder of Vita Severn kept running up against dead ends, with witnesses and sources disappearing or dying at every turn. But Spider thought he had the magic bullet when he discovered a pimp who had provided Transient prostitutes to the Smiler. He published his article, but the Smiler had the last laugh as Spider was forced from The Word, his journalistic insurance cancelled, and had to go underground.
Things began to fall apart quickly for Spider. While he found an illegal newssite to publish his articles, he made a horrible discovery: his use of a drug that allowed his mind to work as a recording device had left him with a degenerative brain disorder that would slowly strip away his motor functions and his memories and leave him a vegetable. With the loss of his mind looming, Spider knew he needed to step up his war against the Smiler.
Spider continued his investigations, and witnessed a huge flood that devastated one of The City’s low income districts. With it as a disaster area, the Smiler declared it a disaster area, and placed it under martial law. Spider’s research proved that the Smiler had manipulated all these events to control a district that had largely voted against him to punish them, and even got an interview with the first lady, who denounced her husband, but with her mysterious death (again crafted by the Smiler to receive sympathy), the president remained in power.
Spider, now an outlaw wanted by the police for his illegal columns, began a last ditch effort to destroy the Smiler. Spider finally assembled the evidence he needed to prove that the Smiler was responsible for all the evil that he had done over the course of his time in office, and revealed it all to the public. With one final confrontation with the Smiler, Spider recorded the Smiler’s mad confession, only to collapse from his disease. Spider moved to a small area outside the city to live out his life, with Yelena having risen to fill the gap left by Spider. But in the end, Spider beat the odds, having not lost all his mind to the disease, and he may someday rise to write again.
Spider Jerusalem was of average strength and speed, but had a keen intellect, and all the skills that made for an excellent journalist. He was a good shot, and his chosen weapon was a bowel disruptor. The disease that he had did lessen his physical abilities, making him lose much of his motor coordination.
APPEARANCES:
Transmetropolitan #1-60
Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City
Transmetropolitan: I Hate it Here
Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #2-3
First Appearance: Transmetropolitan #1
Known Allies: Channon Yarrow, Yelena Rossini, Mitchell Royce, Vita Severn (deceased)
Major Enemies: The Smiler, The Beast, Fred Christ
Eyes: Brown
Hair: None, formerly brown
Spider Jerusalem was the best reporter the world had seen in years. He reported the truth, and pulled no punches. He lived hard, drank hard, and did more than his share of drugs. But when the fame got to be too much, Spider retreated to a mountain retreat, where he would live away from all human contact. But he had outstanding contracts for books he had not written, so Spider returned to The City to write the articles he needed to finish his contracts and once again retire.
Upon his return, Spider went to his old editor, Mitchell Royce, who offered him a column with his paper, The Word. But Spider was not finding anything worth writing about. Until he found out an old acquaintance of his, Fred Christ, had set himself up as the leader of the Transient movement, a group of people who mingled their DNA with extraterrestrial DNA. With the police ready to storm the Transients homes, Spider watched and wrote, becoming famous once again.
Spider was assigned a new assistant, Channon Yarrow, and she began to follow Spider around on his research journeys. Spider did his best to rile people, writing about everything from religion to the fate of people displaced from their century. But Spider had made his share of powerful enemies, and the police attempted to exact revenge on him for his attack on them in his column. Spider made it out of it, but Channon left him.
With the beginning of the presidential election season, Spider Jerusalem began to work on columns about the candidates. Years ago, Spider made his name writing columns about the last election, the one that put the candidate he dubbed The Beast in power. Spider found the Beast running for reelection against Gary Callahan, a candidate so sickeningly smarmy Spider dubs him the Smiler. But along the way, he met two women who would prove immensely important to him: Yelena Rossini, his new assistant, and Vita Severn, the Smiler’s campaign manager, who was a genuinely decent person who cares for Spider. Spider’s research proved that the Smiler had been manipulating the genes of his running mate, and nearly brought him down, but the assassination of Vita Severn gave him the sympathy he needed to continue on.
Spider’s continued investigation of the candidates proved that maybe the Beast was the lesser of two evils. While the Beast was simply arrogant and uncaring, the Smiler admitted to Spider (having disabled all his recording equipment), that he was responsible for Vita’s death simply to gain public sympathy, and he wanted to be president for no other reason than to hurt people. Channon returned, and with his two “filthy assistants” Spider watched as the Smiler was elected president.
With the election of the Smiler, Spider decided that he needed to do everything in his power to bring down his administration. Their investigation of the murder of Vita Severn kept running up against dead ends, with witnesses and sources disappearing or dying at every turn. But Spider thought he had the magic bullet when he discovered a pimp who had provided Transient prostitutes to the Smiler. He published his article, but the Smiler had the last laugh as Spider was forced from The Word, his journalistic insurance cancelled, and had to go underground.
Things began to fall apart quickly for Spider. While he found an illegal newssite to publish his articles, he made a horrible discovery: his use of a drug that allowed his mind to work as a recording device had left him with a degenerative brain disorder that would slowly strip away his motor functions and his memories and leave him a vegetable. With the loss of his mind looming, Spider knew he needed to step up his war against the Smiler.
Spider continued his investigations, and witnessed a huge flood that devastated one of The City’s low income districts. With it as a disaster area, the Smiler declared it a disaster area, and placed it under martial law. Spider’s research proved that the Smiler had manipulated all these events to control a district that had largely voted against him to punish them, and even got an interview with the first lady, who denounced her husband, but with her mysterious death (again crafted by the Smiler to receive sympathy), the president remained in power.
Spider, now an outlaw wanted by the police for his illegal columns, began a last ditch effort to destroy the Smiler. Spider finally assembled the evidence he needed to prove that the Smiler was responsible for all the evil that he had done over the course of his time in office, and revealed it all to the public. With one final confrontation with the Smiler, Spider recorded the Smiler’s mad confession, only to collapse from his disease. Spider moved to a small area outside the city to live out his life, with Yelena having risen to fill the gap left by Spider. But in the end, Spider beat the odds, having not lost all his mind to the disease, and he may someday rise to write again.
Spider Jerusalem was of average strength and speed, but had a keen intellect, and all the skills that made for an excellent journalist. He was a good shot, and his chosen weapon was a bowel disruptor. The disease that he had did lessen his physical abilities, making him lose much of his motor coordination.
APPEARANCES:
Transmetropolitan #1-60
Transmetropolitan: Filth of the City
Transmetropolitan: I Hate it Here
Vertigo: Winter’s Edge #2-3