Transmetropolitan, Vol. 4: The New Scum
It's no wonder he hates it here. Spider Jerusalem, journalist and hero  of sorts in Warren Ellis'Transmetropolitan, wades through a sewer of  poverty and high-tech despair daily in his efforts to understand and report on  America. InThe New Scum, Ellis contrasts the powerful, in the form of  presidential candidates, with the powerless, who are begging and hustling on the  streets. The satire is savage and rarely subtle, but the author takes care to  show some human warmth lest the comic descend into the nihilism it warns  against. The plot, largely secondary to the characters and background events,  focuses loosely on Jerusalem's assignment to interview the two candidates, each  psychotic and unfit for any office. His bodyguard and personal assistant,  meanwhile, discover the terrors of pleasure in a post-nanotech world with  unlimited credit. The election-eve climax fully captures the anxiety and  depression that come from having no real choice in matters of great importance.  Either Ellis or his creation deserves a Pulitzer.--Rob Lightner--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.