Transmetropolitan Vol 5: Lonely City - with Jay McKiernan
Case and Keith are joined by Jay McKiernan from Long Live the Legion for Volume 5 of The Word From Tomorrow as they dive into Transmetropolitan Vol. 5: Lonely City. As Spider Jerusalem’s war with the Smiler escalates, the cost of standing against power becomes more personal, and the cracks in both the system and Spider himself begin to show.
With pressure mounting from every direction, old wounds reopening, and The City feeling more hostile than ever, Lonely City pushes the series into darker territory. The fight for the truth has never looked this ugly—or this necessary.
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Edited by Seth Decker
Scored by Bret Eagleston
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Time Codes
00:00 Intro
00:09 Welcome + Guest Jay McKiernan
00:50 Jay’s History with Transmetropolitan
03:15 Warren Ellis, Planetary, and Comparisons to Other Works
05:42 Keith’s Ongoing Experience Reading the Series
08:34 Keith on Why the Book Is Clicking Now
10:13 Patrick Stewart’s Introduction to Volume 5
11:51 Entering The Lonely City
13:10 Comics About Journalism and Structural Challenges
16:05 The Smiler’s America and Political Tone Shift
20:30 Wizard Magazine, Comics Journalism, and the 90s Context
28:20 Helix to Vertigo and the “Getting to the Meat” Shift
34:10 Spider, Channon, and Yelena as a Found Family
42:00 The Lonely City’s Central Hate Crime Story
52:15 Police Corruption and Institutional Violence
01:05:00 Why This Arc Changes the Rules of the Series
01:18:00 Spider’s Vulnerability and Emotional Stakes
01:31:00 The Smiler vs. The Beast — Different Kinds of Evil
01:43:00 Why This Feels Like the Real Story Beginning
01:53:22 “All Is Lost” — The Emotional Bottom
01:54:30 Final Thoughts on The Lonely City
02:03:47 Outro + Plugs
02:04:53 Next Time: Volume 6 – Gouge Away