Imagine Alan Moore voluntarily hiding as a hermit in his own private commune, not washing his ass and letting his hair grow into a stream of weeds baby birds nest in twice a year. That's who we have here - Spider Frigging Jerusalem!

Spider's a mess, a journalist hiding out in the country living off the land, so to speak. He's under contract to produce two books and he's a bit tardy since they put up the advance, so now he has to clean up, shit, shower, shave and go back into the city to fulfill his contractual obligations. Back on the Street follows Jerusalem picking up where he last left off years ago, calling up old contacts like Mitchell, who edits the city's largest newspaper, and helps him get acclimated back. The first story he's putting together is about the Transients using genetic modification based on alien DNA to become a separate but equal new species while living in Angels 8 slum village. Jerusalem finds out the truth and snitches on the police paying members to incite riots and provoke police so the city can be nasty to the Transients. His publisher prints it, and when it leaks public outcry force the police to stand down, but not before they kick Jerusalem's ass proper like as a welcome back party.

In this edition we get to meet Channon Yarrow and his new assistant Yelena Rossini, who is part of the filthy assistant dynamic duo. (remember, she's his filthy assistant), a police dog that wants to chomp Spider at the bit, Spider's evolving dope addiction, and the introduction of "I Hate It Here" the Dear Abbey Spider Jerusalem column in which he helps idiots pining over insignificant things or going for the throat of corporations after he has coffee. After he has coffee he finds out he might have a little scraggle kid, somebody ganks his wife's head off ice, and a couple of people that aren't too keen on his column try to plant lead in between his teeth, and all by lunch! But don't worry, Spider's irritation is brewing and growing over Gary Callahan's corrupt presidency, which spirals out in later issues when Callahan uses all of his power to stick it to Jerusalem, as he revs up the ever growing beef between them. This story is a cup of bitterness with a bitch slap of save me Jesus on the tongue as Spider goes as a one man journalist band to shut Callahan down. Keep in mind Callahan's dirty, corrupt, and so far hasn't been stopped.

This is the great era of Transmetropolitan, before Vertigo bought the parent company and ruined a great series. ( )