Spider Jerusalem is a fictional character and the protagonist of the comic book Transmetropolitan, created by writer Warren Ellis and artist Darick Robertson, introduced under the now-defunct Helix imprint of DC Comics before being moved to the Vertigo imprint.
He is a sarcastic, drug-addicted, foul-mouthed, troubled, bitter, but brilliant gonzo journalist with a deep-seated hatred of authority, political corruption, and dogs. Spider is almost always drawn wearing a set of stereoscopic sunglasses with one lens red and the other green, and he is most often compared to the real-life figure Hunter S. Thompson.
IGN named him 45th of the 'Top 100 Comic Book Heroes'.
Background
Spider is a renegade gonzo journalist forced to return to the City after having exhausted a substantial advance from a publisher without completing the books required by contract. After five years of effective retirement as a long-haired hermit at a compound in the mountains, he returns to the City to complete his books, takes up work for an urban newspaper to support his writing, and finds himself battling political corruption at the highest level.
One of Spider's most apparent character traits is his heavy drug use, which he makes no attempt to conceal. In addition to being a chain smoker and heavy drinker, Spider uses an extensive variety of drugs ranging from mild stimulants, intellect enhancers, and mood-altering drugs to cocaine, heroin and rare, exotic, futuristic drugs. As is common in his society, Spider is resistant or immune to many forms of drug addiction, as well as lung cancer. Spider is well known for his foul language, especially when combining the word "fuck" with other words to make new and amusing insults. Spider is easily angered, his displays of temper ranging from mild verbal outbursts to violent physical assault. However, despite his temper and contempt for the City as a whole, Spider is often seen to treat innocents (particularly children) with kindness and care.
Spider's past is not well known, though characters like Mitchell Royce and Spider himself have referred to past memorable incidents such as the enfant terrible (a French child assassin from the Anglo/Franco war) and the Prague telephone incident (in which Spider caused six politicians to commit suicide using just a phone). There are also hints at his childhood, which seems to have been extremely turbulent—somewhere between a victim of urban blight and a child soldier—and his early ambitions—"I wanted to be a sniper when I grew up. Didn't everyone?"—as well as his parents' growing madness.
He claims to have worked as a prostitute at some point in the past, and as a stripper at 8 years old. He grew up on the City's docks with drunken parents as an only child. His father drove a city bus and his mother was a housewife who cooked lizards for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. He returned to the docks as an adult to see that everyone was gone and the docks were abandoned, before vowing to never forget his childhood there.
Philosophy
Spider is a firm believer in the truth and delivering it to his readers in the most direct and blunt manner possible, often capitalising it as "The Truth" in his writing for emphasis. This is most notable in one story, when Spider's editor recounts the tale of how Spider submitted an article on the election of the Richard Nixon-analogue "The Beast", which consisted of the word "fuck" repeated eight thousand times (from Transmetropolitan #1). His approach to journalism has been encapsulated by Spider as "The truth...no matter what" and his appraisal of others rises if they feel the same way.
The primary focus of conflict within Spider's psyche, over the course of the series, is a combination of concern for his delivery of 'The Truth' and misanthropy towards his public. Spider hates and struggles against authority figures who oppress others, but he is also bitter toward the uninvolved public who give the authority its power. Likewise, he struggles to convince the public to listen to The Truth, but is disgusted by those who blindly accept what he reports. In addition, Spider's talents earn him unwanted fame and adoration, which clouds his ability to "get at The Truth", often resulting in him experiencing writer's block and depression. His editor, Mitchell Royce, opines that Spider needs to be hated in order to function as a writer and journalist.