started transmetropolitan last night and it is both engaging and quite funny (i have the first graphic novel in the series). but im not sure if i should continue. maybe i should jump into sandman? im dealing with some odd existential and familial issues right now so sandman seems more appropriate but the first transmetropolitan issues were a nice pick me up.

Depends... Transmetropolitan will be more of the same, whereas Sandman starts out rather straightforwardly in the first story arc, but will then proceed into more existential and philosophical Odysseys. After the first few volumes, there will be a whole load of stand-alone issues. If you want to think with your reading, go for Sandman.
If you want British sarcasm, comedy and violence along with a leetle bit of thinking, keep on reading Transmetropolitan.

I vouch for Sandman series.
I liked it's characters John Constantine, Mister Miracle, Lucifer, Etrigan the Demon, and the original Sandman.
It's spin-off series are good too.

I'd pick Sandman, but I have not actually read Trasmetropolitan :P

Sandamn is superb- imaginative layered and complex in ways that only become aparrent upon reading the whole thing. And it leads to equally fantastic, though very different Lucifer. The only downside is that the early chapters of Sandman are somewhat weaker than the later ones, and the art in those early ones is especially poor, but to really understand the whole series you need to read the whole thing.

Transmetropolitan- like I said, I haven ot read it. Ellis wrote some great comics (Planetary) and some pretty terrible ones (The Authority), and Transmetropolitan just never appealed to me.

I think maybe you should pick up Sandman: The Dream Hunters, which is a standalone story from the Sandman universe, and see how you like the style. There are two version of it- a prose story written by Gaiman and illustrated beautifully by Yoshitaka Amano (I'm not usually one for japanese art, but I have to say his is pretty great), or a comic book version illustrated by P. Craig Russel- both are excellent, but I guess the Russel illustrated comic book will give you a better idea about the Sandman series.

You should buy Transmetropolitan for you and Sandman for me. u.u

Hmm, tough call. I think of reading sandman like trying to bite down on a brick. Tasty, wonderful, hard as a brick brick. Transmetropolitan, on the other hand, feels like doing a bottomsup on a curious mixture of alcoholic beverages. It tastes weird, but packs a punch. Also, you get a nice little umbrella in the glass, and the waitress shows a bit of her boobs. I like this bar, I will return.

Couldn't decide so I ordered the first 5 trade paperbacks of each. Plus Superman Secret Identity. :-D Yay!

Well done. Both are great series.