‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas #1′ Comic Review

written by Hunter S. Thompson; adapted and illustrated by Troy Little


Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a super-duper faithful comic book adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel. For the uninitiated, Fear and Loathing follows the adventures of Hunter S. Thompson (aka Raoul Duke) and his attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta (aka Dr. Gonzo) as they use cars, drugs, and violence to find the American Dream in southern California and Nevada.

Troy Little (Super Secret Crisis War: The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Powerpuff Girls Vol. 1) does an amazing job adapting Thompson’s novel. Through page layout, camera angles, and clever cartooning, he takes the source material and makes it his own. He avoids any Ralph Steadman influence (within reason, Steadman was as much a part of gonzo journalism as Thompson) and was able to capture Thompson and Acosta in all of their brutality, menace, and savagery as they make their way through the Nevada desert.

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The best part of this book is easily the lettering—the words are just as much a character as Thompson and Acosta, which is a testament to Little’s cartooning skills—he’s as clever a letterer as he is a cartoonist. The hallucinations and manic freak-outs are a delight in themselves, but the subtle (and not so subtle) changes in lettering effectively communicate the mentality (and sobriety) of the characters. Little’s use of Courier as the narration font is particularly great.

One of Thompson’s greatest literary gifts was the way he used language—he used it like a surgeon uses a scalpel; swiftly, effectively, and without mercy—and this is perfectly illustrated by Little.

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And yet, that is exactly where the book fails.

These are all words that we’ve read/seen/heard before, in one version or another.

This adaptation, as great as it is, doesn’t add anything new. The Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas story has been told in Rolling Stone, the original novel, Terry Gilliam’s movie and now as this comic book. The comic book version is really great but it’s still the fourth version of this same story (fifth, if you include the audio book).

Considering Little’s cartooning skills, and his clear love for the source material and the creator, this version feels like a missed opportunity. Hunter S. Thompson’s bibliography runs so much deeper than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A more timely interpretation of some of his other work would have had a bigger and more meaningful payoff.

Fear_small1Hunter S. Thompson had such a strong individual voice, but in this adaptation it feels wasted on a story that we’ve already heard several times over.

I want to see Little’s version of other parts of Thompson’s life—like when he ran for (and nearly won) Sheriff of Aspen, or when he got his ass kicked by the Hell’s Angels, or when he panicked and could only talk football with Nixon in ’72.

While we aren’t going to be getting anything new from Thompson (if you don’t count Garry Trudeau’s depiction of Duke), but it would be nice to see a new interpretation of his work that we haven’t already seen—especially from this creator.

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