Review – Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas #2 (IDW Publishing)

Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer/Artist: Troy Little
Release Date: 29th June, 2016

There are many great works of literature that take the reader into the heart of the ‘American Dream’. Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby; but Hunter S Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of the best.

The story behind Fear and Loathing is actually pretty simple; set in 70’s America journalist Raoul Duke and his lawyer Dr Gonzo are sent to cover the Mint 400 desert race in Las Vegas but this simple task is continually obstructed by the duo’s continued abuse of drugs and alcohol leading them in to what can best be described as a kaleidoscope of surreal adventures that frequently blur between fantasy and the reality of a country tearing itself apart.

Troy Little’s adaptation of Hunter S Thompson’s semi autobiographical piece is exemplary it captures the turmoil that oozes through the book of a man lost in a country on the road to self destruction. He captures the essence of the book perfectly switching from Duke’s internal narrative driving the story to the abstract reactions to the drug fuelled binges that he and Gonzo self impose on themselves.

Little also adapted the artwork and it serves the story perfectly remaining close to the original illustrations by Ralph Steadman, yet far enough away to be original. It captures the anarchic world of Duke and Gonzo and the roller-coaster ride they are on, with the panels in the book tumbling and falling from page to page, crammed with so much content its almost claustrophobic.

This is a great adaptation of a classic that should be an essential in anyone’s collection. A must read!

Rating: 5/5.

PREVIEW ARTWORK
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