Hunter S. Thompson, the basis of Uncle Duke in “Doonesbury,” died a decade ago, but his literary tour-de-farce “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” is making a comeback.

Illustration from "Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."
Illustration from “Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Image via Troy Little/Top Shelf Productions
With social media bemoaning the author’s absence, a graphic novel is out that capitalizes on the gonzo journalist’s franchise.

Canadian cartoonist Troy Little, who adapted the 1971 book, writes:

“Thompson was already past his prime when I first encountered Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas more than 20 years ago, but I was lit up by it. No one better captures a sense of desperation in the face of inescapable odds, no one better nails that sense of rage against the pigs and squares and government assholes, or the sheer loathing for the hellscape of consumerism and broken dreams epitomized by Las Vegas in the late ’60s.

“Considering the mess we currently find ourselves in, Thompson’s message is more urgent than ever. His typewriter was on fire. Our world is lessened by his passing. Little’s homage is a signal to anyone who reads it, a flare that says: get with it, man! Buy the ticket; take the ride.”

A Las Vegas Review-Journal reviewer noted:

“Written in what Thompson described as a ‘gonzo’ style of journalism, it records in a surrealistic manner a trip taken to Las Vegas by Thompson and his attorney and Thompson’s experiences covering an off-road race and crashing a law enforcement convention here.

Thompson isn’t forgotten on social media:

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