From Kolchak: “Fear and Loathing In the Blogosphere"

Hunter S. Thompson may be dead, but Dr. Hunter S. Thompson lives on.

No, the latter Thompson isn’t a family member--at least, not in any traditional sense. Author Thompson liked to call himself Dr. Thompson when he played an active role in his books, which happened regularly.

Dr. Thompson, though, is more than a title. He’s a fully realized character, a skillful blend of truth and creative embellishment, and an equally skillful blend of crusader and stoner. In Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas the good doctor begins journey to “find the American Dream” equipped with the following:

“We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine and whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers...also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budwiser, a pint of ether and two dozen amyls...

Dr. Thompson doesn’t experiment with drugs; he knows exactly what he’s
doing.

It’s hard to separate truth from embellishment when it comes to the doctor, and, frankly, I’m not going to try here. One thing that can be said about Thompson’s alter ego, though, is that he’s become an icon of sorts, appearing in modified--but still identifiable--form in other people’s stories.

The best known surrogate is probably Zonker’s Uncle Duke, in the comic strip Doonesbury. Duke was introduced in July, 1974, and still plays a role in the strip, currently serving as the mayor of the Iraqi town of Al Amok. His name probably comes from “Raoul Duke,” an alias that Thompson used occasionally.

Duke’s adventures tend to keep him separate from the rest of Doonesbury’s cast. Usually, he’s accompanied by his aide, Honey Huan--whom he acquired while serving as ambassador to China--and his illegitimate son, Earl. (All together now: Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke and Earl, Duke, Duke...)

In 2000, however, Zonker and Boopsie joined Duke as he campaigned for the
presidency. (As Honey pointed out: “Every other cartoon character is running.”) He started with the slogan “I want to be the ferret in the pants of government,” but he quickly got distracted looking for newer and better ways to attract corporate contributors.

There may have been bad blood between Thompson and Doonesbury Creator Garry Trudeau. According to an interview published posthumously, Thompson says that he hated Duke and tried to take legal action against Trudeau. Still, Trudeau did acknowledge his artistic debt to Thompson in a series of strips that ran March 7-12.

In these strips, Duke senses a “nasty karmic shift,” which leads to a vision of he and Honey, drawn in the style of Ralph Steadman, the regular illustrator of Thompson’s books. Duke reads Thompson’s obituary on line and his head explodes. Repeatedly. Honey comments: “I’ve stumbled into some sort of tribute, haven’t I?” And, eventually, Duke admits: “Doc was my inspiration. In a way, I owe hieverything.”

As of late May, the FAQ page on the Doonesbury website contains links to selected Duke strips.

The spirit of Dr. Thompson is also visible in Spider Jerusalem, the main
character in Transmetropolitan, a
comic book created by Writer Warren Ellis and Artist Darick Robertson.

Jerusalem is a famous writer and journalist in a future era (The exact date is
never given.) Before the story opens, he flees the chaos of The City, hoping to discover a more peaceful life. What he discovers is that he can’t write away from an urban environment. In Transmetropolitan, Jerusalem resumes his love/hate relationship with The City, and with journalism.

Jerusalem has prodigious appetite for mind-altering substances and a prodigious appetite for abusing his assistants, Channon and Yelena. However, he is also a dedicated journalist and willing to accept the facts of the situation, no matter how outrageous.

In one issue, he writes, “I will tell you things that will make you laugh and I will tell you things that make you uncomfortable and I will tell you things that will make you really fucking angry and I will tell you things that no one else is telling you. What I won’t do is bullshit you. I’m here for the same thing you are. The truth.”

In a later issue, when one of his assistants accuses him of being paranoid, Spider replies simply, “Paranoids are just people with all the facts.”

As for The City itself, at first it doesn’t seem much different than the city in
Blade Runner, but it rapidly becomes something more complicated and more unique, a collection of enclaves filled with everyone from cannibals and talking dogs to worshipers of Woden and people who are voluntarily transforming themselves into extraterrestrials. Ultimately, it seemed to be influenced more by Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld or Jack Vance’s Big Planet than Blade Runner.

A few years ago, Patrick Stewart--you know, Professor X, Captain Picard--was
telling audiences at science fiction conventions that he wanted to play Spider Jerusalem in a live-action version of Transmetropolitan, but the book was never formally optioned. It’s too bad really. I would’ve loved to see Stewart tear into one of Jerusalem’s rants.

As a regular comic, Transmetropolitan lasted approximately 60 issues,from 1997 to 2002. However, paperback collections of the series are available at most comic specialty shops and major bookstore chains.


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