[Editor’s note: Troy Little has gone on tour to support his new graphic novell adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, as you do. Because you need a gonzo comics tour to compliment the ultimate gonzo road trip…okay maybe not quite as wild as Hunter S. Thompson’s famous journey. Anyway, Top Shelf provided us with some photos from the tour stop.]
by Leigh Walton
Cartoonist Troy Little (Angora Napkin, Chiaroscuro) is going full gonzo to promote his new graphic novel adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. To quote the press release:
But how to promote this full-color monument to American ingenuity? For guidance, we turned to the words of Thompson himself: “If a thing like this is worth doing at all, it’s worth doing right… We’d be fools not to ride this strange torpedo all the way out to the end.” So the only way to handle a book like this, we felt, was to dress up like human peacocks and get crazy, then screech off across the desert and hold some signings.
We’ll be replicating, as closely as possible, the actual journey depicted in the book — drinks at the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills, driving through the California desert in a convertible, and searching for the American Dream on the Las Vegas Strip. But instead of a briefcase of intoxicants, Troy will be loaded with art supplies, so he can document the experience in comics form as we go. So what are you waiting for? “Buy the ticket, take the ride!”
The announcement:
https://t.co/XWxZd1Ugbk FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE ROAD: Artist Troy Little’s Signing Tour! Desert…Convertible…Vegas! pic.twitter.com/EakFXLE3Az
— TopShelfProductions (@topshelfcomix) October 30, 2015
First stop: San Diego!
Thank you San Diego! The #fearandloathingGNtour rolls on to LA’s @MeltdownComics today at 4… https://t.co/XWxZd1CEMK pic.twitter.com/fp2WVabpbY — TopShelfProductions (@topshelfcomix) November 8, 2015
Troy Little greeting fans including TMNT creator Kevin Eastman, one of Troy’s own early influences:
In search of the American Dream, our heroes encounter the “50/50” burger:
“The bacon is in it. The bacon is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE.” @leighwalton pic.twitter.com/yrxyYwpbwy — Troy Little (@meanwhilestudio) November 7, 2015
— Leigh Walton (@leighwalton) November 7, 2015
“You see, about twenty-four hours ago we were sitting in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel – in the patio section, of course…”
“A fashionable sporting magazine in New York had taken care of the reservations, along with this huge red Chevy convertible we’d just rented off a lot on the Sunset Strip…”
A signing at Meltdown led to a surprise appearance on Dan Harmon’s podcast, and more shenanigans:
Strange and weird vibrations in L.A. – On stage with @danharmon and then witnessing my publicist owning Labyrinth era Bowie at karaoke. — Troy Little (@meanwhilestudio) November 9, 2015
Tonight rounds out California with a Barnes & Noble stop:
Last California stop of the FEAR & LOATHING graphic novel tour: tonight in Santa Monica! https://t.co/ahXTor9C9X pic.twitter.com/C7E478VeH4
— TopShelfProductions (@topshelfcomix) November 10, 2015
And then it’s off to Vegas, hosted by MaximuM Comics!