Rare Comic Finds: Road Rage (2012)

Panel from page 9 of IDW's Road Rage by artist Nelson Daniel.

Now that October is in full swing (and there are a few free minutes to sit at the keyboard), I'd like share a some horror themed titles (or similarly themed characters in more popular titles) from the bowels of my comic book longboxes. The first is an extremely high quality tribute to the 1971 short story "Duel" written by the acclaimed author of the many-times-filmed-but-never-well I Am Legend,  Richard Matheson. Published this past year by IDW Publishing, Road Rage is itself an adaptation of the short story "Throttle" penned by legendary horror novelist Stephen King and his son, acclaimed novelist/Eisner-winning graphic novelist Joe Hill previously published in 2009.

"Throttle" began as something of a family affair, especially given the combined talents of father/son team of King and Hill. Based on the source story, "Duel," which had also been previously adapted as the television movie of the same name by then little known director Steven Spielberg, the comic book brings the two together as singular narrative experience. That's quite a pedigree for two stories that at their hearts are about a men battling killer vehicles.

IDW's Road Rage is ably adapted for the comic book medium by writer Chris Ryall and artist Nelson Daniel. Combining both "Throttle" and "Duel" into a single story with a hint of the popular FX cable drama show Sons of Anarchy mixed in, Road Rage begins with story of motorcycle gang "The Tribe" as they're picked off one by one until ultimately the remaining club members, led by their leader Vince, face off with the rig.

As a study in there being roughly six-degrees of separation between most pop culture fiction, and as a fall entertainment, Road Rage is worthy purchase. It is also very likely still available for purchase as individual issues at your local comic shop, and worth the price. A pricey ($24.99) hard cover collection of the miniseries was also released in 2012.