Chris Ryall

Stephen King has been an author who means a lot to me over the years. He writes a lot. Not all of it is good. Quite often his work is laced with varying levels of implicit and explicit bigotry and prejudice. This seems to be something he has shared with his son.

This is a comic adaptation of the novella, Throttle, by Hill and King, and, the story that inspired it, Duel by Richard Matheson. Both stories centre on conflict with a malevolent truck on the highway.

I haven't read either of the original stories, but in the excepts and adaptations, Matheson's Duel seems a much stronger and more original, in multiple ways, of the two.

Throttle follows a motorcycle club, The Tribe, complete with grinning skull wearing a war bonnet patch, following a bloody altercation and moving from the frying pan of that into the fire of being made roadkill by a big, mean truck. If you know Stephen King's work, you know he loves big, malevolent trucks and casual racism. I cannot understand why they chose to name the MC and describe their patch in this manner, beyond exoticism. I may be wrong, but does not appear to be a Native American MC naming themselves within the story in this manner, as with the Hispanic MC, The Mayans, originally from Sons of Anarchy. With his history of 'Indian burial ground' origins for a number of his horror stories and propensity for the 'Magical [Black person]' trope, I find it hard to see anything else.

It's an excuse for some carnage, which is fun enough, but the forced moral turn at the end and the framing story give this an oddly preachy vibe, so unbelievably out of step with the roadkill porn this honestly is. Maybe, it works better in the book, but the tonal dissonance is wild.

Duel is a more interesting narrative following the eponymous duel between a guy on his way to an interview on California and truck that takes exception to being overtaken. That's the while premise, but the focus on the protagonist's descent into despair and madness at their ordeal and the maintained anonymity of the truck driver add a level of horror and intrigue that is sorely lacking in Throttle.

Both stories have an interesting perspective on class, with who they focus on and their portrayal, especially considering the author's situations when these stories were written. By interesting, I really mean a kind of sneering, dehumanising, and othering of those of the lower classes and outside the law, again nothing new for King, while weight and respect is placed upon dedicated fathers and veterans.

Throttle is, quite frankly, some Boomer-arse shit, and Duel seeks like it would be interesting to read.

The art and direction for Throttle is very standard affair and not particularly interesting. Duel has a much more distinct design and layout, reflecting the degrading of sanity of the protagonist, which I appreciate.

This wasn't from me, but it was something to randomly pull from the library.… (mehr)