Road Rage

Road Rage by Joe Hill, Stephen King, and Richard Matheson, 104 pages

This short volume is the graphic novel adaptation of two highway-horror short stories, "Throttle" by Hill and King, and "Duel" by Matheson. "Duel" is Matheson's 1971 tale of a traveling salesman whose mundane highway drive turns horrific when the unseen driver of a tanker truck develops a vendetta against the salesman. The story, and Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation, were the inspiration for Hill and King's "Throttle," which puts a drug-dealing motorcycle gang in the place of the traveling salesman. Hill and King provide more back story and make the characters, even the mostly unseen truck driver, more three-dimensional. However, the Hill and King tale is the weaker of the two, in large part because the truck driver and his motivations are complete mysteries.

That said, this is a good adaptation, and well worth checking out. I particularly like the introductions (written by King and Hill), which give insight into their love of Matheson's stories, and even into what it was like growing up with Stephen King as your dad.