Appendex Gamma --- Vic and Blood

I had read the short stories in my youth, of course. They were both Post Apoc AND Harlan Ellison, how could I not have?! I also saw the film (more than 20 years ago) and I not sure I remember if I like it or not. I remember that there was some straying from the story (Bad Dog!) and some freakiness with Jason Robards...but I will have to view and review the film (a Boy and his Dog) for a separate entry.

For now, though, lets talk about a specific iteration of the Vic and Blood stories. That would be the comics (graphic novel if the word comic makes you nervous) adaptation by Richard Corben. I must preface my remarks about this to say that I am not exactly subjective when it comes to either Mr. Ellison or Mr. Corben...to my mind they are two men who stand out as paragons of their respective fields!

Having said that, I have to tell you guys about a really cool feature of the edition of Vic and Blood: the continuing adventures of a boy and his dog, that I picked up. I had been looking for one for a while and the subject came up amongst my pals from the Comic book store. My pal Max had a damaged one he said he would GIVE me! (thanks Max, or for this blog should I call you Mad Max?) Well, the edition looks like this...

It is a collection of the comics from the eighties and a neat feature of it is a revised timeline of the Apocalypse to include everything up to about 2002 or so. Even cooler is the forward by Mr. Ellison and the fact that this book alternates the comic and then even gives you the actual text of the short stories. Very cool. What you can see by this is how faithful to the text Mr. Corben remains.

Mr. Corben's art is not as stylized as it usually is. Sure, the women are voluptuous in the Corben style...but not as stylized...not as unearthly. I am sure this has a lot to do with the nature of the story. Heres a shot of one of the "centerfolds" from the comic

I love the way Corben does expressions...even the kinds of faces that normally would not show expressions at all, become open books at the pen of Mr. Corben. There is a picture of a mutant spider in this book, and his face has a kind of creepy expression...I know, I am probably projecting and I am not gonna tell you any more about this scene so you are gonna have to read it!

Another thing I really like about this book is the world. Its post apoc to be sure, but its a different kind of world. This is a world were before the "third war" scientists had tinkered with the physiology of dogs and bred a race of animals that eventually became not only intelligent but also telepathic. In the culture of this post apoc future bands of young men, known as Roverpaks, roam the countryside looking for the most rare of things...females. The dogs help them to track them. This is a future where most of the women were killed in the conflict and not many children are being born. Those that are born are either male or mutants. In all the earth there are a few places that there are some females, underground facilities...

Not gonna say anymore about this, you are going to have to go and read it for yourself. You can get the Vic and Blood stories collected on their own, but you will be in for a real treat if you get the version with the Corben art. Take me at my word, mutants.

One more thing about this work. The last chapter of the book is a sneak peek at a sequal to Vic and Blood, called "Blood's a Rover". Unfortuneatly this is all that has ever been published of these continuing stories. To my knowlege Mr. Ellison never published Blood's a Rover...although if I were to unearth a Djinn lamp that is one of the wishes I would make. I am not saying that these stories are not written, they are just not published. Too bad.

Not to be too much of a fan boy, but in case I have not already made this clear...I really fricking like this book and give it a five out of five mushroom clouds!