From Publishers Weekly
Admirers of Ellison's Nebula-winning novella A Boy and His Dog (which was the basis of the cult film of the same title) will undoubtedly embrace this perplexing look at the creative process. The author disavows the film's misogynistic conclusion, but he realizes the strength of its characters: teenaged Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, who are trying to survive in a post-WWIII wasteland. With this basis, Ellison wrote two more short stories about Vic and Blood (after A Boy and His Dog), explaining more of their prickly but trusting relationship, and showing the emotional consequences of Vic's actions in the original story. Now, Ellison says he's finished telling the overall story by writing Blood's a Rover as a screenplay that he'll later convert into a novel. In the meantime, this worthwhile book collects the texts of all three existing stories, along with some commentary. Unfortunately, a comics adaptation by Corben precedes each story, detracting from what Ellison is doing. Corben is best when depicting extremely grotesque situations, such as his version of Hodgson's The House on the Borderland. But that's only one aspect of Vic and Blood's world. When, for example, Vic is trapped in a "downunder"-one of the huge fallout shelters where WASP America has tried to preserve its way of life by severing ties to the survivors on the surface-he is nauseated by its banal wholesomeness, but Corben's inability to execute subtle exaggeration fails to suggest this. Still, an Ellison performance is always fascinating. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
"World War IV broke out on American Independence Day, 4 July 1995. Then what was left belonged to anybody who wanted it; anybody with a taste for radiation and rubble. The 'good folks' sank their caisson cities, their sterile down-unders, deep in the earth. And the snaggle-toothed remnants of the aboveground were abandoned to the new masters of desolation: vicious roverpaks of parentless young boys...and their telepathic dogs." From the History of the World, as Blood tells it The acclaimed series of short stories around the adventures of Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, by Harlan Ellison is brought together as one stunning graphic novel by Richard Corben, one of today's leading fantasy artists. This conjugation of talents forms a powerful saga of love, death, and the consequences of both in a devastated society. After winning a Nebula Award for Best Novella, "A Boy and His Dog" was made into a movie starring Don Johnson and Jason Robards, which itself won a Hugo. In addition to the graphic novel adaptations of "A Boy and His Dog," "Eggsucker" and "Run, Spot, Run," this volume contains the original short stories by Ellison. Features never-before-published sketchbook material from Richard Corben, critically-acclaimed artist for Heavy Metal magazine, Hellblazer (DC Comics), and The Incredible Hulk (Marvel Comics). In a career spanning fifty years, Harlan Ellison has won more awards than any other living fantasist.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"World War IV broke out on American Independence Day, 4 July 1995. Then what was left belonged to anybody who wanted it; anybody with a taste for radiation and rubble. The 'good folks' sank their caisson cities, their sterile down-unders, deep in the earth. And the snaggle-toothed remnants of the aboveground were abandoned to the new masters of desolation: vicious roverpaks of parentless young boys...and their telepathic dogs."

From the History of the World, as Blood tells it

The acclaimed series of short stories around the adventures of Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, by Harlan Ellison is brought together as one stunning graphic novel by Richard Corben, one of today's leading fantasy artists. This conjugation of talents forms a powerful saga of love, death, and the consequences of both in a devastated society.

After winning a Nebula Award for Best Novella, "A Boy and His Dog" was made into a movie starring Don Johnson and Jason Robards, which itself won a Hugo.

In addition to the graphic novel adaptations of "A Boy and His Dog," "Eggsucker" and "Run, Spot, Run," this volume contains the original short stories by Ellison.

Features never-before-published sketchbook material from Richard Corben, critically-acclaimed artist for Heavy Metal magazine, Hellblazer (DC Comics), and The Incredible Hulk (Marvel Comics).

In a career spanning fifty years, Harlan Ellison has won more awards than any other living fantasist.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly