Essayist and cultural critic Hunter S. Thompson's passing is worth noting on a comics site for a number of reasons.
1. His "gonzo" works brought worldwide attention to the artist Ralph Steadman.
2. He was the inspiration for Garry Trudeau's "Duke" character in Doonesbury, almost certainly was an inspiration for Warren Ellis' Spider Jerusalem character, and was the source for several other lesser known parodies and tributes. He used to claim he would set Trudeau on fire if he ever met him.
3. He was the guest of honor at a rock and roll convention organized by Gary Groth and Mike Catron that went so poorly they ended up focusing on comics, resulting in Fantagraphics Books.
4. His influence or at least the way he prepped an audience for such work can be seen in a number of autobiographical comics, such as those written by Denny Eichhorn.
5. His writing voice has been very influential in the way comics are covered, from all those "Fear and Loathing in San Diego" articles that turn up on-line every year to a lot of the writing that appears in places like The Comics Journal.
