Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams

Having read Michael Allred's Red Rocket 7, about an extraterrestrial rock God come to save the earth, I already had the notion that Michael Allred was destined to be David Bowie's visual biographer. It was just a matter of time when he would fulfill it. That when was revealed recently in the amazing graphic novel Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams.

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage DaydreamsWritten by Steve Horton and Michael Allred
Art by Michael Allred
Embellishes Laura Allred
Published by Insight Comics
Pages: 160
Retail: $39.99

In the summer of 2019, Mike Allred announced his plans for a David Bowie biographical graphic novel. I was automatically on board with hit with the news. Red Rocket 7 read so much like an adaptation of David Bowie's sci-fi classic movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Allred's rock opera, also spans the entire history of rock and roll. While you can see the Madman Creator's love for music throughout; the scenes where Rocket meets David Bowie are where you feel the most connected. For Mike Allred is clearly a fan of Bowie!

Back to last summer. I follow Michael Allred and his equally talented wife, Laura, on social media. One day I was scrolling down my feed when I was struck by this beautiful black and white sketch of the Starman himself in the style of Allred. I knew that this scene didn't appear in Red Rocket 7. Where did it come from? Imagine my surprise as the image was the first preview for the new Bowie biography! My wishes had been granted!

Over the course of about 6 months, a new sketch would pop up on my social media feed pretty regularly, showing the progression of this project. This began a lengthy countdown to last week when the book finally debuted in stores. And I was first in line for a copy!

Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams focuses on the early years of Bowie's career. From having to change his name in order not to be confused with a member of the Monkees all the way through the creation of Bowie's personas of Ziggy Stardust and later Aladdin Sane, this is a whirlwind history of the early days of glam rock.

Helping Michael Allred with research and co-scripting duties is Steve Horton (Amala’s Blade). Horton does a great job introducing the reader to the entire lineup of the pioneers of glam. But it's Allred's talented hand that brings heavenly icons such as the late Bowie as well as Marc Nolan, Mick Ronson and Freddie Mercury back to life. With such a large cast of characters, especially in those large group scenes, a ‘Who's Who’ in the appendices would have been appreciated.

This book is very much an Allred project. One of Michael Allred's favorite motifs is the use of the third eye. In much of Allred's work, the third eye is used as a New Age portal between other worlds or dimensions of consciousness. In this book, the third eye is the Stargate between David Bowie the man and his creative process which evolves into Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

Another example that makes this book a very Allred project is the presence of Laura Allred. Laura has been Michael's longtime colorist and sometimes inker. Her amazing palette makes Bowie's world so colorful and at times ethereal. 

This graphic novel was a visual delight. So many images of the Starman looked so real. This might be graphic novel blasphemy but I would kill for Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams to be made into an animated movie. Not that the artwork of the Allreds was lacking a fluidity of motion. It's just that the biggest missing piece to this rock and roll tapestry was the music. Couldn't a Kindle version of this book be released with a soundtrack? 

Minus the tunes, Bowie was still a complete sensory adventure into the creative process. Be sure not to overlook the loquacious tribute from Neil Gaiman at the beginning. To gloss over the sketchbook and Michael's afterword would be an equal disservice to the reader.

An intergalactic playlist for the soul. It's only January! But 2020 is going to have a difficult time coming up with something to beat this book for graphic novel of the year.

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams debuted on January 8th, 2019! If you can't find this in the graphic novel section of your local bookstore, check the music books section. That's where I found my copy!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1 (Family Comic Friday)

For this week's Family Comic Friday, I feel like I'm 10 years old again.. I have selected the first issue of Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Cornation. Published by Archaia, this book seeks to explore the origins of the Goblin King, Jareth!

Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation #1
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Daniel Bayliss
Colors: Dan Jackson

For those of you not familiar with the film Labyrinth, it's a dark fantasy musical produced by Jim Henson studios. You know, the folks who gave us The Muppets. The 1986 film starred Jennifer Connelly as a spoiled teen named Sarah who resents her baby step brother Toby. Angered by all the attention Toby is getting from her father she wishes that the villain of a fairy tale she loved as a child would kidnap the baby.

The Goblin King grants her wish and steals Toby away. Regretting her actions, Jareth grants Toby's return should the Sarah solve the Labyrinth of the Goblin King within a set amount of time.

It during this time that our story takes place. Sarah has just been forced to redo the whole maze run. It's her dogged determination that we inspires Jareth to recall the story of another young woman who lost someone special to the Goblin King.

The first issue is pretty vague as to whether the child in the flashback story is Jareth or not. The lad is never named. Though it's heavily implied that the child is a infant Jareth because of the allusions to his eyebrows. But this could be a deception by the writer and artist team of Simon Spurrier (Six-Gun Gorilla)and Daniel Bayliss, as the Goblin King in the past’s face is never shown.

Thankfully, there's 11 more issues of backstory and mystery to be uncovered in this amazing story.

When I first saw Labyrinth, I wanted Sarah to fail. I still do because I am Team Jareth all the way. Plus Sarah was such a brat! One can argue that Jareth is really a good guy, helping Sarah learn to love her brother. But I like to think that the Goblin King was a wicked baddie! Like with the Empire Strikes Back, it’s the bad guys that make me love this film!

Jareth opened my ears to a new sound back in the 80s. The Goblin King was played masterfully by the late rock icon David Bowie. The King of the British glam rockers, Bowie sings several songs in Labyrinth. Though they weren’t the best songs (30 years later and they sound pretty cheesy), I became a fan of Starman watching Labyrinth for the the first time.

And it’s his music that is sorely missing from this book. Simon Spurrier does a dynamite job crafting a story as mysterious as the man telling it. Artist Daniel Bayliss (Kennel Block Blues) along with colors by Dan Jackson are perfect for capturing the events of the film along with a story set in Napoleonic Venice. It’s just that I miss Bowie’s charisma and charm along with that haunting voice of his.

I think that the world as a whole misses the beacon of light that Bowie was. At least for a few short pages over the next year the Starman will live on again.

Labyrinth: Coronation #1 debuted in stores and digital platforms on February 28, 2018.

Though the comic is not rated, the film in which if was based is rated PG. Some scenes may be intense for young readers.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

This review published concurrently on Outrightgeekery.com.

Red Rocket 7

  Red Rocket.

It’s a mystery that has fascinated music lovers and musicians alike for the past 60 years. A young man with striking red hair, who seemingly never ages, keeps popping up throughout the annals of music history.

  Elvis- he was there, learning the newest rockabilly chords.

  The Beatles- he was there, working as a roadie.

  Bowie- he was there, inspiring the genius’s Ziggy Stardust personality.

  And then in the 1980s, he just disappeared.

  Jump ahead 18-years and now there’s a new band with a lead guitarist, as ginger as can be, claiming to be Red Rocket.

   Is it the same man? His son? An impostor? And just where has Red Rocket been for the last 2 decades?

   An intrepid young music journalist seeks to find the answers to all these questions. As her research opens her eyes to the secret history of rock music, so will her stream of consciousness, as the mystery of the Red Rocket 7 will take her to the farthest edges of the galaxy and beyond.

     Last year, Mike Allred made no excuses to show his love and devotion to the artist David Bowie when he lost his battle with cancer. Really, Allred's fandom has been evident for years, like the cover to Madman: Atomic Comics #15, in which he renders his beloved creation with Bowie’s Space Oddity lighting bolt across his face.

     Reading this 1998 book, I was struck with two thoughts. One: Red Rocket is the music version of Forrest Gump as the character is involved with every major rock movement from the early 50s up to 1998. Secondly, (and most importantly): This is Allred’s Space Oddity or The Man Who Fell To Earth. I’m not sure which. Could be both. No matter which it is, Red Rocket 7 is also some very trippy stuff.

      Elvis, the Stones, The Ramones, and the Dandy Warhols play some major supporting roles in this book. But it’s Bowie's book through and through. If you love David Bowie, this is the comic book series you must read- even if it’s in that odd 45 record shape.

      Amazing artwork by Allred. He’s one of my favorites and his wife Laura who does the inks and colors IS my favorite in the industry. I may not understand all of the zen the Allreds put into this love song to rock & roll, but I loved Red Rocket 7 nonetheless.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

1977: A Madman Turns 40: 2017- Day 14

   My favorite year was a big one for music. I’ve already talked about the birth of punk as A Madman Turns 40. Now it’s time to talk about another one of my favorites: David Bowie.

  Exactly 40 years ago today, the Starman released an album that will be considered one of the best of all-time: Low. The album was recorded in Berlin where Bowie had went to get clean from his cocaine addiction. It was a dark time for the artist, who suffered from terrible withdrawal symptoms that manifested into depression; hence the album title.

    Low is one-part of Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy. The artist’s days as glam rocker from out-of-space, Ziggy Stardust were over. The hedonistic life-style of L.A. had taken it’s toll. Broke and broken,  Bowie sought solace in affordable Germany, later helping good pal Iggy Pop clean out in the German capital.

    If it was up to me, I’d take the Ziggy Stardust period over this time in Bowie’s life. Low has a couple of good songs like Sound and Vision and the haunting instrumental opening track, Speed of Life. But I prefer my Bowie avant garde and peppy. Plus with Bowie being in Germany, he started being influenced by the experimental krautrock movement (a precursor to techno.) The last 3 songs reflect this style and when I played this album yesterday, they were the tracks my students hated the most.

    

A photo from Bowie's Be My Wife video.

This album wasn’t really liked by Bowie’s producers either. Low was actually completed in 1976, but it took several months to convince the execs at RCA to release the album. When it finally dropped in January of ‘77, the reception was mixed.

    Critics loved the first half of the album, as did I. But the B-side is made up of 4 tracks full of odd sounds, no vocals, and just plain sadness. Despite these misgivings, Low was a commercial success, reaching #2 in the UK and #11 in the US charts. Jump ahead 40-years and this Bowie record is regarded by critics as one of the all-time best ever.

Publicity Still of Bowie in '77.
He looks really tired and frazzled.

   The online music magazine Pitchfork ranks it #1. NME and Q both have it at #14. But I think Rolling Stone Magazine hit it right on the nose: ‘this is the music of an overstimulated mind in an exhausted body [...] sashays through some serious emotional wreckage.’ (Rolling Stone lists low at #249 outta 500 Greatest Albums.)

    When we are sick or sad, we don’t always perform our best. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have moments of genius. Remember, nobody liked Van Gogh’s work when he was alive. Now he’s considered the greatest painted of all time.

   But Low isn’t just Bowie’s Starry Night as it was a commercial success. The album is also like a chardonnay. When both first hits market, the album, like the wine, are good but it’s not great. Yet, over time, the wine ages and becomes perfect. Allow the wine to age too much and you’ve got vinegar. A really expensive vinegar. All of the ratings I listed for the album are from the 90s-2000s during a techno revival. With the current state of music, I think that time has passed.

Despite the fact that I think this album is now dated, I wish I was in Perth, Wales today. There's a special 1-day only anniversary showing of the documentary Bowie in Berlin: Low & Heroes. Not only are they showing the film, a slew of producers and musicians who worked with Bowie will be on hand.

Stupid not having money to go or a passport...

    An album of varying quality by one of my favorite artists. I’d listen to it again, but only the A-side stuff. I give it a 6 out of 10.

    David Bowie will return in the pages of A Madman Turns 40 later this year…