Queen in Comics

Queen in Comics is a bit of a misnomer. From the title, I thought it was going to be an anthology of various times where the Freddie Mercury fronted band appeared in comic books and graphic novels. In reality, the book is split into 2 parts that alternate from sequential art form vignettes of the 50 year plus history of the band along with long form articles that dig deeper into the history of Queen as seen by a variety of artists.

Originally published in French in 2021, the comic segments were written by Emmanuel Marie. The text of the articles were by Sophie Blitman. I counted at least 18 different artists, presumably all French. None of the contributors are names I'm familiar with. 

A long time fan of Queen, I've seen several documentaries about the band. I have both Greatest Hits, Volume 1 and 2 memorized. Experienced their set at Live Aid, live from my cousin's house. I read a biography about Mercury and I saw Bohemian Rhapsody- in the theaters twice. So I have a fairly good knowledge of their history. Yet, I found myself learning some new facts and anecdotes about the group. Things like the near homicidal collaboration between Queen and David Bowie on what would become one of my all-time favorite songs, Under Pressure. I learned about Michael Jackson's influence on releasing Another One Bites the Dust into becoming Queen's best selling single in the US, as well as how Jacko's llama nearly scared Freddie to death during a recording session. Plus there was a lot of details on the solo careers of Brian May and Roger Taylor; two members of the quartet who often get overlooked despite still being the only original members of the band remaining and rocking to this day.

Learning some new facts about one of my favorite bands is not to say that some important segments of Queen's history weren't glossed over. Nowhere is there any mention of Queen's involvement in the 1980 Flash Gordon movie that bombed big time but has grown into a cult favorite. A lot is also made of Freddie's dying wish to spend his remaining days recording music with his mates. But important songs from this era like I'm Going Slightly Mad and Mother Love are omitted. 

Speaking of the dying wish of Freddie Mercury, in 1987, the singer was diagnosed with HIV which soon developed into AIDS. Just about every previous resource I have consumed on the history of Queen discusses Mercury's homosexuality and probable causes of where and how he may have contracted the disease. While Freddie being gay is mentioned as is his final relationship with hairdresser Jim Hutton covered, I felt like Queen in Comics decided that discretion was the better part of valor when it comes to the many excesses of Freddie Mercury. 

Publisher NBM Graphic Novels has several other music graphic novels in their coffers. Rock history lessons on Bowie, The Beatles and Michael Jackson have peaked my interest and I would not be opposed to reading and possibly owning those volumes in the future.

A really interesting read that changes narrative perspectives as well as art forms frequently, just like Queen. A bit of glam rock, some punk and bits of jazz and opera. Queen in Comics doesn't paint a complete picture of the band. But it does manage to capture the ever changing musical and cultural influences of these rock legends quite nicely.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

They Made A Christmas Album?- Advent 2018: Day 25

Well, we finally made it- It's December 25th! And there's just one band that I could think of to usher in the holiday. It's my favorite of band of all-time Queen!

2018 has been a great year for the band with the release of the bio-pic Bohemian Rhapsody. Plus, Queen + Adam Lambert kicked off an amazing tour. And several albums, long out of print, finally made it to CD. But today's song was never officially released on a album until the band's Greatest Hits III release. 

Released as a single in November, 1984, the song I choose to cap this year's Advent says it all- Thank God It's Christmas!

So without further ado, here's Brian Taylor, Roger May, John Deacon and the incomparable Freddie Mercury!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bohemian Rhapsody

I was finally able to get the family together in order to watch this at the movies. It was very much worth the wait. And I want to see it again and again and again! Though the story is about how the legendary rock band Queen formed, Freddie Mercury is clearly the focus of the story.

People, namely professional critics, have complained of the inaccuracies. My biggest problem with the film was having 1977's We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions coming out in 1980. I'm not sure why they mixed up the timeline on that.

Anyway, the biggest complaint of the inaccuracies was the downplay of Mercury's homosexuality. But I think that the film did a great job of dealing with the subject without taking anything away from the main reason most fans went to see the film- the kick-ass music! Besides, Brian May and Roger Taylor were the producers. It was their story and their right to decide what was to be the priority and what wasn't.

One could also argue that the film wasn't long enough. In 2.5 hours, you just cannot squeeze everything epic about a band of 4 completely different people and do it right. This is one of those times I wish I could have been in charge of a movie instead of Brian Singer (X-Men.) 

Though Singer did an amazing job, I would have split the film into 2 parts. Part one would go from the start of the band up to Live Aid as it did exactly in this movie. But instead of doing a small glossing over Freddie's death, I would have part 2 coming out in 2019.

That segment would have dealt with the last 5 years of Freddie's life and the band's choice whether to stay together or not after the death from AIDS of their lead singer. There was just some amazing music and powerful things happening in those last days of Mercury's life that are not worth passing over. Besides you'd also need to show Adam Lambert's tenure with Queen at some point. He's no Freddie, but he's the best 2nd runner up in the biz for the job!

I'm going say this now- Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) should be nominated and win the Best Actor Oscar for this film. He was amazing. I don't feel that he should win because he's an Egyptian-American actor. I'm not playing some sympathetic race card as those of Middle-Eastern and African decent have been grossly under-represented in the Academy Awards. I support his role because there were times that I forgot it wasn't actually Freddie on screen. 

The idea to have a majority of the vocals be that of Mercury was the wise choice. Nobody can ever replace arguably the greatest voice of all-time. But if saying it's time that a person Middle Eastern heritage won the Academy Award for Best Actor, I will! Rami Malek really was that good in this part.

Be sure to not miss Mike Myers role in this film. When I saw his name in the opening credits, I thought it odd. But when you catch the Easter egg he throws to the crowd, it makes perfect sense. It was in a way--- excellent.

My pick for movie of the year. It may not be Best Picture worthy. But that might surprise you as well. It was a movie that will make you dance in your seat and even sing along. For once, I don't have to say I want the soundtrack because I already have all three of Queen's Greatest Hits albums. But I surely do want this on DVD when it comes out next year!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury

While this is a biography of legendary Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury, a majority of this tome focuses on the band as a whole. That actually doesn’t bother me as I am a huge Queen fan and I’ve always wanted to read a history of the group.

Much is made of Mercury’s sexuality. But thankfully, it’s not full of very sordid details. I’m not questioning Freddie being gay nor am I being homophobic. It’s just that I remember trying to read Steven Tyler’s biography and giving up after chapter 2 because it read like a letter to Penthouse.

Strangely enough, what shocked me about Mercury’s sexuality was that he had several sexual relationships with women after coming to terms with being gay. Pretty much, Mercury was attracted to anything. If the earth had made contact with aliens, I think he would have tried to boink them too. It’s like he was omnisexual with strong homosexual preferences, very much like Torchwood’s Capt. Jack Harkness.

The book was very well written, though the Brit slang is sometimes hard to decipher. Also, there are several characters in this history of the same name that makes for some confusing reading as you try to get everyone’s role understood. I counted at least 4 of the singer’s associates with the first name of Peter.

Alas, this exhaustive recount of the superstar’s life, loves, music, and antics prove that there is only 1 Freddie Mercury.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.