Grateful Dead Origins

by Chris Miskiewicz, Grateful Dead, Noah Van Sciver (Contributor)

The Grateful Dead are one of the most influential rock and roll bands ofall time, but every story has a start. The Grateful Dead Origins takes an in depth and personal look at the formation of one of the most important American rock bands of all time, exploring the early days of Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Pigpen, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, and their transition from being a bar cover band to one of the greatest sounds in history. TheGrateful Dead Origins showcases the beginning of the band through the early 1960's San Francisco Haight Ashbury era, becoming the house band for the Ken Kesey's psychedelic "acid tests," while telling a personal tale of the highs and lows of the tightly knit community that would grow around them, culminating at their historic performance at Woodstock, just one more show on their legendary road trip that would soon follow... This official Graphic Novel will also feature an accompanying album of rare Grateful Dead music.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Music, Nonfiction, Comics, History

152 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Nicole]

I knew next to nothing about the Grateful Dead so this was a really interesting look into their lives and origins. Although I did have a little trouble determining who was who, especially as all of their hair got longer.

[Hannah]

I got this graphic as a birthday gift this year which I was super excited about since it has been on my Amazon wishlist since this time last year. I have to give it a solid 4 for artwork & having a digital download to band camp for the music. I’ve read so many Dead books that the first 5 years of their band’s story isn’t too new to me, but the sentiment is the same, and a comic version made the retelling that much more interesting. 💀⚡️🌹

[Jeff]

The last two books I've finished have strong connections to the city of San Francisco: a coincidence, but then again, the city by the Bay has always had an allure for me, going all the way back to my first childhood visit many decades ago. A city whose residents don't bother to keep anything hidden behind closed doors will always have a strong hold on my imagination.

So then the Grateful Dead: I do like some of their music, but I'm not a major fan. However, I've been curious about their connections to the mythical Summer of Love and the optimistic early days of hippie culture. Grateful Dead Origins does cover some of that ground, and is particularly good in exploring the band's connections to the Merry Pranksters and Ken Kesey's shamanistic vision of LSD as an epochal force for human renewal. It was all ridiculously naïve, but the animating spirit of those futile endeavors was something to admire.

Outside of that specific topic, Grateful Dead Origins is a mishmash of random events from the band's early history. I imagine the intent is to provide dedicated Dead fans with a visual recreation of famous episodes from the formative days of their favorite band, but for a reader without that deep background, the book simply lacks any sort of cohesive narrative. It's a fun little read, but instantly forgettable once finished.

[Jack Reickel]

I came into this knowing next-to-nothing about the Grateful Dead and currently writing/illustrating a bio-graphic novel of a Californian musician active at the same time, and it was a really nice example of cartooning that scene. I learned a lot! I don't know that I ever felt much of any sort of classic emotional-journey story-structure that can be an expectation of most western novels, but not necessarily biographies--particularly biographies covering a group and/or only a specific period of time (rather than a birth-to-death story of a single person).

Good art. Good writing. Good book!

[Glenn Proven]

Artwork was OK. Story of determination and getting a band together was not too harrowing but there were enough conflicts brewing to keep it interesting. No spoilers but I love how they chose their name.

Haven’t had the chance to listen to the music yet.

[Reed]

A fun read. I liked the size of the book, the layout, font size, LP, and pull out artwork.

Occasionally, it was not clear which character was speaking, or new characters were introduced without much background. For the second edition, consider including a dramatis personae.

[Taya Fosmire]

I bought this book for my mom for her birthday and wanted to read it before I gave it to her. She loves the Grateful Dead and this was such a cool little story to show how they got started.

[Alex Memus]

The soundtrack for this book is better than the book itself: https://z2comics.bandcamp.com/album/g...

[Sean Kottke]

More in the 3-3.5 range, with the free music download pushing it up to a 4. First things first: I can't claim the mantle of being a Deadhead. That right belongs to my brother. "Touch of Grey" was the first song I heard from them, and I loved it on first listen, running out to Musicland to snag a grey vinyl 45 of it. I attended exactly one Dead concert at The Palace in the summer of 1995, one of Jerry Garcia's last shows. I do have an affinity for J. Garcia neckties, but not so much for 20 minute bluesy jams.

So, with all that out of the way, I imagine that the stories related in this volume aren't news to true Deadheads, but they were news to me, particularly the origin of the band name. Noah van Sciver's shaggy, slacker charm art style is a perfect vehicle for conveying the zeitgeist of the Dead, the Merry Pranksters, and the Haight-Ashbury scene in the second half of the 60s. There's plenty of inside baseball here, and transitions from one anecdote to the next can be disjointed. As a "putting a band together" narrative, it is clearer and cleaner than "Redbone," and the selection of early Dead songs that you can download to accompany the book is top notch.

[Rachel]

The text was okay; it told the story and got the background of the psychedelic era well. The art...was okay except for the people. None of them looked at all like themselves, outside of (sometimes) their hair. The band members were all about the same height, and all tended to look pudgy (none were at that time). The difference between Jerry and Pigpen was Pigpen's moustache, but Bill and various non-band members looked like them too, so I often didn't know who a panel, or page, was about. Phil looked...ugly; well, they all did. And they weren't. You couldn't see how very young, or how incredibly good-looking, Bob was. Nobody fit the tall thin, long-legged rock star type, though at least Phil did in real life. Ken Kesey was 30-ish at the time, but he looks at least 50.

The book did show a little about how Pigpen sometimes went off into long stories (more or less planned, I'm sure) in the middle of gigs. And the story of Bill recruiting Mickey, assuming it's true-ish, is one I never knew. And the authors tried to include a few women, which was good. All in all, disappointing.

[Josh]

I’ve been an in-deep deadhead now for the past 4 years, immersing myself in everything Dead except the acid trips - and only because I can’t source that any more.
It helps to know a bit about their origins beforehand, to which I’d recommend the documentary LONG STRANGE TRIP (2017) if only to be able to tell who’s who.
It’s in no way immersive into the history - it can’t be at the length of the book. But it is immersive enough in other ways, and you get the flavor of the personalities. It’s a gateway, perhaps. Every deadhead finds their own way in on their own time.

It’s most fun to have something else to pore through as the music plays softly in the background. And that’s where this book’s worth lies.

[Eric]

I like Noah Van Sciver's past work a lot, but Grateful Dead Origins was kind of a mess. It chronicles the band from 1965-1969, bascially through Woodstock. I get it. The Grateful Dead loved to make music and art, but really loved to drop acid. This fact is emphasized over and over in many different settings. Surprised? No, I wasn't surprised, but it would have been more interesting to learn more about the music vs. learning over and over how excessive and "turned on" the culture was in San Francisco in the 60's. Interesting at times, but overall this was just too all over the place for me, but maybe that's the point?

[Peter Landau]

Beautifully illustrated tale of the band’s formation told in short vignettes. Kind of impressionistic, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the scene — though unlikely readers who pick this up will be. Loved Noah Van Sciver’s cartoony take, like a Classic Comics adaptation by Hanna Barbera.

[Erin Hotovy]

Wonderful artwork, wonderful story. ❤️❤️❤️

[Rye]

“You’re the engine that’s driving the spaceship we’re all on!”

[Federico]

Live/Dead was one of the first record I bought when I was a kid and it’s like the Dead are a part of my family now, some distant cousins I’ve never met by person but I’m really fond of.

[Tyler]

Packaging was great, physically and narratively. Miskiewicz and Van Sciver add informative details casually that aid the development of the storytelling.

[Sara Ghotb]

This book was not for me.

[Elias]

Fun dive. Immersive. Nothing too detailed or focused, but I guess that's the point, ain't it?