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Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams
by
Inspired by the one and only superhero, extraterrestrial, and rock and roll deity in history, Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams is the original graphic memoir of the great Ziggy Stardust!
In life, David Bowie was one of the most magnetic icons of modern pop culture, seducing generations of fans with both his music and his counterculture persona. In death, the cu ...more
In life, David Bowie was one of the most magnetic icons of modern pop culture, seducing generations of fans with both his music and his counterculture persona. In death, the cu ...more
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published
January 7th 2020
by Insight Comics
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Start your review of Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams

"Because music brings people together. It makes them feel something that they wouldn't otherwise feel . . . it speaks to the listener in ways that even the songwriter and musicians would never have intended." -- conversation scene between 'Ziggy Stardust' and David Bowie
The graphic novel Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams focuses mainly on the years 1969-1974 in the man's storied career, from when he issued his initial and self-titled two albums to lukewarm response and then quickly be ...more
The graphic novel Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns & Moonage Daydreams focuses mainly on the years 1969-1974 in the man's storied career, from when he issued his initial and self-titled two albums to lukewarm response and then quickly be ...more

Perfect if you want to know every famous person David Bowie ever met and see every outfit he ever wore while touring during the 1970s. Not the right book if you want to know anything about David Bowie as a person. The authors have lots of factoids but almost no insights to offer.
The art is nice and colorful, if a bit stiff from the obvious dependence on photo-referencing.
The art is nice and colorful, if a bit stiff from the obvious dependence on photo-referencing.

A biographical graphic novel telling of David Bowie's life and career from young adulthood thru just after the Ziggy Stardust years. I recommend this for any Bowie fan.
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It tries to do too much in too few pages, and never manages to find it's subject's soul.
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https://biffbampop.com/2019/11/13/bow...
I grew up on rock and roll and comic books.
It sounds like a lyric, right? Maybe it is because my experience certainly wasn’t a solo one. Often times, those loves would intersect, like with Rock and Roll Comics, published by Revolutionary Comics in the early 1990s. The black and white books were totally unauthorised histories of some of the most prominent artists in music – the Rolling Stones and ACDC, the Grateful Dead and Bon Jovi; The Beatles and Pink Fl ...more
I grew up on rock and roll and comic books.
It sounds like a lyric, right? Maybe it is because my experience certainly wasn’t a solo one. Often times, those loves would intersect, like with Rock and Roll Comics, published by Revolutionary Comics in the early 1990s. The black and white books were totally unauthorised histories of some of the most prominent artists in music – the Rolling Stones and ACDC, the Grateful Dead and Bon Jovi; The Beatles and Pink Fl ...more

I really wish this site would let you do half star ratings, because I feel like a 2.5 would be more appropriate for how I feel about this book. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, it’s square in the middle. The reason I’m leaning more towards liking it is the art, you can tell this is a clear passion project for Mike Allred and co. His love for the music and iconography of Bowie is super evident on each page and it’s all lovingly rendered. The afterward gives some more insight into his Bowie obses
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Jan 02, 2021
Morgan
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
aliens,
own,
film,
lgbt,
biography,
music,
science-fiction,
non-fiction,
pop-culture,
fashion
First book of 2021!
I mostly got this because I'm a huge fan of Mike Allred's art work. With that in mind, this is more of an art book then a biography. You really only get snippets of information. The writing, in my opinion, isn't that great. There's still a ton of questions I have and feel like I need a full on bio of David Bowie. I do love Bowie's music, another reason I got this too. If you aren't expecting weird, you might be thrown off or your not a real fan of Bowie. ...more
I mostly got this because I'm a huge fan of Mike Allred's art work. With that in mind, this is more of an art book then a biography. You really only get snippets of information. The writing, in my opinion, isn't that great. There's still a ton of questions I have and feel like I need a full on bio of David Bowie. I do love Bowie's music, another reason I got this too. If you aren't expecting weird, you might be thrown off or your not a real fan of Bowie. ...more

The art is phenomenal in that it perfectly captures everyone, Bowie in particular, but after awhile you start to think, they look a bit too like photographs and could have been collaged or directly lifted from images of the period... add to that the fact that each page is jammed with SO MUCH imagery, there's no place for the eye to rest, it's too frantic. Too much. Like a fan magazine from back in the day instead of a very ambitious graphic novel. Also don't get me started on the placement of th
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Pretty good, some of the dialogue was really on the nose but I can tell this book isn't supposed to be completely literal so it's fine, just kinda took me out of it. I wish there was a bit more depth or emotional weight to it but oh well. at the very least it's a stunningly drawn art book of cool looking David Bowie in various iconic looks throughout that era. Mike Allred's drawing are so good and I just love looking at them, his artwork is so perfect for Bowie it's so appealing to look at. A co
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This is beautiful. A must for any Bowie fan!

Five stars for the fantastic art work and my favourite subject matter - David Bowie - which are sufficient for me to overlook the lacklustre writing, flat dialogue and superficial, trivia-laden storyline.
Despite its shortcomings, this is a book I'll return to for its style, I just wish it had more substance. ...more
Despite its shortcomings, this is a book I'll return to for its style, I just wish it had more substance. ...more

I remember where I was when Bowie died, more or less. It was 30,000 feet in the air somewhere between San Francisco and Sydney. The pilot made the announcement over the PA, and I wanted the people around me to keenly feel the sharp shock as much as we did. David Bowie’s songs, much like The Beatles, are hardwired into our DNA at this point. So, this comic book biography crossed into so many of my wheelhouses that I was genuinely excited to see him “live” again. I’ve been following Steve Horton’s
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4.5/5 stars
Official Review I wrote for butwhythopodcast.com linked https://butwhythopodcast.com/2020/01/... ...more
Official Review I wrote for butwhythopodcast.com linked https://butwhythopodcast.com/2020/01/... ...more

I have always been interested in David Bowie. I am by no means a devoted super fan or anything, but I know all the hits, and am familiar within his various identities. I have always meant to get more into his music and career, so when I saw that a graphic novel about him was coming out, with art by Mike Allred, it seemed like a great way to dive deeper into Bowie's life and career.
The script by Steve Horton is very well done, capturing the right balance of biography and story. The story moves a ...more
The script by Steve Horton is very well done, capturing the right balance of biography and story. The story moves a ...more

Bowie, of all performers, seems perfectly placed to have his life rendered in a graphic novel. And, of all the modern artists out there at the moment, Michael Allred seems to be the perfect choice with his lovely retro artwork oozing influences such as Kirby and Ditko.
As a piece of artwork this is a 5-star book. As a piece of graphic novel storytelling it probably only scratches two stars. The problem is that the research has overpowered any sense of story or character.
It is impeccably researche ...more
As a piece of artwork this is a 5-star book. As a piece of graphic novel storytelling it probably only scratches two stars. The problem is that the research has overpowered any sense of story or character.
It is impeccably researche ...more

This graphic novel is a sensory celebration for all Bowie fans. It tells the story of Bowie's rise to fame as well as the birth of his Ziggy Stardust persona. It's so well-researched and detailed and I loved the inclusion of other musicians that were ruling the musical landscape in the 60s and 70s. I'd say this book is not very plot-driven so it's not that suitable for David Bowie beginners but more so for fans that are going to get all the amazing details and references. The drawing style is ve
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This book is beautiful and thoughtful and a great idea. The execution is pretty great but it does vaguely remind me of Hedwig and the Angry Inch a bit? Also I felt kinda annoyed that I wasn’t sure who everyone is- a super fan will love this book a bit more than I will since I didn’t know who I was supposed to identify in large scenes. Overall a beauty and a gift for a super David Bowie fan.

I was massively let down by this. As other reviews have stated, this is more of a book about the famous people that Bowie met/played with/knew. It has some biographical elements to it but it's pretty thin and most of the stuff in it could probably have been sourced from Wiki or other internet sources. The art is gorgeous and about the only thing that helps it hold up at all.
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It’s not a very interesting story. Very clinically details who Bowie knew, the name of every band he was in, concerts he went to, what famous people were at his concerts...after a while the exhaustive lists become, well, exhausting. The redeeming feature? The artwork! I loved seeing the evolution of David Jones into Ziggy, then all of his many looks throughout the seventies. The book is misnamed. It should have been called Ziggy Stardust. I recommend skimming the text, and sitting back and enjoy
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This book to me shows how modern comics style flattens its subjects. The standard line consistency and flattened colors make all the celebrity likenesses feel the same. While reading the book I realized I wish I had just gotten an art book of Bowie outfits, and the original photos which were recreated in this book. It also has kind of an abrupt stop— and the 4 page epilogue covers parts of his life id wish there was a whole nother book of.
Also not a lot of gay stuff??? Neil gaiman points out he ...more
Also not a lot of gay stuff??? Neil gaiman points out he ...more

Goodreads list this book as being by Steve Horton, but Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams is ultimately Michael Allred's baby!
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. ...more
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. ...more

Simply wonderful. The writing and the art are stellar. My only complaint is that Allred only focused on the first half of Bowie's life. Hopefully there will be another bio-comic on Bowie. Besides that this is a great bio on David Bowie's life/career.
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If anyone's story should be told graphically it is Bowie's.
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I guess as non hardcore Bowie fan, the book was a little weird. It jumped all over the place. The artwork was great, but the story just didn't flow for me.
...more
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Michael 'Doc' Allred (Also Credited as M. Dalton Allred) grew up in the 60's and 70's and was surrounded with the best in pop culture and a steady diet of music, movies and comic books including the three B's: Beatles, Bond and Batman to the point of obsession.
So it should come as no surprise that he keeps a hand in film and music (He's the lead singer and guitarist for The Gear), but comic books ...more
So it should come as no surprise that he keeps a hand in film and music (He's the lead singer and guitarist for The Gear), but comic books ...more
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