Queen en BD

Pop Rock en BD

by Emmanuel Marie (Writer), Various (Drawings)

Brian May, Roger Taylor, and Freddie Mercury form one of the greatest rock bands in the world. Under the leadership of its charismatic singer, Queen is a planetary success for each hit with its decadent shows, inimitable aesthetics, and style. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” or even “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” are just some of the hits! Discover the great stories and little secrets surrounding the legend!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Music, Comics, Biography, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Adult

176 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2021

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of the format of the "Pop Rock in Comics" series -- short comic strips of five pages by 17 different illustrators of key moments, each followed by a text piece that rehashes and slightly expands on the strip -- but I keep checking the books out of the library because they always appeal to my nostalgia by covering the history of the bands and singers I grew up listening to.

This is a nice overview of Queen that, like the recent biopic, focuses heavily on lead singer Freddie Mercury. It's not deep, and the artists vary wildly in styles and the ability to capture likenesses of the real people involved, but it gets you in the mood to put on a Queen playlist or check out some old videos.

[Hadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific book!

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queen in Comics is a nostalgic dive into the history of a band that ruled my high school years. I had Apple Music at the ready with a playlist of their songs and albums as I read—it really brought the experience to life. Each chapter has its own artist, and while some styles clicked with me more than others, they all did a solid job of telling Queen’s story. The text sections felt a bit redundant after reading the comics, as it delivered about the same depth/info as the strips. But overall a fun read that gave me a fresh appreciation for just how versatile, professional, and one-of-a-kind Queen really was.

[MKF · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the cover drew my attention and I wished the creators of this book used that artist for the whole book. Instead each section has a different artist and many of them were terrible and ruined the book for me. Nothing like seeing such amazing artist drawn in such terrible ways especially the childish and cartoonish and not a good cartoon.This is why I prefered the history parts at the end of each of the sections insted of the comics. Still worth reading if you're a Queen fan but know that there is another comic about Freddie that is a bit better.

[Jennifer Ingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and interesting read about the band Queen. The chapters are organized in chronological order, basically focusing on one album release at a time. Each one is authored by a different artist, so it’s particularly interesting to see the varied depictions of the bandmates. Along with each comic, there’s a two-page spread of text and photos providing more information on that moment in time. I learned a lot about Queen and come away from this book in awe of their musical genius.

[Tanja Schöttl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thorough portrait of the band and its development

[Kyla · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a Queen fan, I was eager to dig into this pastiche biography. The artwork is lovely, with each artist’s style highlighting a different part of the band’s history. However, the un-illustrated portions are poor in quality. Whether this is an issue of translation or of editing is unclear. What is clear is that I found the bad writing and font choice (which kind of “hides” certain punctuation marks) to be so off-putting that I nearly abandoned reading the book more than once. If you choose to read this book, stick to the illustrated portions.

[tony dillard jr · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[MK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize that today was Freddie Mercury's birthday when I finally picked it up and stayed up late to read it. The book is divided into sections, with a different artist taking on each one. The first few styles aren't that different so I didn't even realize at first. It was nice that as the book went on there was a unity as there wasn't a style that was wildly different unlike other books in the series, but enough to make it interesting.

The book focuses mostly on Freddie, which shouldn't be a surprise but I would have like to have seen a little more of the childhoods of the other members. It's a small quibble though, as it hits all the important moments in the evolution of the band and at the end of each section the deeper dive we get on the section was very informative. One talked about Roger Taylor's solo career, which I had no idea of.

In all, a wonderful look at one of the most seminal bands in rock. Great primer for anyone who wants to know more about the band.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Prince's biography first and after reading Queen's now too, I realize the one thing I dislike about them is the back and forth between comics and prose. I want one or the other but not both. It disrupts the flow rather than punctuating certain elements that I think is what it attempts to do. In addition, having multiple illustrators for the graphic chapters is just as distracting.

Either way, learning about Freddie Mercury and the impetus of the band Queen and their ascension to pop stars across the world leaving behind some of the most enduring sports songs (Champions, Rock You) and Mercury's vocal range, or their choices for their record covers, and how he kept his HIV status a secret until he couldn't any more is all worthwhile of exploration. It's the format in which it's done that I'm not the biggest fan of.

I learned something and that's more of what matters.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the books left over from award committee, partly because the book was published for adults although ther is really nothing in it an older teen couldn't handle. In my old age, Bohemian Rhapsody has become one of my favorite songs, and I had forgotten I had this book. I found the bio interesting, although I admit that some of the parts that were very detailed about deciding who to get to play and what to record, I did skim. I was much more interested in his personal life. Illustrations and text were well integrated, and I loved the longer narrative between sections.
Just one of usual segues: I grew up reading comic books, along with anything else I could get my hands on such as cereal boxes, etc. I still get furious at parents and teachers who think graphic novels aren't reading. The segue is over for today.

[Dana Berglund · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first book from the biography series, and though I enjoyed and learned from some parts of it, I didn't love it. I love Queen, I love Freddie, but I don't love the format. There are 20 different chapters/sections, with a few pages of text and a few pages of comic that cover very similar events and information. Each section is illustrated by a different artist, which makes for sometimes challenging "reading" of the comics, figuring out how they visually represent everyone. It also made it very repetitive. It was originally published in French, and I also felt that there were some translation issues.
Some sections were both visually interesting and informative, but not enough for me to want to read others in the series.

[Kindle Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about a band I love but I wish the whole book has been done in the same style as the cover. The cover is gorgeous and I expected the same artist to draw the graphic novel part but it’s actually chapters done by a new artist each time.

The organisation was also a bit strange in my opinion: for each part you get the graphic novel bit, followed by 2/3 pages of text that go over the same time period you just read (with some additional details.) Sometimes the back and forth on the timeline was a bit confusing and other times this choice made for too much repetition.

Overall a nice way to learn more about the band and to get to hear some fun stories…

[Alisha (booksmellz)]

The history and making of the world famous band, Queen, in graphic novel form.

This is a great graphic novel about the highlights of the band Queen’s journey.

I enjoyed having bits in graphic novels and then covers in regular text format - it allowed me to read and get more about the band than one tends to get while reading a graphic novel.

Queen is one of my mom’s favorite bands, so it was nice to kind of read up on them more to see their history. Freddie Mercury is a legend.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The one-of-a-kind rock band is profiled in this fun and informational graphic biography. Each section, representing a different phase in the life of Freddie Mercury and the band, is done by a different comics artist, representing a wild variety of styles.

Thankfully, text sections are included for more in-depth profiles of Queen's bombastic career, so the expositional dialogue doesn't get too over the top, which is a common pitfall in many graphic biographies.

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different artistic/author hit on the highlights of the journey of Queen. Focusing on the good and the bad, a realistic timeline is created. The different styles of art sometimes are a little "off putting" but also is an interesting way of presenting. In between the chapters there is a factual recap, more information and even photographs of what was happening, people and places mentioned.

[Ryan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This may not be enough for hard-core Queen fans, but for those (like me) that like their music and am intrigued by stories of musicians, it’s an entertaining read. Combining spreads of expositioanary text with short comics that retell times, this seems to be a decent overview of Queen’s history. Both the text and the comics were serviceable, if not special.

[Blane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Superficial graphic approach to the history of Queen. I noticed several time line and photo caption inaccuracies, so reader beware. I suppose it is an acceptable entry point for someone with little background knowledge of the band and an interest in learning more in an easy-to-digest format.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read, interesting to see the different drawing styles, although takes away from the continuity. Also the text chapters between the comics alternate between redundancy and providing relevant context.

[Jennifer T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art style in this decent biographical history of the rock band Queen.

I’m using this for my 2025 popsugar reading challenge prompt “a book where music plays an integral part of the storyline.”

[Jessica Nish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five solid stars! I loved that 17 artists took a go and each contributed a section to the book. What also made it nice was the longer description that would follow each of the illustrated sections. Queen is the best and I had a great time watching their music videos for the first time.

[Ron Frampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history and making of the great band QUEEN.

[Samantha Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Of course, I cried.

[Andre Renovato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for any fan of good music!

[Steven Ridgely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderfully well written.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining read as I am a fan of Queen's music. I enjoyed the fact that several artists contributed to the story.

[Tania · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a quick & fun read.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and love the different art styles throughout. I liked the tie bits they put between each section. Queen forever lives on!

[Harry Turbide · Rating 5 out of 5]

magique tout le long. les dessins incroyables et l'histoire du groupe me surprend à chaque fois repose en paix freddie mercury

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good! Twenty artists came together to illustrate a segment of Freddie Mercury and Queen's career, each followed by a more detailed narrative.

Loved this book.