Starman: Bowie’s Stardust Years

David Bowie #1

by Reinhard Kleist

The genesis and nearapocalypse of a rock ’n’ roll messiahIn 1972, the rock ’n’ roll messiah Ziggy Stardust was born. His provocative play on sexual identity and gender roles laid the foundation for David Bowie’s ascent to legendary status as one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. Reinhard Kleist weaves the gripping tale of this dazzling character’s genesis, tracing both Bowie’s hapless efforts on the London music scene before Ziggy’s conception and his struggles with his own creation at the height of his fame. As Bowie transforms himself, ever more dizzyingly, into a self-portrait of an egocentric rock star, his extravagant lifestyle threatens to bring the real world collapsing around his ears.

This publication has not been prepared, approved, authorized or licensed by the David Bowie estate or any related entity.
 

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2021

About the author

Born in 1970 near Cologne.

After school he had an internship at printing and publishing Landpress in Weilerswist Studium at the College of Visual Arts in Münster. There the albums "Lovecraft", "Dorian" and "adventure of a switchman" were created.

After graduation in 1996 he moved to Berlin.
where he worked in a studio. For some years he did workshops, lectures and exhibitions in countries like Mexico, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Jordan, Algeria, Spain, Canada and others, at the invitation of the Goethe Institute or my foreign publishers.

In December 2013, as part of a project for ARTE, he was in a refugee camp in northern Iraq where he I did interviews with Syrian refugees. He did a lot of sketches, and did two workshops with children. The results and photos from the workshop can be seen at ARTE Refugees

In 2011 his comic strip "The Boxer" was published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, which was published in May 2012 in a revised version as a book by Carlsen Verlag.

In 2015, "The Dream of Olympia", the story of Samia Yusuf Omar, was published by Carlsen Verlag and in 2016 was awarded the "Annual Lynx" and the Catholic Children and Youth Book Prize.

Reviews

[Stay]

"There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile"

Bowie has to be one of my favorite artists of all time. It has to be true because I have him tattooed on my body. His music always made me feel things deep in my soul and no other artist has ever made me feel this way.

This was the story of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. There was nothing new or earth shattering secrets we didn’t know about, so it’s the same old song and dance. The illustrations were phenomenal. They made me think of how comics used to be when I was a kid. Enjoyable overall.

[Anna Quilter]

3.5

Attention grabbing because of the subject..but doesn't really say anything new...
More musings on Bowie's activities in the USA...

[Ivy_Lost_inside_Pages]

This graphic novel of David B is great. The drawings epic. Just loved it 😍

[Marijana☕✨]

S obzirom na to da sam prošle godine čitala grafičku novelu o Ziggy-ju Stardast-u koja je bila sveobuhvatnija, Klajstova verzija mi nije ponudila ništa novo. Crtež mi je takođe slabiji, a ono što me dodatno nervira jeste što mi nijedna zapravo nije dala dublji prikaz Bowie-ja kao osobe, nekako je sve bez duše. Poslednja stranica najavljuje nastavak koji će obuhvatiti berlinski period i to me više zanima jer je to moj omiljeni Bowie.

[Murat Dural]

Olağanüstü! Biyografik çizgi roman, 70’ler ve 80’ler. Bowie’yi Bowie yapan her şey. Bayıldım. Kaçırmayın!

[Simay Yildiz]

Çizimler çok güzel ancak David Bowie’nin müziğine, hayatına hakimseniz hikaye pek de doyurucu olmayacaktır; yeni bir ayrıntı veya farklı bir bakış açısı yok.

[Emre Yavuz]

Bowie'yi severdim ama hiçbir zaman büyük bir Bowie hayranı olmadım. Lakin bu kitap, oyunun kurallarını değiştirdi. Yazdığı hiçbir şarkıyı haybeye yazmamış, hepsinin bir anlamı ve sebebi varmış. Bowie'nin Ziggy Stardust yıllarını müthiş vurucu bir şekilde anlatan nefis bir grafik roman. Artık dinlediğim her Bowie şarkısına başka bir gözle bakıyorum ve sanırım artık bir Bowie hayranıyım.

[Sam Caminker]

I still don't know who Marc Bolan is

[André Rodrigues]

3,6

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor]

A good graphic novel about David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era.

[Carlos Eguren]

Aunque me hubiese gustado que echase el freno en algunos segmentos, al menos no se queda en el mero resumen, como sí tenía la sensación que ocurría con la obra de los Allred dedicada a Bowie. Se agradece la odisea onírica que propone en algunos segumentos que, aunque sin extremada originalidad, forman un buen homenaje.

A falta de un siguiente volumen titulado Lowe (como el disco de la trilogía de Berlín), Starman es una celebración que trasciende lo encilopédico para entregar a un artista que nos hizo aguardar a un salvador alienígena llamado Ziggy Stardust, un héroe que acabó suicidándose por sus pecados, los tuyos y los míos. Y así fue como nació una leyenda en la música que todavía resuena en otras artes, como, por supuesto, el cómic.

A falta de una obra maestra en el cómic sobre la vida de Bowie, Starman de Reinhard Kleist no es un mal paso para empezar ese viaje. Aunque puede que, al fin y al cabo, la propia vida de Bowie fuese ese gran cómic.

Lee la crítica completa en la web.

[Monica De giudici]

Kleist non delude, continua a scegliere delle icone della musica e a rappresentarle con gran classe.

Stavolta tocca a David Bowie, o meglio, tocca a Ziggy Stardust. 1972, nasce, cresce e trionfa questo personaggio che viene dalle stelle per dare un po' di gioia e spensieratezza al mondo.

Arriva e dà colore alla vita del giovane David, e anche alle pagine, dove viene rappresentato con i colori e le tecniche che venivano usate nei fumetti americani dei supereroi in quegli anni. I vari flashback in tinta seppia della vita di Bowie si contrappongono ai colori vivacissimi delle tavole in cui entra in scena Ziggy, colori che esplodono poi nei momenti "live" sul palco.

Non manca la vita privata, la famiglia, il fratello Terry, la moglie Angie.. e poi gli Spiders from Mars, i manager e L'iguanone, special guest, mr Iggy Pop.
Ma il protagonista resta lui, Ziggy, eccentrico, sgargiantissimo, affascinante, super sexy. Un personaggio così potente che rischia di fare fuori il suo doppio, David. Ma il gioco è bello finché dura poco e dovrà in qualche modo farsi da parte, per lasciar spazio al nuovo Duca Bianco.

[Dario Lupi]

Credo che le biografie dei musicisti in fumetto non potranno mai essere che noiose rappresentazioni didascaliche.
Perché purtroppo manca la musica. Perché purtroppo non si può raccontare bene il processo creativo senza la materia di cui è fatto.

Bowie è stato una persona molto rilevante a livello culturale, ma in questo fumetto non lo percepiamo.
Non è un brutto fumetto. Ma la storia è sempre quella. Sesso, droga, discografici interessati solo ai soldi, ricerca di se stessi e crisi d’ identità. Che palle. Ma la storia da raccontare di uno come David Bowie, può essere solo questo? I disegni e i colori possono essere riuscitissimi, ma la musica che lui è stato, sarà sempre più di quello che si può trovare sulle pagine di un fumetto.

[Firat Fidan]

Bu dünyadan olmadığı kesinleşen bir starın, David Bowie’nin, şöhret yıllarını, daha çok Ziggy Stardust yıllarını, anlatan müthiş bir ‘graphic novel’. İnsanın varoluşsal yalnızlığına dair anlatılarıyla ünlenen Bowie’nin sahne kostümleri, şovları o kadar güzel ve rengarenk resmedilmiş ki (eğer baby boomer ve X jenerasyonuysanız) sizi gençlik yıllarınıza götürecek. Yaşamı boyunca ayrı kişiliklere bürünen ve özellikle sahnedeyken sanki uzaydan gelmiş bir personası olan, sadece müziğiyle değil, modaya ve pop kültürüne olan katkısıyla da bilinen Bowie’nin ilginç yaşam hikayesini merak ediyorsanız mutlaka okuyun.

[Barbara McVeigh]

Enjoyed this graphic novel biography of David Bowie’s Stardust Years. Learned some new things about being Ziggy, but also wanted to know more about what was going on with the relationship with Iggy Pop and the rest of the music scene.

Some mature content.

[Verytaserum]

Me ha encantado, el dibujo, la historia, todo. Y estoy flipando de que vaya a haber segunda parte *_* genial!!

[Felix]

3.5! like i love david bowie and it was well illustrated so i can’t really fault it much

[Aljoša]

It's been a while since I'd read a comic/graphic novel. It was a fun ride, didn't really learn anything new, but the drawings were nice.

[Damian Knight]

Excellent

[Astrid Inge]

Weinig nieuws in deze fragmentarische graphic novel maar de illustraties zijn zeker de moeite waard. En het gaat over Bowie, dat maakt alles goed.

[Jennie]

I'm a huge Bowie fan so this review will be very biased.

Many are just discovering Bowies music and Ziggy Stardust is what most think of first. Here is the story of how Ziggy arrived.

I dont want to give too much away but the author changed the way I thought about Bowie hitting the music scene. I wasnt born yet but my mom talks about how he was really from another planet; so different, so unique.

The art, mix of black and white with colour, is awesome. Cant wait to read more of his work.

Highly recommended

[Tobin Elliott]

This was mostly disappointing.

For me, if you're trodding over a path already well-worn by hundreds before you, as Kleist is here, have something new to say, have some new insight.

Kleist bends the timeframes all out of whack to try and do that, I think. He's trying to show Bowie as prophetic and fighting the same demons as his half-brother Terry. This tries to be Deep and Meaningful, but instead it comes across as unnecessarily complicated and forced.

The art is okay, with Bowie sometimes looking just like Bowie and sometimes really not.

Overall, I found this rather uninspired and disappointing.

[Catherine]

The art was pretty great, and it’s nicely conceived. I found something about it disjointed, and it was called messianic by another reader un the household. There were a couple new tidbits I learned, but by far not my favorite Bowie graphic novel so far.

[Marc Lippuner]

"Starman. David Bowie’s Stardust Years" ist eine kürzlich erschienene Graphic Novel von Reinhard Kleist, der mit illustrierten Büchern über Johnny Cash und Nick Cave bereits von sich reden machte. Nick Cave soll es auch gewesen sein, der Kleist riet, sich mit David Bowie zu beschäftigen.

Und so widmet sich der Comiczeichner auf 160 Seiten den Durchbruchsjahren des Avantgarde-Künstler Bowie, der mit orangefarbenem Vokuhila und spektakulären Kostümen des japanischen Designers Kansai Yamamoto seinen kometenhaft Aufstieg erlebte: als androgyner, außerirdischer Rock-Messias Ziggy Stardust, der der Menschheit Frieden bringen wollte und Liebe. Die poppigbunte, von Thomas Gilke kolorierte Rahmenhandlung der Graphic Novel ist Bowie letztes Konzert in dieser Rolle: Am 3. Juli 1973 teilte er im Londoner Hammersmith Odeon dem überraschten Publikum und seiner ebenso überraschten Band, The Spiders from Mars, mit, dass dies ihre letzte Show sei. Auf den finalen Seiten der Graphic Novel zündet Bowie seine gemusterten, farbenfrohen Kostüme an und während seine Garderobe in Flammen aufgeht, wird aus Bowie der Thin White Duke mit zurückgegeltem Haar, weißem Hemd und schwarzer Hose, der in "Low", der Fortsetzung der Graphic Novel, nach Berlin ziehen wird. (Ein Buch, auf das ich schon sehr gespannt bin)
Weshalb der 26-jährige Musiker der Kunstfigur, die ihm zu Weltruhm verhalf, den Todesstoß versetzte, erzählt Kleist in sepiagetönten Rückblenden: Bowie, den Drogenexzesse kaputtmachten, der nicht mehr zu sich zurückfand, der von seiner eigenen Schöpfung verschlungen wurde, der Angst hatte, schizophren zu werden wie sein Bruder Terry. Auch diese Geschichte erzählt Kleist, ebenso wie er in kurzen Bildfolgen Bowies Leben vor Ziggy skizziert: Die Prügelei, die sein Auge verletzte, der erste heimliche Konzertbesuch, die ersten Schritte als Musiker, dessen Karriere trotz Megahit Space Oddity (1969) glücklos bemüht blieb, die Freundschaft zu Marc Bolan und Iggy Pop, die frühe Familiengründung oder das Zusammentreffen mit Andy Warhol, dessen Factory entscheidende Karriere-Impulse liefern sollte. Auch Bowies Lust an der Verwandlung greift die Graphic Novel auf: vom braven Mod im Anzug über den dauergewellten Lockenkopf und den langhaarigen Schlaghosenträger bis hin zum fransigen Ziggy-Stardust-Mullet.
Reinhard Kleist hat mit diesen Rückblenden und zusätzlich eingebetteten Illustrationen von Songs einen durchaus anspruchsvollen Weg gewählt, sich dem Phänomen Bowie zu nähern. Will man die ohnehin vorhandene Freude an der Lektüre von Starman noch steigern, empfiehlt sich vorab ein grober Überblick über die frühen Bowie-Jahre: Hat man Bilder des jungen Avantgarde-Musikers vor Augen, wird man noch mehr Spaß an den Details haben, mit denen der Illustrator die ersten 26 Lebensjahre David Bowies lebendig werden lässt.

[Marcin Malinowski]

My journey with Bowie under Kleist’s guidance began with the later Low - David Bowie's Berlin Years. And perhaps that was for the best, because the persona of Ziggy had always put me off a little. I thought: pure form, no substance. Just an attention seeker. I was wrong, of course. The Berlin period, with its experimental art rock and jazz-tinged ambient, felt closer to home stylistically and gave me a way into Bowie’s universe. It was through this doorway that I discovered his extraordinary versatility and ability to reinvent himself over and over again.

I ordered the first part of Kleist’s comic, but Amazon delayed the delivery by more than six months (sic!). Shop at Allegro instead ;-). Still, the delay gave me enough time to explore Bowie’s entire 1970s discography. He took his fans on quite a stylistic roller coaster and emerged unscathed from almost every sharp turn. Jump from rock to soul and funk, then move on to electronic music? Why not? Working my way backwards, I eventually arrived at Ziggy Stardust.

And this brings us to "Starman", whose story is best summed up by the title of the album: "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars". I am not going to explain why it is a Great Album. Even if you do not want to like it, you will surrender to it anyway. The man has talent and drive, audacity and self-awareness. A desire to shock, underpinned by shyness. The inner conflict of someone who lies and tells the truth at the same time.

Kleist did not screw it up. He showed how all these elements germinated and gathered strength. He also showed that artists, once described as weak and sinful souls, open other people’s eyes and ears to new realms. They awaken a sixth sense for experiences that are at once new and primal. Many of us remember getting high on music while stone-cold sober. Even years later, just a few notes can be enough to send shivers down the spine. For Bowie, the first such revelation was a rock concert in a cave. What made him a great artist was that, throughout his career, he took us back there not once, not twice, but many times.

[lekast]

Beautifully illustrated (hence the 3 stars), but the storytelling didn’t work for me. Too fragmented and with too many holes in it. If I hadn’t watched a couple of documentaries about Bowie‘s life, I’d be completely confused. The characters aren’t introduced well at all - someone coming new to his story would be totally lost. Also, the way it’s written, addressing Bowie as „you“ the whole time, basically telling him his own story…it’s original but feels like the narrator is putting himself and his perspective above the subject. Maybe this „voice of god“ is meant to come from Bowie himself (which the second book in this series suggests), but it still annoyed me a lot. I also feel like the author tried a little too hard to emulate Bowie’s writing style, eerie but profound. It wasn’t successful, in my perspective. But, I appreciate the admiration for Bowie that clearly shines through the whole book.

[Cindy]

Na "Bowie's boekenkast" vond ik het de hoogste tijd om ook deze graphic novel uit de kast te halen. Kleurrijke felle bladvullende tekeningen contrasteren met bruin/sepia klassiekere kaders die de flashbacks voorstellen. Ik was blij met de voorkennis die ik had over David Bowie door oa documentaires, want anders zou ik het toch wat verwarrend gevonden hebben denk ik.
De songteksten blijven in het Engels waardoor je de klassiekers herkent, de dialogen doen soms nogal gemaakt aan, maar weet niet of dat aan de vertaling ligt of het beperkte formaat van de tekstballonnen.
Voor muziekfans en Bowie fans.

[Elizabeth Sanders]

Kleist’s artwork is great, especially in its use of color and capturing of iconic Ziggy Stardust looks. However, as an unofficial biography, its more lacking. There’s no source of any information, and so the level of truth represented is uncertain.

[Clint Hannah-Lopez]

The art in this book is phenomenal. It feels like you either need to REALLY know Bowie's story or not know it much at all to get the most out of this. It's broad strokes with a good deal of very specific references. But the art alone makes it worth the read.

[Wout]

Passend psychedelisch en mooie tekeningen, zeker de starman die telkens terugkomt. Door de sprongen in de tijd wel wat lastig te volgen als je niet zoveel van Bowie weet.