Picture This

Even as someone who collected mountains of comic books when I was a kid, I’ve been hesitant to fully embrace graphic novels. The concept is enticing but based on my limited experience of glancing at them on shelves in stores or paging through the monthly preview publication I buy, many graphic novels revel in extreme violence and a twisted view of women. No doubt there are exceptions. The bulk of my graphic novel purchases honor famous musicians rather than super heroes. Rock stars seem particularly well-suited to being brought to life via this adventurous medium. 

The recently released Blondie - Against The Odds from Z2 Comics offers an eye-popping, colorful depiction of the band’s history. It briefly explores Debby Harry and Chris Stein’s childhood days, as well as the bands they performed in before striking gold with Blondie. The rest of the book offers about a dozen well-known Blondie songs recreated by various artists and writers.

Z2 Comics took a similar approach with its graphic novel treatment of The Doors, although Morrison Hotel was written by Leah Moore, with various artists illustrating her words. In both books, some vignettes get pretty violent, but Against The Odds is much more cohesive and fun. “Dreaming,” “Rapture,” “Sunday Girl,” and “Hanging On The Telephone” are particularly imaginative. I’d love to see Z2 take on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, with back stories on The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Hollies. 

One of the best alternative rock graphic novels is Bowie - Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams by Michael Allred, Steve Horton, and Laura Allred. Published by Insight Comics, it not only depicts Bowie’s multifaceted career with fabulous art, it includes snippets of Pink Floyd, Freddie Mercury, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, The Rolling Stones and Monty Python. Also highly recommended are The Fifth Beatle - The Brian Epstein Story by Vivek J. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson, and Kyle Baker Bill and Bill Morrison’s The Beatles - Yellow Submarine. Of course, meeting Klaus Voorman at Fest For Beatles - Chicago a few years back and buying an autographed copy of his terrific Birth Of An Icon - Revolver 50 makes it my favorite graphic novel.