'Starman' by Reinhard Kleist
Reinhard Kleist’s graphic novel is focused on that point when David Bowie leapt to stardom with the theatrical, androgynous sci-fi of Ziggy Stardust. “Ziggy showed us all that our personalities have so many more facets, that we carry more creatures within us, than we believed possible,” proclaims a text panel that speaks for many of us.
Kleist’s kinetic drawings snatch at the energy of rock concerts as the panels peel away to reveal telling aspects of Bowie’s past. Young Davy Jones grew up in dull suburban Bromley, but London was in reach via the Tube. There, in the early ‘60s, he saw jazz at the Flamingo and rock at the Marquee and soaked up influences ranging from Little Richard to John Coltrane and Jack Kerouac. Did he take “it all too far” in the words of “Ziggy Stardust”? Bowie always had the insight to realize that “Changes” were essential. Unlike many of his fans, he never got stuck in time.
