As a passionate David Bowie fan, I always appreciate when his work is explored in writing. However, I’ve encountered instances where inaccuracies or personal opinions overshadow the subject matter, which can be frustrating. Bowie’s persona, often seen as an alien-esque, superhero rockstar, combined with his incredible artistry, lends itself beautifully to this medium.

Unfortunately, I found some aspects of this graphic novel challenging. The primary issue for me was the font used. While I understand it's a common choice in the graphic novel world, the spacing between the letters made it quite difficult to read as someone who is Dyslexic. I still struggled with the readability very much.

Additionally, the storytelling felt a bit disjointed. The middle sections included factual snippets about albums and songs, which came across as more like Wikipedia entries rather than conveying Bowie’s narrative. This shift led to a loss of emotional engagement that I had hoped to maintain throughout the book.

On a positive note, the artwork and illustrations are stunning, and I appreciated the message about finding joy in simple things towards the end. However, the graphic novel ultimately felt somewhat incomplete due to the repetitive information and font readability issues. I had high hopes for what promised to be a wonderful exploration of Bowie’s artistry, and it’s disappointing that the execution didn't quite match the vision. Perhaps this writer's style isn't the right fit for me, but I appreciate the effort that went into this project.

This graphic novel was ok but transitionally wasn't as smooth as other other bio graphic novels I have read, like The Twilight Man from Koren Shadmi.

I didn't connect with transitions back and forth from the interviewer to a third person narrative, and sometimes it was unclear what characters were portrayed and their relevance to Bowie during this period of his career.

David Bowie was a fascinating man who feels right at home within the pages of a graphic novel. Rather than charting his overall life and career, this graphic novel zeroes in the Berlin era and, even more specifically, the recording of "Low" and "Heroes". What's most notable about this era is Bowie's shedding of the various personas that he had embodied during earlier albums. This makes for a very interesting time in his life on which to focus, however, this also limits its audience to those already somewhat familiar with Bowie's career. Throughout reading this graphic novel, I kept thinking to myself that it felt more like a sequel than a stand-alone story. I can certainly understand the writer's desire to focus on such a pivotal time in Bowie's life, but the comic would've benefitted from more background on the time leading up to the Berlin era.

Simone Pace's art does an excellent job of transitioning between trippy, grand visuals and quieter, character-based moments. Brian Feschi's narration can feel a bit dry at times and I couldn't help but wish that he had leaned more into the naturalistic dialogue that I thought worked much better to convey the thoughts and actions of the characters.

All-in-all, I have mixed feelings about this graphic novel. It was good for me. Anyone more familiar with the life and career of David Bowie will likely appreciate the focus on such a key time in his life. Anyone less familiar with the details of his life, may want to do a bit more reading on his earlier years before diving into the Berlin era.

This wasn’t the book I was hoping for and I’m not sure who it’s exactly for. If you look at the cover it’s not immediately clear that it’s a Bowie book that is focused on the Berlin era only. Sure you can tell it’s Berlin era Bowie from the look of the cover, but with the space stuff in the background, it’s giving “Space Oddity” or Ziggy Stardust. If you’re going to introduce Bowie, I’m not sure if the Berlin era is the best way to introduce a new listener to Bowie, unless they’re really into Kraftwerk or Brian Eno. A better introduction would probably be focused on the years 1969-1973. Or heck, the Thin White Duke blue eyed soul era is more approachable and mainstream in sound. Plus if you’re going to introduce people to Bowie, you should explain the background by setting the scene better, and introducing all the people involved properly. The writing wasn’t informative enough for a newbie and for longtime fans there wasn’t much detail. I would have liked to have seen more focus on the albums’ themes, but everything was explored in such a surface level way and the narrative structure was not very good.

The saving grace was the art. I think the style was pretty good and fitting for Bowie, but there are some issues I have with attention to detail like David Bowie being depicted with heterochromia. He did not have heterochromia. He had anisocoria, which is when one pupil is larger than the other. He got this condition because he got punched in the eye as a teenager. Making careless mistakes like that are a pet peeve for me because that is a fact you could easily Google and it’s been dispelled many times. I did see some spelling errors like Warszawa being spelled with an I at the end and Mary Hopkin’s last name as “Hopkins”. I guess copy editors aren’t always experts in classic rock so that’s why that mistake got missed.

It pains me to give this a low rating, but I’d give it a 2.5/5. The art saves the book, but to a point. The writing leaves a lot to be desired. It was a quick read, but not an essential read I’m afraid.

I knew from reading the description that this was about the Berlin years, but you don’t get that from the cover or title, and the book doesn’t take enough of a stance about why it uses this framing. I wasn’t clear on who the journalist was and no most of the illustrated people were.

This was a quick and interesting graphic novel about a relatively brief period in Bowie's life that gives readers an opportunity to gain some insight into what he was going through and what some of his thought process was while they were producing the albums "Low" and "Heroes." I enjoyed the illustrations, but some of the writing did fall a little flat for me. The font choice also wasn't great and made it a bit difficult to read.

As a Bowie fan, I went into this book really excited, but honestly, it left me disappointed. While the illustrations are undeniable unique, the overall structure felt disjointed. The book jumps between different photographers and eras without much flow, and instead of feeling like a cohesive tribute, it came across more like a random scrapbook or a dumping of random thoughts.

The anecdotes from photographers were hit or miss for me—some were engaging, but others felt like filler and didn’t add much insight into Bowie himself. I also found the layout a bit overwhelming. At times it felt more like a showcase than a true celebration of Bowie’s artistry and evolution.

It’s a an impressive-looking book, with a cool cover but for me, it didn’t have the emotional pull or clear vision I was hoping for. If you’re hoping for a more thoughtful, connected portrait of Bowie, this may fall flat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gemini Gift Books Limited for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review and opinion.

I was excited to read this as I don’t know a whole lot about David Bowie though I do enjoy his music. Focusing on a specific time along his creative journey seemed like an easy way to learn more about him.

While I enjoyed the art work, I had a hard time with the font frequently. It might have been easier if I were able to use the Kindle app instead of the NetGalley reader but I’m not sure. The flow of the graphic novel was difficult to read at times with time jumps that weren’t well marked.

I’m also now questioning the accuracy of a lot of this book as Bowie’s iconic eyes were not the correct colors throughout. It may seem like a minor detail but it is a well known, noticeable detail that skipping leads to suspicions of overall accuracy.

Thanks to NetGalley for an arc copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm not a big Bowie fan so when I saw this graphic novel I thought It would be a fun way to learn about him. I didn't like the graphics, however, the story seemed to drag a little in the middle. Still had a great time, though

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. Unfortunately, I hate it.

DNF @ 43%

I was really hopeful going into this graphic novel. I’m a big fan of David Bowie, so I was thinking this would be a hit… unfortunately it was a massive miss for me. While I loved the bright colors of the illustration, the style was not my favorite as it felt inconsistent. The font that was used was hard to read at times because of the slant of the letters as well as the spacing between the letters. I would have preferred a more typical graphic novel/manga font for improved readability.

The plot itself just didn’t work for me. I’m not sure why the book started with the focus being on the journalist. Seemed like wasted time considering the graphic novel isn’t that long. I’m also wondering why the author chose this time period of Bowie’s life. Since this isn’t a series, I was a bit confused by that choice.

My one MAJOR complaint that led to me DNFing… Davie Bowie is literally drawn with a brown eye. It made me completely question the author’s motivation for this graphic novel as well as if the author is knowledgeable enough to be authoring a graphic novel about David Bowie… or perhaps just didn’t care enough? It was so incredibly distracting, especially since I feel David Bowie’s eyes are pretty iconic due to him having anisocoria (causing a dilated, fixed pupil).

Ive been a big fan of David Bowie for awhile. I really love the story and pictures that helped the audience understand who was David Bowie himself. The only thing I wish is that I could of sent the graphic novel to kindle so I could enlarge it better.

This is a detailed one, for true Bowie fans, and focuses on a specific time frame. I had expected a general biography so this was a nice surprise. A bit niche for me, but still a delight for Bowie fans that I will keep in my pocket for reader's advisory.

As a long time David Bowie fan, I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Much of what was covered I did know from watching various documentaries over the years. I do think that this is such a short glimpse into the life and career of such an iconic musician and artist that its title is quite misleading. Based on the title and cover I assumed it was a biography. This is not a story of David Bowie's life or his career but merely a snippet in the middle. This graphic novel is a love story to Berlin and Bowie's relationship with the city and what it did for him and Iggy Pop when they were struggling.

I did really enjoy the art and the consistency and dedication and making sure that David's eyes were two different colors. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to choose only a portion of Bowie's life and career to create a short story about, but overall this was pretty good.

Fun artwork and a quick read. As a huge Bowie fan, I enjoyed the concept, but it’s not something I’d add to my personal collection.

I have a pretty deep knowledge of Bowie. I’ve read many biographies, liner notes, fan pages, and more throughout my 20+ year fandom, so I was primed and ready to love this. But as other reviewers have pointed out, the narrative structure is near impossible to follow. I don’t understand why the years keep jumping back and forth from earlier influences, to his time in Berlin, to slightly before Berlin, to interviewers who are not named. The art style seems to vary a bit as well, so other than Bowie and Iggy Pop, it was hard to visually distinguish all the male characters from each other.

I really was excited to read this, but I DNFed around 35%. I have no idea what is going on. I think this book may have worked better in a straightforward chronology with flashbacks clearly demarcated with a color shift or something.

Contributing to the difficulty in reading the overall narrative structure is the formatting on the Netgalley ebook that may or may not be in the final edition: a very thin font that requires a lot of zooming and squinting to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Gemini Books Group for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

2/5 stars
Pub date: November 6, 2025

This started off ok but started to lose me halfway. I love David Bowie and listened to most of his music for a good chunk of a year straight back in high school. I found it interesting to learn about his life and how he created some of the albums but this book just didn't do it for me. I enjoyed some of the art but overall I'd rate this 3.5/5⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-ARC

I love David Bowie. The legacy he left behind is incredible. It was fun to take a deep dive into some of his seminal records. While I don't think this would be a good graphic novel for anyone just being introduced to Bowie, I do think that any die-hard fan would love this.

Thank you to negalley for the advanced readers copy.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review. I promise my review is 100% accurate to me.

A wonderful biographical illustrated novel about a time where Bowie went to find himself, with guest appearance by Iggy Pop. It's a fascinating time of his life where he has lost himself within his reinvented personas and trying to find himself again

David Bowie was perhaps the most talented
musician of all time.
He lived a life beyond the ordinary
A life beyond compare
Bowie changed the world with his music
That can only truly be said about
a handful of artists.

If you like David Bowie this is a fun short graphic novel to read! The colors were vibrant just like the man himself! Good story to add to your collection feel it could have been longer 😀