There have been few pop culture figures who loom larger in the public consciousness than David Bowie. Not only did he create some of the finest music of the rock and roll era, but his spectacular visual sensibility and knack for constant reinvention made him, in many ways, the closest thing to a real-life superhero that we've yet seen.

Thus it's only fitting that later this month, Devastator Press is releasing The Official Handbook Of The Bowieverse, a minicomic that riffs on the numerous characters and personas that Bowie created, in a format that pays affectionate tribute to the classic Marvel Comics Official Handbook and DC Who's Who series of the 1980s.

Written and conceived by author/comedian Alex Firer, best known for his work with The Onion and Paste Magazine, and showcasing the illustrative talents of the inimitable Kenny Keil, who last teamed with Devastator on last year's Stay At Home Scarface coloring/activity book, the zine weaves together threads from throughout Bowie's long career, resulting in a fittingly off-kilter tribute to the man's restless creative spirit.

Devastator has provided ComicsAlliance with an exclusive preview of some of the cosmic delights to be found inside the Handbook --- including an actual literal hand, appropriately enough!

 

 

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Here's how Firer describes the idea behind the zine:

As a giant fan of Marvel and DC, I love how a shared universe formed less because of a plan, and more because a lot of artists had a lot of different inspirations. Bowie was one man with a lot of the same, and I love the idea that all of his characters exist in a world better than ours, and also literally ours.

If we took him at face value, Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke were both unbelievable people who existed in our reality. The world is drab right now, but escapism and magic and glam rolling into the world is a beautiful thing…and I wanted to, like the great super nerds of old, document it as much as I could."

The Official Handbook Of The Bowieverse hits shelves on February 15th.

 

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