Bowie as Comic Book Art
If you’ve been following the conversation on the Facebook event, you’ll recognize this link to art by Luke Yates. If not, it’s a debate about whether or not We Can Be Heroes steals his idea. In 2009 and 2011, he had Bowie/comic book shows called We Are The Dead. Sounds the same, right? If you associate comic books with superheroes, it’s close. I don’t read comic books so superheroes to me are in the movies.
First off, no, I didn’t steal the idea. I was listening to Bowie and thinking about the words and the idea of Bowie as a superhero seemed exceedingly obvious and exceptionally fun for an art show. Second, it’s not the same. His work is specifically comic book covers featuring Bowie or Bowie song titles. We Can Be Heroes is more specifically Bowie portrayed as superhero (fictional or imaginary). Finally, ideas flow through culture and bubble up at different times. I’ve found other Bowie comics and other Bowie superheroes, and so much fan art it’s amazing there aren’t annual Bowie shows happening around the world. It’s understandable when an artist wants to defend his position as the originator of an idea. Of course, that ignores the influence culture has on the creator. I recommend watching Everything Is A Remix for more on this.
I didn’t know about Luke’s art back in March when I was first thinking about the show. I found out about it after I did the call out for submissions and someone from Seattle sent me a link to his work. I reached out to Luke to submit but, for whatever Facebook setting was or wasn’t checked, he didn’t get the message. I hope he submits, it can only make the show better… but I understand if he doesn’t. Check his work out here >
