“Space Oddity” by David Bowie was rushed-released by Phillips in the UK and Mercury in the US on 11th July 1969, nine days before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. The song is celebrated in art by screenwriter and illustrator Todd Alcott, a creator of comic designs that echo mid-century modern periodicals, and a remixer and updater of pulp magazine covers.
“Space Oddity” re-imagines the classic 1969 David Bowie song as a 1950s-era science-fiction comic book. Plenty of Bowie references are strewn about, from “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Aladdin Sane,” and, for the eagle-eyed, “Heroes.” Bowie’s wife, Angela, also makes a cameo appearance. (The watermark does not appear on finished print).
In addition to his art skills, some downthetubes readers may recognise Todd Alcott as a Hollywood screenwriter, with credits across 30 years including Antz and The Hudsucker Proxy (look out for him in cameo – he says he’s a terrible actor, though). But in a recent interview with the website Pure Honey, who gave him their Artist of The Month accolade back in April, he speaks more fondly about his visual output.
“It was so incredibly difficult to find any artistic satisfaction in being a screenwriter,” he commented, “where I would spend months or years working on screenplays that never got produced,” Alcott says. “It was well-paying work but incredibly hard to get a job and then no guarantee that any of my work would ever see the light of day. With the visual art, I could make it at my desk, post it on the internet, and sell it immediately, which was so much more gratifying.”
Todd’s recent work includes a Cryptid Playing Card Set, recently featured on the cover of the summer wholesale catalogue his publisher, The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.
Each card features a different cryptid or legendary creature as the star of its own magazine cover – from the elusive Bigfoot, to the equally as elusive Yowie, to the also extremely elusive Mothman and beyond. Whether you’re playing a game or flipping through for fun, these cards are full of mystery, myth, and a whole lot of style. Just be careful the next time you Go Fish – you might catch the Loch Ness Monster…
Todd has also been working on a graphic memoir for a while, titled Model Home, sharing pages on his social media. It’s a pretty harrowing account of his life, particularly chapters addressing a complex relationship with his father, who walked away from working in advertising in the Mad Men era, after his idea to transform marketing and selling of paperback books was ignored by his employers. Todd describes life after that with no punches pulled, and what he has posted in recent years makes for a powerful read.
Rush-released as a single to capitalise on the Apollo 11 Moon landing, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie received critical praise and was used by the BBC as background music during its coverage of the event, until someone realise how dark the song’s lyrics were, and refused to give it air play until the astronauts had safely returned from their mission.
The single finally had chart success in September 1969, becoming Bowie’s first and only chart hit for another three years, and went on to win Bowie an Ivor Novello award.
• Todd Alcott’s “Space Oddity” print is available here from Etsy
• Ephemera: The Cultural Mashups of Todd Alcott is the first collected volume of Todd’s song pieces. Collects over 100 of his most popular pieces
• Find Todd Alcott on Facebook | Instagram | ToddAlcottGraphics at Etsy
Head downthetubes for…
• Pure Honey’s full interview with Todd Alcott
• DavidBowie.com – David Bowie Official Site
• In 2009, Jeremy Briggs took downthetubes readers through the entire Apollo 11 mission as it was presented to children in comics, magazines, storybooks and through toys, from launch on 16th July to splashdown on the 24th July. Read his first feature here and follow the links for the rest of his articles
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Art and Illustration, Comic Art, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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