Barnaby Legg, Jim McCarthy and Flameboy

Takes Kurt Cobain's story and turns it into a graphic novel. Combines the dream imagery with objective reality. Colour graphics throughout.

Synopsis: This title takes Kurt Cobain's story and plays it out as a graphic novel.From the luminous colours of an idyllic childhood through the flamboyant hues of success and stardom, Cobain's story inevitably declines into a much darker palette. The script draws from the singer's tortured self-image as well as straightforward biographical fact so that the tone of the book fluctuates between subjective dream-state and objective reality.

Paperback 96 pages (13 October, 2003)

Publisher: Omnibus Press; ISBN: 0711997632

Purchase GODSPEED at all leading bookstores,

and also from Amazon.co.uk - follow the link below:

 GodSpeed: The Kurt Cobain Graphic

REVIEW COPIES:
Requests for review copies should be emailed to Helen Donlon at hdonlon@well.com (UK & Europe), or Alison Wofford at aw@musicsales.com.

Alternatively, visit www.musicsales.com

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SEE ALSO: The creation of 'Godspeed'. Click here to see the step-by-step process of how Flameboy produced the artwork for Godspeed.

Some Facts About GODSPEED

Flameboy Comics cannot make any claims on behalf of Barnaby Legg, Jim McCarthy, Ed Chartelier or Chris Charlesworth - The following relates only to Flameboy’s account of the Godspeed project.

First off, thanks goes out to those of you who have bought Godspeed and taken the time to read it - and to those of you who have e-mailed me your comments & support.

Ok, here are some points, which respond to the more commonly asked questions. I hope you find them helpful.

How The Project Started

Godspeed, is the brainchild of Chris Charlesworth (Omnibus Press) and Ed Chatelier. Chris and Ed invited a number of established comic book artists to submit some samples of work depicting Kurt Cobain as a comic book. At this stage a script for Godspeed did not exist.

I was thrown in towards the end as a bit of a wild card due to Ed reading a rough cut of Homecoming. The work I submitted is shown on this page.

It was this very work on which they made their decision. At first I wasn’t sure that a graphic novel about Kurt Cobain was such a cool idea (for all the obvious reasons) but Ed convinced me that it would be a new and different way of keeping the memory of Kurt alive. It was shortly after this that I realised just how many people were unaware of Nirvana or who Kurt Cobain was (Believe me, there are probably more than you’d think). So I decided to accept the project.

The art for Godspeed (which included the pencilling, inking, colouring & lettering) took eight months solid, locked away in a room with no windows & just the music & videos of Nirvana, plus a copy of Kurt’s journals for company.

About Boddah and the way he is depicted:

We tried to imagine what type of imaginary friend Kurt would have conjured up. Initially I looked at cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse & Chim Chim the monkey as they were (we are told ) characters that Kurt liked as a child. I also looked at a Peter Pan type character. In the end I opted for a character that looked a bit like Kurt himself (as I imagined that he probably put something of himself into Boddah) , a little bit Peter Pan and a bit Huckleberry Finn as I also imagined that these characters in some way represented the spirit of Kurt .

Offending Nirvana/Cobain fans?

Finally, I want to set the record straight regarding why Godspeed was created, due to the amount of e-mails from Nirvana fans who seem to be somewhat offended:

It was never intended that Godspeed be taken as 'The Last Word' on Kurt Cobain or that it be taken literally as the gospel truth.

Yes, there will be comparisons to Charles Cross’s book due to the fact that there is a lot of pure speculation in both books: the fact is, no one can ever possibly know the truth about the last few hours leading up to Kurt’s death, one can only imagine. And that is exactly where Godspeed stands. Just IMAGINE.

Also, it was never my intention to cause pain or upset to any relative or fan of Kurt Cobain...but until it becomes painfully obvious that Godspeed was a bad thing to do, I stand by the work I have produced.

Thanks again to all of you who have supported this project, including; Jessie at KDGE radio, Dallas USA, everyone at www.mooch.info/moochv2.html, Bang, NME, Kerrang and Karen & Chris Peach for all their help - plus anyone else who I’ve missed due to the small size of my brain.

Flameboy (Steve Beaumont)

Before you go....

Click here to see the step-by-step process of how Flameboy produced the artwork for Godspeed.

Download some Godspeed and Kurt Cobain wallpaper images. Go to the Downloads page here.

Read some views and reviews of Godspeed on the Reviews page here.

Feedback: Have you read 'Godspeed: The Kurt Cobain Graphic? If so, please send me your comments and feedback:
info@flameboycomics.co.uk

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