Gay artist turns Madonna, Björk and Kate Bush album covers into comic books and they’re out of this world
Liam Alexander’s Comic Book Project turns iconic musicians into heroes. (Liam Alexander)
The Comic Book Project recasts Madonna, Björk and Kate Bush as heroes from comic books, one album cover at a time.
Gay artist Liam Alexander began his project in June 2018 with a comic book cover based on Björk’s 1993 album Debut.
“I’ve always had a love for the artwork in comics and graphic novels ever since I can remember,” he told PinkNews.
“I’d never attempted working in this style before and one day I was just sketching while going through an intense Björk phase and the two seemed to fit together.”
In the months that followed Alexander worked his way through all nine of Björk’s studio albums, including his favourite album Vespertine.
Each of the artworks includes references to its respective album’s track list, music videos, the era’s hairstyles and B-sides.
After wrapping up his Björk series with her most recent effort, Utopia, Alexander moved onto Kate Bush beginning with 1978’s The Kick Inside.
“I’ve loved Kate Bush for as long as I can remember,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I grew up with my dad playing her music on a loop and I was always fascinated by her.
“I was lucky enough to get to see her live on the Before The Dawn tour in London a few years ago which was the most incredible concert I’ve ever been to.”
As well as drawing from Bush’s own work, Alexander took inspiration from comics elements such as Batman’s Gotham City and Bush’s one-time collaborator Prince.
At the moment, Alexander is working through Madonna’s 14 studio albums beginning with her self-titled debut.
“I fell in love with Madonna during the Ray of Light era, delved into her back catalogue and have loved her ever since so this collection was always going to happen,” he said.
He is currently just over halfway through the series, having released his cover for Music last week.
So far, he says that Bush’s The Dreaming, Björk’s Post and Madonna’s Erotica rank as his favourite efforts.
In the future Alexander plans to dive into Tori Amos’ discography (his favourite artist of all time) having released a cover for her early band project Y Kant Tori Read as a teaser.
He has also previously illustrated FKA Twigs’ LP1 as a one-off, and plans to add the singer’s recent sophomore collection Magdalene to the series in the future.
Janet Jackson is another priority, as well as Missy Elliott, Robyn and “maybe Kylie at some point”.
All of Alexander’s Comic Book Project covers are available to purchase as prints on Etsy.
