Very informative, detailed and rich - a really interesting read of the life and character of a legend.

A flyover approach to Jimi's life. Very surface level with little insight and lots of dream / drug sequences.

I quite enjoyed this magical mystical look at the life of Jimi Hendrix. It's by no means an in-depth biography; it's more of a memoir written by someone other than the subject, hitting highlights of his life, with some fictional elements added for flavor - third person historical memoir fiction maybe? At any rate, this was interesting and groovy, with fabulous, vivid art. If you don't know much about Hendrix, this is as good a place as any to start (though I recommend following up with a more traditional biography), and if you're already a fan, this offers some thought-provoking postulations with a more spiritual bent.

#HendrixElectricRequiem #NetGalley

3.5★ Hendrix: Electric Dream tells the life story of a guitar legend, Jimi Hendrix. I didn’t know his story before reading this graphic novel. From his childhood in the South and early exploration of music to his later music carrier. As a child, he had a vivid imagination and often retreated to his own mind. He had a tough childhood. His mother was an alcoholic who died too early. The story is intertwined with many dreamlike states. Besides his life, we get a glimpse into his mind as well.

This was an interesting biography, although not too detailed. Colorful illustrations give you a sense of Jimi’s rich and colorful world. He was another music legend that left us too soon.

Thanks to Ablaze for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

Interesting graphic novel, with gorgeous illustrations. Deeply evocative of a time period, and a fun read for all Hendrix fans.

I had a lot of fun reading this graphic novel. Each section told a different part of the life of this guitarist, and how they slowly became a legend. We saw the challenges they faced along the way and how Jimi refused to let these challenges bring them down. As this graphic novel came to a close music was changed forever by this guitarist.

Good art and I learned some things about Hendrix I hadn't known before, but the addition of the "supernatural" elements was clunky and didn't add much to the story here - with better execution and blending into the tale, it could've been really cool.

There are some things you always have to have in graphic novels that present a biography of musicians. You probably have to have pages and pages of it not going their way, and/or an awkward upbringing. You probably have to have them having meaningless sex. You quite assuredly have to have them tripping, causing the artwork to bring out all the old stereotypes. And you definitely, definitely have to have some stoopid way of representing the music floating across the page and into their ears, or from their instrument of choice. The good thing to report about this look at Jimi Hendrix is that it breaks that rule – there is no naff music representation getting in the way. And everything else it had to have, as on my list, it actually does remarkably well. Could this be called a mould-breaker?

Well, no. Not exactly. And for all my dislike of the visualised music trope, Jimi stood on a plastic chair, showboating in front of him out of The Who, with no cables or amps in sight, looks naff here. The book has a great way of not telling you who anyone is – stars kvetching in the mid-60s about Jimi's prominence and talent don't exactly look like stars you know, and a (bizarrely potty-mouthed) TV interview is with A.N.Onymous.

But the narrative is still done better than many in the genre, taking us from his days as a toddler when he'd never met his father, to his mother dying of the bottle, to him as a hard-working jobbing musician, to – well, if you don't know the rest… And a lot of this, as I say, is superior to the norm for these books. I have to say I could take or leave a fantasy quest idea that seems to follow Hendrix from young childhood into adulthood and far beyond, for it only gets in the way too often. I didn't take to the voodoo, Cajun religion framing device. But the book definitely gains brownie points when highlighting the downfall of the man at the end – the hubristic, druggified attempts at new bands after new bands, when the finest rock trio of his time had been killed off by his drugs and his ego and his contrariness and everything else. Other books reach the peak and pretend nothing else ever happened.

These books are supposed to hinge on your love of the subjects, with the more appreciation for them you have, the better you find them. I think this might be a rule-breaker in being an inverse to that law – a Jimi adorer could easily be seen to take against some of this, with someone completely on the fence like me enjoying it a lot more. So devotees might want to look away now, but I as an outsider thought this a very strong example of its genre, and one stretching its capabilities (albeit not with its tongue behind its back, etc…).

'Hendrix: Electric Requiem' by Mattia Colombara with art by Gianluca Maconi is a graphic novel biography of the life of Jimi Hendrix.

Jimi Hendrix was a musical genius, the likes of which we may never see again. This graphic novel is a look at his life, from his childhood in the South with a mother addicted to alcohol, to his rise to fame playing with his unique flamboyant style to his untimely death.

It's a flyover approach to a life, and some of it feels more fictionalized than other parts, but it flows nice and it's got cool art.

Jimmy Hendrix is one of those musicians I know of, know a few songs by, but never really got into. There's so much about his life I knew nothing about and it was interesting to read it, especially as a graphic novel. The art fit the era very well. Now I'm going to have to check out on songs.

I love reading biographies in the form of graphic novels. I've never been well-informed on Jimi Hendrix, but this was an interesting, informative read. However, I wasn't a big fan of the art style, though that's just a personal preference. The start and end were slightly confusing, where Jimi was already dead. Like it was framing his life. However, it was still a good, easy and quick read.

My thanks to Diamond Book Distributors Ablaze for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘Hendrix: Electric Requiem’ written by Mattia Colombara and illustrated by Gianluca Maconi. It was translated from the Italian by Micol Beltramini.

This engaging graphic biography undertakes a trip into the life and mind of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. It is framed by Jimi being escorted by two guides, representing his ancestors, to meet Baron Samedi. He asks the Baron if he is dead?

The loa confirms that he is dead, though currently in transition in a place that he may call limbo that exists inside him. He then opens a book (presumably an account of Jimi’s life) and invites Jimi to cross the threshold….

From then on we return to Hendrix’s birth in 1942 and his formative years growing up during the Jim Crow era. He eventually discovers a love of music, initially as a jobbing guitarist. He later achieves global superstardom along with adopting the excesses of the rock star lifestyle that led to his death in September 1970, aged only 27.

The book concludes with Hendrix meeting his two guides, who lead him to Baron Samedi before setting off on his next great adventure. The final panel brought a tear to my eye.

The authors finish with a select bibliography and notes on how they approached translating the events of Hendrix’s life into the graphic format, indicating that each of their chapters was planned to be similar to a song on a concept album.

This was never intended as a comprehensive biography and to me it felt more like a series of snapshots of a life: as the title indicates a requiem. Very much fitting the book’s framework of a post death reflection before moving on. There is also symbolic interludes scattered throughout.

I knew very little about Jimi Hendrix’s life before reading and especially appreciated the inclusion of Baron Samedi and the journey of the soul following physical death.

Overall, I found Hendrix: Electric Requiem an impressive work of graphic nonfiction, especially Gianluca Maconi’s stylised artwork, which I felt worked well with Mattia Colombara’s words. The use of colour throughout was very striking, providing in some cases a surreal experience. Memorably Jimi looks out from the page asking the reader: ‘Are You Experienced?’.

As a biography it was really interesting. I felt like I learned a lot about Hendrix. The art reminds me of the manga XXXHolic. The characters have very long legs and arms. It is overly exaggerated, but still looks really good. I do not know a lot about Hendrix so I am not a good judge of accuracy.

4 stars

Learned some things I didn't know. It was very gritty and a little bit depressing if I'm being honest. Definitely not recommended for kids or young/immature teenagers. Sex, violence, death.. etc

Hendrix was a famous guitarist — a musician that was known by everyone. His music was and still is compelling. To understand his music, it helps to know his biography. In this graphic book, his life starts with living in the south and it’s racism. You see the exorbitant lifestyle of a rockstar. He always remembered his past never forgetting his home. The book is an excellent look at his life. I only want to know more about Hendrix after reading this. I will be listening to music that he played. I am glad I read this book as it reminded me of a musician I had not thought of for some time. The illustrations are well done for Hendrix.

It is a beautifully illustrated work that captures the electric force of Hendrix’s music and personality, but it feels like half a story at times. I would have liked to know more about how Jimi fell into drug addiction.

I guess I know why this book is the way it is. My guess is that the author wanted to make it accessible and was struggling with giving the topic a narrative arc. The result, however, is that this is not a non-fiction work, no matter how much we are told it is or how much of a bibliography there is on the back. Not only that but the pacing is all over the place, with the beginning feeling like a fantastical story that is in place to tell us something new about a rock legend, and the back end feeling like a bunch of factoids thrown at the page.

There is merit in this story, however, I did think that some of the creative choices made were great ones, if taken out of this context and into a more appropriate one. I also thought the illustrations were clean and interesting and the paneling was engaging.

It was just too much to try to make it a biography on top of an entertainment piece, especially for it being a graphic novel, but I do applaud the effort.

A wonderfully illustrated graphic novel detailing the life and journey of acclaimed guitarist Jimi Hendrix. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys graphic novels and who is a fan of Hendrix or classic rock music.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free graphic novel.*

I have to start by saying that I am not a Jimi Hendrix expert, I love his music and I know a bit about his life, but not enough to really judge how well done this graphic novel really is. Nevertheless I really enjoyed reading this, it starts with Jimi's family (Cherokee, African American) and his upbringing, how he came to love music, his successes, his losses, his drug abuse, and his death. There is always a fairy tale / fantasy layer and it is well connected to songs / his music, I really liked this. It is well drawn, but I disliked Hendrix being drawn as a monkey, I don't know, it feels wrong, and slightly racist, but I am sure that is not how it was meant to be.

If you are interested in Jimi Hendrix, pick up this graphic novel.

4 stars

This was such a fun way to learn about Jimmy Hendrix!! I absolutely loved it. Love the graphic style, love how it’s a tiny bit dark, but I feel like the vibes surrounding him were a bit dark and mysterious, so this was kind of great at captivating that about him. Overall, a must have for any graphic novel fan or a JH fan.