Mike Dawson
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New Tier: Freddie & Me "radio edit"
🕑 Added 2021-07-08 14:46:33 +0000 UTCIn 2008 I published my first significant work, Freddie & Me: A Coming-Of-Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody. A 300+ page memoir ostensibly just about my lifelong obsession with the band Queen and their legendary frontman Freddie Mercury, but really the book is about much more than that: childhood, family, siblings, high school, romantic jealousies, creating an identity for oneself, and really, really, the book is about the nature of memory. How we construct and reconstruct it, and the stories we tell ourselves.
When it came out it got some very nice pull quotes:
“Dramatic, affecting...the memoir features interesting passages dealing with the nature and reliability of memory. Drawn with care and affection, the images in Freddie & Me are charmingly individual.” —Contra Costa Times
“Rawkin'...undeniably contagious…for Fans of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Dawson's black-and-white artwork is smoothly paced, fluid caricature in the vein of Joe Sacco or Alex Robinson, and his narration neatly evokes the hyperdramatic worldview of a teenager. Anyone who was ever obsessed with a creator will recognize the whimsical story.” —Publishers Weekly
"A gently nuanced autobiography...[filled with]candor, sweetness, and emotional insight. For teens who have found one particular song or singer to provide the theme music for their lives, as well as for budding artists, Dawson’s story is, indeed, rhapsodic.” —School Library Journal
“Graphic novels rarely come more deeply personal than Dawson’s autobiographical chronicle. Anyone who has ever obsessed over a music icon, be it rock group or charismatic crooner, should identify with Dawson in this poignant, charming memoir.” —Booklist
There were a few others, but they seem to have been lost to the not-so-permanent-afterall sands of the internet.
The book went out of print a few years ago and all the rights returned to me, so for a while now I've been deliberating, what to do with Freddie & Me.
I drew this book between 2005 and 2007-ish, and have made a lot of comics since then (so have become a stronger cartoonist), so part of me felt like, I should redraw it. And the book is so earnest, maybe I could fix that, make it less sincere and uncool... I had a few stops and starts attempting to get some traction with that, and I learned, you really can't go home again.
I could just leave it alone, I think people can still find copies online, usually amazon has one or two, and there's eBay... but I've noticed a curious thing: every now and then somebody I encounter tells me that their kid really enjoyed reading Freddie & Me, and that they've re-read it multiple times.
This surprises me every time. And it makes me think, whether or not I feel 15+ years later like the book is perfect, there are readers out there who still connect with the story. If any of you have read the book, you might know, the idea of reaching out through art and making a connection, is actually a central concept to the comic. However imperfect, however sincere, however earnest, those connections are real. I would like for this book to have another chance to reach its audience.
While I was making The Fifth Quarter, I developed a handwriting font of my own that I really like. So I've settled on a plan. I am going to re-letter Freddie & Me, and while I'm there, I will lightly revise and edit my text, as well as trim some things and make some cuts here and there, just to tighten things up a little. I won't redraw anything, I will keep the book as close to its original incarnation as possible. I'll call this, the "radio edit".
I will be posting new pages frequently, until the book is done. And then I'll see about getting a new edition back into print.
Thankyou for supporting me!
Comments
Mike Dawson
Awesome!
John Reynolds
Definitely count me in as a purchase to the "radio edit" version!
Mike Dawson
Thanks for the vote of confidence! I think tightening up/tweaking the script but essentially keeping the book roughly the same is the way to go :)
James Kosmicki
that sounds like a fair compromise - it's a solid read and the status of FM has only risen since. Use the FM to pull them in, and let the power of the story (for the reasons you list above) give them content. I can't imagine that Bloomsbury had much entry into the school book fair market, and that's where a book like this is going to hit a solid market.
