‘Who will love Aladdin Sane? Millions weep a fountain, just in case of sunrise. Who will love Aladdin Sane?’ —David Bowie, ‘Aladdin Sane’ (1973).

In April 1973 David Bowie released Aladdin Sane, his sixth album and follow-up to his breakthrough effort, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (davidbowie.com n.d.b). The cover of Aladdin Sane features an iconic image of David Bowie, a close-up shot of the artist with brightly colored orange hair and make-up (see Figure 1).

One of the most noticeable features is the lightning bolt make-up on the right side of David Bowie’s face. This image has become one of the most iconic in music history. Billboard magazine, for example, ranked it #23 on their list of ‘The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time’ (Billboard Staff 2015), while Rolling Stone magazine ranked it #48 on their list of ‘100 Greatest Album Covers’ (Discogs.com 2016).

The cover of Aladdin Sane used a combination of pictorial devices I will refer to as Close-Up Eye Asymmetry (CUE-A). A pictorial device is ‘a visual strategy … used for a particular picture-making purpose’ (Arts Online, n.d.). Examples of pictorial devices include linear perspective, shading, inclined body orientation, and action lines (Carello, Rosenblum, & Grosofsky 1986: 43). Pictorial devices can be literal or metaphorical (Forceville 2016: 91). Literal pictorial devices represent features that are present in the real world, while metaphorical pictorial devices represent features that are not present in the real world (Kennedy, Green, & Vervaeke 1993: 244–250). For example, in a picture depicting a person running, inclined body orientation (which occurs in the real world when a person runs) would be a literal pictorial device, whereas action lines (which do not occur in the real world regardless of how fast a person runs) would be a metaphorical pictorial device (Carello et al. 1986: 43). A key feature of metaphorical pictorial devices is that the viewer experiences ‘one kind of thing in terms of another’ (Lakoff & Johnson 1980: 5). In the running example, the action lines (which would literally depict strings trailing in the wind) are experienced in terms of another thing (metaphorically as path-of-movement indicators, Carello et al. 1986: 41).

Among the various pictorial devices used for the cover of Aladdin Sane is the CUE-A combination of pictorial devices. Specifically, David Bowie is photographed in close-up (the Close-Up part of the CUE-A pictorial device) with asymmetrical lightning bolt make-up around his right eye (the Eye Asymmetry part of the CUE-A pictorial device). Here I will provide preliminary evidence in support of the claims that the CUE-A pictorial device: (1) is a metaphorical device that uses a variety of features, most notably asymmetry, to simultaneously communicate the disparate concepts of ‘ALIEN’ and ‘HUMAN’, (2) is a lexical item in Comic Book Visual Language, and (3) became a lexical item in Comic Book Visual Language due to the cover image for Aladdin Sane.

The Genesis of Aladdin Sane ‘I’m terribly intuitive – I always thought I was intellectual about what I do, but I’ve come to the realization that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing half the time, that the majority of the stuff that I do is totally intuitive, totally about where I am physically and mentally at any moment in time …’ —David Bowie (Murray 1984). Before beginning our analysis of the CUE-A pictorial device and the impact of the cover image for Aladdin Sane on Comic Book Visual Language, it may be instructive to investigate the context that led to the creation of the iconic image. Most of the songs on Aladdin Sane were written during David Bowie’s 1972 US tour (Carr & Murray 1981: 52–56). The album itself has been described by Bowie as ‘Ziggy goes to America’ (Carr & Murray 1981: 52–56). During this tour, David Bowie experienced mixed emotions stemming from ‘wanting to be up on the stage performing my songs, but on the other hand not really wanting to be on those buses with all those strange people… So Aladdin Sane was split down the middle.’ (Pegg 2006: 281–283).

Metaphoric Structure of CUE-A in Aladdin Sane ‘Sits like a man but he smiles like a reptile.’ —David Bowie, ‘The Jean Genie’ (1973). The duality of emotions that David Bowie was experiencing, that of wanting to be on stage playing a character but not wanting to be a part of society, was metaphorically represented on the album cover for Aladdin Sane. An analysis of the structure of the cover image using Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT; Forceville 2016: 91) and Visual Grammar (Kress & van Leeuwen 1996) reveals the metaphoric nature of the image. First, let us consider CMT. According to CMT, a pictorial device can be metaphorical if the viewer experiences ‘one kind of thing in terms of another’ (Lakoff & Johnson 1980: 5), such as experiencing action lines as path-of-movement indicators (Carello et al. 1986: 43). This experience often involves understanding abstract and/or complex phenomena in terms of concrete phenomena (Forceville 2016: 92). Applying CMT to the cover of Aladdin Sane indicates that we experience the concrete phenomenon of ASYMMETRY to understand the abstract concept of ALIEN. Specifically, the literally represented ASYMMETRY of the lightning bolt make-up (the Eye Asymmetry part of the CUE-A pictorial device) is used metaphorically to communicate that the character Aladdin Sane (and, by extension, David Bowie) is ALIEN (i.e., apart from human society, somehow not like the rest us). This metaphor is understood by the viewer partly because our ‘embodied minds’ (Johnson 1987) have experienced, while living on Earth, that the majority of animals, human beings included, exhibit bilateral symmetry (Finnerty 2005: 1174). Therefore, according to CMT, the abstract concept of ALIEN could be metaphorized in terms of the concrete concept of ASYMMETRY. The cover image for Aladdin Sane uses the asymmetrical lightning bolt metaphorically to symbolize the alienation David Bowie felt at the time. An analysis of the Visual Grammar used in the cover of Aladdin Sane leads to additional metaphorical interpretations (Kress & van Leeuwen 1996). To begin with, the perspective of the image is subjective, using both a straight on vertical and horizontal angle. This indicates that the character Aladdin Sane is inviting involvement from the viewer, that he is equal in power to the viewer, and a part of their world (Kress & van Leeuwen 1996). This oneness with the viewer is further communicated by presenting the character Aladdin Sane at a close personal distance (the Close-Up part of the CUE-A pictorial device), indicating that Aladdin Sane is like the viewer, HUMAN rather than ALIEN (Kress & van Leeuwen 1996). Further, the positioning of the lightning bolt, centered near the upper, left half of the image (the Eye Asymmetry part of the CUE-A pictorial device), indicates that the lightning bolt is communicating essential information, specifically that Aladdin Sane is ideal (i.e., like a dream and not HUMAN) and that this information is given (i.e., understood by the viewer; Kress & van Leeuwen 1996). In sum, according to a Visual Grammar analysis, the cover image for Aladdin Sane presents a character that is at once like the viewer and also unlike the viewer, reflecting a duality in the nature of the character. This duality is metaphorically communicated to the viewer by the simultaneous use of close-up and the asymmetrical placement of the lightning bolt over David Bowie’s right eye (i.e., the CUE-A pictorial device).

Aladdin Sane Influenced the Adoption of CUE-A in Comic Book Visual Language ‘… I always had a repulsive sort of need to be something more than human. I felt very very puny as a human. I thought. “Fuck that. I want to be a Superman.”’ —David Bowie (Crowe 1976). Comic books, as an expressive capacity, can be thought of as a ‘visual language’ (Cohn 2013: 3–4; Cohn 2016: 2–3). Like any language, new terms or lexical items can be added to Comic Book Visual Language (Cohn 2013: 23–24). Here I will first present evidence that the CUE-A pictorial device (from here on, simply referred to as ‘CUE-A’) used in the cover image for Aladdin Sane has been incorporated as a lexical item into Comic Book Visual Language. That is, CUE-A has become a part of the language of comic book art. Next, I will present evidence for a link between Comic Book Visual Language and music album art by showing that: (1) David Bowie was familiar with Comic Book Visual Language and could possibly make a contribution to the language, and (2) comic book artists are influenced by art from music album covers. Finally, I will report two lines of preliminary evidence that the incorporation of CUE-A into Comic Book Visual Language is due to the influence of the cover image for Aladdin Sane.

Is CUE-A Used in Comic Book Art? ‘Oh, we can beat them, forever and ever. Then we could be heroes, just for one day.’ —David Bowie, ‘Heroes’ (1977). The simplest way to demonstrate that CUE-A has become a part of Comic Book Visual Language is by an existence proof, providing examples from comic book art that use this lexical item. Figure 2 provides nine examples of a character being portrayed using CUE-A. Interestingly, these examples also demonstrate three distinct ways in which CUE-A can be put into practice. In row 1, CUE-A is implemented by the asymmetrical depiction of a superpower (from left to right: weather manipulation, magnetism manipulation, and psychic abilities, see Figure 2). These three examples are particularly deliberate uses of CUE-A since none of the characters’ superpowers are asymmetrical in nature nor are they typically depicted asymmetrically. In row 2, CUE-A is implemented by asymmetrical composition (from left to right: light and shading, occlusion by a camera, occlusion by a skull, see Figure 2). Once again, the use of CUE-A seems to be deliberate, as there was no need to compose the images in row 2 so that they were asymmetrical around the eyes (even the camera, whose operation requires placement in front of an eye, was depicted vertically so that only one eye was occluded). Lastly, in row 3, CUE-A is implemented by nondiegetic asymmetrical composition. That is, unlike in rows 1 and 2 where the asymmetry was diegetic (in that the asymmetry represented an actual asymmetrical event/object occurring in the depicted world), the images in row 3 implement CUE-A by an asymmetrical composition that is not depicting an actual occurrence in the context of the image (from right to left: soldier carrying woman, lightning bolt, and Witchblade, see Figure 2). These nondiegetic images are perhaps the strongest examples of the use of CUE-A. That is, in the images in rows 1 and 2, one could argue that the use of CUE-A may have been due to a coincidental combination of elements dictated by the needs of narrative and perspective (e.g., how many ways can you show the Joker holding a camera on the cover of The Killing Joke?). However, the images in row 3 had no such restrictions placed on them (i.e., perspective is not dictating the use of occlusion in these images). Another way to demonstrate that CUE-A has become a part of Comic Book Visual Language is by showing that comic book artists are aware of the use of CUE-A in comic book art. For example, when discussing his dislike for the design of the Marvel Comics character Cable, Alex Ross stated, ‘… the design of Cable. I hated it. I felt like it looked like they just threw up everything on the character – the scars, the thing going on with his eye (emphasis added), the arm, and what’s with all the guns?’ (CBR Staff 2006). That ‘thing going on with his eye’ is the Eye-Asymmetry part of the CUE-A pictorial device. In conclusion, these nine images, along with Alex Ross’ quote, demonstrate that CUE-A is used in comic book art and is therefore a lexical item in Comic Book Visual Language.

Was David Bowie Familiar with Comic Book Visual Language? ‘Perhaps the strange ones in the dome can lend us a book we can read up alone.’ —David Bowie, ‘Drive-In Saturday’ (1973). Like any language, Comic Book Visual Language has its own modality (images and words) that express meaning using systematic forms (a vocabulary of lexical items) ordered with a grammar (Cohn 2016: 3). Due to the complexities inherent in any language, it seems unlikely that anyone completely unfamiliar with Comic Book Visual Language could produce a lexical item that was then incorporated into Comic Book Visual Language. Some familiarity with a language seems to be a reasonable prerequisite for making contributions to that language. It seems logical to assume that knowing the structure and rules of a particular language is a prerequisite for making a novel contribution that would be understood and adopted by others. For example, it seems impossible that Shakespeare could have made the contributions he did to the English language (e.g., Shakespeare is credited with inventing 53 English words that are still commonly used, No Sweat Shakespeare n.d.) had he been unfamiliar with the English language. Similarly, it would be more likely that the cover image for Aladdin Sane was responsible for the adoption of CUE-A in Comic Book Visual Language if David Bowie (as one of the producers of the image) was familiar with the grammar and vocabulary of this visual language. Is there evidence that David Bowie was familiar with Comic Book Visual Language? To answer this, we can survey the literature that David Bowie read for the presence of comic books. Specifically, we would be interested in any comic books that David Bowie read that were published prior to the release of Aladdin Sane. These would be the comic books that could have taught Comic Book Visual Language to David Bowie prior to the creation of the cover image for Aladdin Sane. The curators of the exhibit David Bowie Is released a list of David Bowie’s favorite reads (Grace 2013). The books listed that were published before the release of Aladdin Sane included: The Beano, a British children’s comic book first published in July 1938 and currently still in publication ( Wikipedia 2016a Octobriana and the Russian Underground, a Russia superheroine comic first published in the United Kingdom in 1971 ( Wikipedia 2016b Private Eye, a British satirical and current affairs magazine first published in 1961 and currently still in publication ( Wikipedia 2017a It is important to stress that these three sources represent the minimum exposure that David Bowie would have had to Comic Book Visual Language. David Bowie was described as ‘a voracious reader’ who read as much as ’a book a day’ (Grace 2013). If we take David Bowie’s favorite reads as a representative sample of his reading habits, and only consider titles published prior to the release of Aladdin Sane, we can conclude that 5% of the titles he read were comic books. As such, it is highly likely that David Bowie was familiar with the grammar and vocabulary of Comic Book Visual Language. This, in turn, makes it more plausible that David Bowie could produce a lexical item (CUE-A) that was incorporated into Comic Book Visual Language.

Are Comic Book Artists Influenced by Music Album Art? If a pictorial device from music album art was to be incorporated into Comic Book Visual Language, it would first need to influence a comic book artist (i.e., the people that fashion Comic Book Visual Language). Similar to the demonstration that CUE-A is used in Comic Book Visual Language, the simplest way to demonstrate that comic book artists are influenced by music album art is to provide examples from comic book art that pay homage to music album art. Figure 3 provides three such examples (top row) and the album art that they are directly based on (bottom row). Importantly, these three examples cover a wide range of periods in comic book art (from 1978 to 2009), indicating a longstanding influence of music album art on comic book art.