More than fifty years after his death, Jimi Hendrix is still universally praised as a man who forever altered music, and set the bar for every fretboard maestro and six string virtuoso who followed in his wake. He was, for want of a better word, a genius and even though he only released three studio albums during his lifetime, their impact is still being felt half a century after he departed this realm, and his fanbase larger, and more rabid, than it has ever been. 

Hendrix’s music has, for all intents and purposes, transcended the boundaries of mortality, time and space, which is where Purple Haze, the first graphic novel based on his work, picks up the baton and begins to weave it’s tale of a man who was destined to stand tall against the forces of universal oppression. 

Casting Jimi as a twenty third century musician famous throughout the galaxy who has embarked on seemingly never ending tour to bring peace and harmony to a universe ravaged by war and the jackboot of imperial and corporate domination and greed, Purple Haze plays out like an Arthurian myth rewritten as a space opera, as Jimi’s quest for his musical holy grail and the key to freedom unfolds,

It’s a psychedelic odyssey packed full of sharp, vivid characterisation and story telling courtesy of Mellow Brown and DJ Ben Ha Meen, and Tom Mandrake’s art is a jaw dropping journey into the heart of human imagination, dripping in gorgeous detail and brought into being by his vivid and striking use of colour. Purple Haze may be based on the subject’s music and lyrics, but it’s so much more than that, hopefully it is just the opening act in what could very well become a retro science fiction cult classic… Tim Cundle

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