I enjoyed this book and found it really eye opening into Marilyn Monroe's life. I didn't really know much about her before reading this other than the fact that she was an actress and I (like everyone) had seen the iconic photo of her in the white dress. This graphic novel is beautiful and I really liked the art style.

***** SPOILERS BELOW ******

The story itself opens with an insight into Norma Jean's mother's life and from the very beginning it becomes clear that life isn't easy and there are challenges in the families life. Norma is passed around from person to person and at one point is even placed into an orphanage. Her mother and grandmother both have mental health challenges which result in them being hospitalised during their lives. Being young, Norma is unsure what is happening in her life other than that no one seems to want her and she keeps receiving unwanted attention from boys and men because of her looks and her chest developing quickly. She is forced into a marriage when there is no one to care for her which leads to her being very unhappy as a housewife with no connection with her husband. During the war, he becomes a soldier and she begins her modelling career after a photographer noticed her at her work. An agency picks her up and convinces her to get a divorce in order to develop her career. After this she is picked up by fox and begins her movie career. During this time she is told to change her name, henceforth Marilyn Monroe is born.

Marilyn has many marriages and is in and out of love with various men, some of which are abusive or controlling. This causes her to spiral into abusing anti-depressant medication and drinking. During one of these relationships, Marilyn experiences multiple miscarriages (we learn she has endometriosis which she has surgeries for) which further worsens her mental health and substance abuse. She accidentally overdoses and ends up being hospitalised at one point with little support from those around her. Her death was very sad and sudden and is still speculated about today: was it suicide, accidental overdose, or were The Kennedy's involved in an assassination?

Marilyn Monroe is still an icon today but I feel like many of us do not know her full life story nor her struggles. It just goes to show that you never know what someone is going through even if they appear happy and successful.

The artwork of this novel is stunning and did such a great job rendering Hollywood's stars in very accurate portrayals. I only know the basics of Marilyn Monroe's history, so I can't agree with the accuracy of it, but it provided a lot of details and seemed to stick true to her story. Marilyn, born Norma Jean, grows up the daughter of a single mother who suffers from mental health issues. Shuffled between relatives, friends, and foster care, Norma Jean dreams of becoming a big star one day. Getting married at 16 in order to escape her home life she continues to struggle throughout her short life time. Hoping to make it big she changes her name and spends her days running from one studio to another asking for roles trying to be a star. Jumping from role to role and man to man, Marilyn became a well loved star who died too early. Her infamy continues on, Unfortunately because this is a Europe Comic title I can't purchase this for our library.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for a copy.

A quick and easy read, I learnt more of Monroe's childhood than ever before. There are criticisms on Goodreads of this being only a snapshot but honestly as a graphic novel I feel this is expected. Take it with a pinch of salt and if you wish to learn more than google is your friend.

Marilyn Monroe is such an interesting character. I am not going to lie; I didn’t know much about her before reading this book (kind of the reason why I chose to read it). I have read another book in the series: Charlie Chaplin, and I have to say, I liked the graphic novel about Marilyn Monroe more.

The story is, hence, nothing new as it is a biography but I thought it was well presented. I never felt lost as to where in the story we were and I loved the drawing style. It is really cute and colourful, very fitting to illustrate Marilyn Monroe I think. We follow her from her when she was born to the day she died. Bernard Swysen pictured her as quite a nice person through the graphic novel, though sometimes I thought she didn’t really care about the people who did everything they could for her. What I liked the most about her is that she gave everything to fulfil her dream and did not care about money, refusing contract and proposal that didn’t follow her principles. She really is a star of history. She paved the way for many women in the acting sector.

I recommend this book. It is a fun and entertaining way to learn about Marilyn Monroe, though it will not go in great details about the events that happened.

4/5

An excellent depiction of the life of Marilyn Monroe. Spanning the course of her life, readers get an inside look to Marilyn's struggles to make it big in Hollywood and the eventual fallout that fame has. The artwork is beautifully done, doing justice to the legend that is Marilyn Monroe. This book is a must-read for any Marilyn fans or anyone interested in old Hollywood.

That comic book was beautiful. I love to read about strong women, and they're interesting stories. I really like this book and I'm sure I will recommend it to my audiences.

It was so accurate, I read on her life before and it was so accurate, the graphics were stunning. Overall really enjoyed it, would love to read more by this author.

This biographical graphic novel of Marilyn Monroe’s extravagant, glamorous but also sad life certainly captures some of the key highs and lows of a Hollywood starlet. Showcasing some of her most iconic poses, dresses and dramas, I really felt like I understood Marilyn’s life even from her childhood and some of the motivations behind her decline.

I really like the illustrations; the style feels very much in keeping with the period and was a bold choice which wasn’t at all delicate in its approach, which is brilliant. However, I did find the prose quite difficult to feel compelled to keep reading. I understand and appreciate some of the points the author is trying to make, particularly surrounding Marilyn’s mistreatment in the industry, in her relationships but also with the psychological damage miscarriage and endometriosis caused her to endure. I think actually the author should be commended for capturing this quite so well, but I still found the delivery to be a little dry and this hugely detracted from my enjoyment.

Regardless, I can see how this series of stories about celebrities will be insightful for a lot of readers who are fans of those people. But, for me, my interest in Hollywood and fame is pretty mediocre at best so I won’t dabble in further instalments for now.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting and great way to know more about this great icon that became known to the world and that to this day is still remembered; I thought the art was very cool, the composition suited me, without a doubt the time (decade) in which the work takes place is reflected.
It's a good way to learn more about this icon, if you don't know anything about it, this is a great way.

I received this advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn’t wait to read this. I love comic books/ graphic novels and I enjoy reading about the stars “of old”. Now Marilyn Monroe is one of best known names from that era. What comes to mind when someone says her name? To me, it’s the platinum hair, the beauty mark, the “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” and the white dress from The Seven Year Itch (1955). But she was so much more than that.

We learn many things about Marilyn while reading this. She had a horrible childhood, which was way worse than I thought. She was abused (and possibly raped) before the age of 14. She was married off by her legal guardian at the age of 16 (because she didn’t want to bring Marilyn with her?!).

We see her going to work, becoming a model, fighting to get contracts and roles. We see her love of reading. I love that she wanted roles that had substance instead of the “blonde bombshell” roles she kept getting. She founded her own film production company, she took method acting classes, she won a Golden Globe. We also see the attention her private life gets from the media, including her marriages, her divorces and her death.

Now, as Marilyn Monroe had such a complicated and interesting life, 100 pages definitely wasn’t enough to convey all of it. I was expecting her life being divided more or less evenly (1/3 childhood, 1/3 from her first marriage to being a star, 1/3 troubled times to her death). Perhaps that’s the logical part of my brain talking. There was too much on her youth, though it explains her background very thoroughly, and there was not enough about her death and investigation. The timelime wasn’t quite clear, but at least it didn’t go back and forth.

Even though I thought there were a few issues as previously mentioned, I would still recommend this graphic novel. It is a great introduction to who Marilyn Monroe was. I am also interested in reading other books from the series The Stars of History (Charlie Chaplin, Brigitte Bardot). It is also worth mentioning this series is originally published in French (Les étoiles de l’histoire) and his other series La véritable histoire vraie (Attila, Dracula, Hitler) could be interesting as well.

The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe has already been published by Europe Comics.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe, is a fantastic biographical story about Marilyn Monroe told in comic book style. This book is the first in this series that I have read but it won't be the last.
I loved the whole idea of this book. It made it more endearing and fun to read than the usual biography type books. The artwork is fantastic and links greatly with the era of the story.
This book shows the highs and lows of Marilyns life, loves and career. The story starts when Marilyn is a small child. Even then she felt alone and unloved.
This book exposes the sleeziness and dark side of Hollywood and how unfairly Marilyn was treated as well as her fears, heartbreak, insecurities, unforfillment and increasing addictions.
I've always been fascinated with Marilyn Monroe and often ponder on her death.
I'd have loved to read more about her suffering of endometriosis as I too am a sufferer of this.
I did have a little cry at the end when I read the eulogy read at her funeral.
Thank you for such an amazing book - its one I really want to get a copy of in paper to cherish forever.

In the Stars of History, the life of Marilyn Monroe is summed up and presented through art. Marilyn has a very complex and long history for her short life, so this is a tricky story to sum up. It follows the star from her birth family to her stardom and eventually to her passing.

While it covers a great deal, there are some time jumps in the story that I would have found jarring if I had not read other biographies about Marilyn before. The dialogue could also use a bit more work to sound more natural. The art was nice to look at and captured many of Monroe's iconic costumes and looks well.

Overall this was a great concept and a good effort to bring Marilyn's story to life, I just felt it could have had a bit more detail to connect certain moments in Marilyn's life to make the story stronger.

This is a fascinating graphic novel, telling the story of Marilyn Monroe. The book is a good introduction to her childhood, rise to fame and career. The artwork is good and manages to tell her story without overwheming the reader with too much text. It is an amazing story of a woman who believed in herself and her abilities, despite the challenges of being a woman in the the film industry.

The novel focuses on the well known aspects of Marilyn's life. It is a graphic novel and so it is somewhat limited in how much can be told, but I think it did a pretty good job. I enjoyed reading this because I didn't really know that much about Marilyn Monroe and I think this has a way of providing a thoughtful introduction. She was clearly a fascinating woman and a life lost far too early. The reader is left wondering what might have been.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I learned a lot about this famous figure reading this graphic novel. They had a rather tough childhood, and things didn’t get better in early adulthood for them either. Yet at an early age it was clear they had something that was really special. They went to Hollywood where sadly things were challenging in the beginning. Over time though they got some roles that made them a star forever. The final days of this legend were tough to read about, but their legacy still lives on to this very day. Fans of this actor will want to check out this graphic novel.

It's hard to tell a person's life in 100 pages. It's even harder when you're telling the story of Marilyn Monroe... So... yeah... this was not great. The art was ok, but the thing that bugged me was the time jumps. Some panels have dates but most doesn't. It's confusing.
I can't figure out the age demographic for these comics, it's not for kids or young teens, that's for sure (there's mentions of drugs and alcohol, there's also nudity) but at the same time it's too childish for adults...

"Stars of History - Marilyn" provides an interesting overview of Marilyn Monroe's life. While many events are skimmed over, and some important details only hinted at, the story still manages to provide a great summary that I would easily recommend to someone only starting to learn about the legend of Marilyn Monroe.

I loved the artwork used here which gave an easy look into the life of a Hollywood icon however the rushed execution from the 3rd act onwards left alot to be desired. Nevertheless I would count this one as an easy breeze read..

This graphic novel traces life of Marilyn Monroe.
Right from her childhood thus it tries to cover less touched aspects of her life.
Everyone knows about her stardom and beauty. But few works are devoted to her struggles and resolve to succeed.
Various aspects of her personal life are described.
Artwork is wonderful. She is illustrated as beautifully as possible.
A good illustrated biography of the beauty queen.

There are books and graphic novels I like in concept that absolutely fail in execution. The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe is absolutely one of those books. I love Old Hollywood, and I've always been fascinated with Marilyn Monroe so a graphic novel exploring Monroe's life should be amazing. This, however, is just insulting. Bernard Swysen pretends to be interested in the nuance of Monroe's life, but he gives a plot synopsis of her life instead of diving deep on anything. You get no depth of Monroe, no insight into her psychology, nothing about her interests or ambitions or pain. This graphic novel is just like reading her Wikipedia page, and that page is probably better sourced! (The version I read did not include a bibliography.) And the artwork! Frankly, if I were Marilyn Monroe, I would be insulted by a creative team who pretends to be interested in me as a person but illustrates me as the stereotype I hated. Every biography I've read about Marilyn Monroe makes a distinction about Norma Jean the person and Marilyn Monroe the star. It was a character she could play, turning it off and on and being able to pass as a normal person on the street if she wanted to. Bernard Swysen and his team have no concept of this, and it shows. Marilyn Monroe deserves a hell of a lot better than this effort.

This takes an honest look into Marilyn Monroe's life, exposing the harshness of Hollywood and how the glamorous life portrayed on the screen is just a facade. I loved seeing this story from her point of view, getting a glimpse at what's going into her head, and how she just wanted to be taken seriously.

Also, Frank Sinatra sucks.