An illustrated version of the 1969 David Bowie song Space Oddity, featuring Major Tom "sitting in a tin can far above the world", has become a surprise viral sensation.
Canadian illustrator Andrew Kolb conceived of the book as a free PDF to showcase his talents to publishers, featuring colourful, retro illustrations of the astronaut as he rockets away from earth and floats "in a most peculiar way" through space. The ending – "Ground Control to Major Tom, your circuit's dead, there's something wrong" – means it is "maybe not necessarily the warmest, cuddliest children's book," Kolb has admitted, but he posted it for free on his website in August, rapidly receiving more than 90,000 views, along with demands from fans asking to buy physical copies.