Posthumous Bowie Tributes Include ‘Bloom County,’ a Baby Penguin and God

David Bowie's work moved millions of people — across creative disciplines, and from all walks of life — and the varied outpouring of public tributes that's sprung up since we received word of his passing offers a testament to just how widely his influence is felt.

Crowds gathered yesterday in London's Brixton district, where Bowie was born and raised, and spent hours honoring his legacy in a variety of ways, from laying flowers at a public mural depicting him in his Aladdin Sane guise to breaking out in a mass singalong that evolved into an amplified gathering capped with fireworks and dancing. And the marquee at a local theater was altered to read "David Bowie, Our Brixton Boy, RIP."

In Cincinnati, staff at the city's Zoo and Botanical Garden asked Facebook followers to help them name a baby penguin born on Jan. 8. Faced with competing cries for either Bowie or Elvis — both of whom share a birthday with the bird — they opted for the former, since, as the Huffington Post notes, they already have a king penguin named Elvis in the building.

Cartoonist Berkeley Breathed, meanwhile, offered his own Bowie tribute in an installment of his recently revived Bloom County comic strip, which has been running online since returning last year. It depicts hard-living lawyer Steve Dallas — often the butt of jokes — showing up to a Bowie party dressed as Ziggy Stardust, only to discover his friends have all arrived in Thin White Duke regalia:

Not all tributes are created equal, as the showrunners behind the U.K.'s version of Big Brother discovered when they opted to air footage of Bowie's ex-wife Angie dissolving into tears after receiving the news of his death. "I haven't seen him in so many years, I can't make a big drama out of it," she's seen saying. "It just feels like an era has ended with his passing. I'm just so very sad ... Stardust is gone." The show has been roundly criticized for the segment, although the network insists Angie Bowie will be given "appropriate support ... if needed."

Arguably, the ultimate Bowie tribute comes from God — or at least the person or people behind @TheTweetofGod, the humorous Twitter account that Consequence of Sound notes was the last one Bowie followed before his death. As the news quickly made the rounds, the account tweeted a sweetly brilliant response:

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