Creative Staff
Story: Vivek J. Tiwary
Art: Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker
Lettering: Steve Dutro
What They Say
The Fifth Beatle is the untold true story of Brian Epstein, the visionary manager who discovered and guided the Beatles—from their gigs in a tiny cellar in Liverpool to unprecedented international stardom. Yet more than merely the story of “The Man Who Made The Beatles,”The Fifth Beatle is an uplifting, tragic, and ultimately inspirational human story about the struggle to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Brian Epstein was homosexual when it was a felony to be so in the United Kingdom, Jewish at a time of anti-Semitism, and from Liverpool when it was considered just a dingy port town. He helped spread the Beatles’ message of love to the entire world, yet died painfully lonely at the young age of thirty-two, consumed by staggering ambition and the endless struggles that came with it.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As any artist will tell you: talent isn’t enough. Ambition isn’t enough. Those are important, but to truly become successful in the arts—to make a mark on the world—one needs luck and a little help from the angels. Brian Epstein was The Beatles’ angel. He was a man that unequivocally believed in their talent and their message and he drove himself to his deathbed in his singular desire to bring them to the world. Epstein died at thirty-two, and his life was a mix of almost operatic successes and trials, all of which were eclipsed by the blazing star of his beloved band. As the writer Vivek Tiwary points out in his afterword, very little is known about the man despite his instrumental role in creating The Beatles, and this work—much like Epstein’s—is a labor of love.
It’s impossible to read this work without being moved by Epstein’s life. He faced many prejudices in his short life: anti-Semitism, homophobia, and classism. The world around him seemed to serve as a cage, forever penning him in, preventing him from being who he truly was. The constant strain of hiding his true self drove him to the point of exhaustion as much as his near-manic devotion to his band and this aspect of his life is beautifully associated with the theme of the bullfighter. Epstein was a fan of bullfighting. He found it beautiful and savage, and this love appears time and again throughout the work. He’s clearly a matador—standing in the spotlight, directing the world’s gaze, while at the same time artfully dodging the dangers that threaten to gore him. The problem with living life this way is that one can’t constantly be onstage, performing and avoiding death. At some point a person will become exhausted, lose his footing, or just be a second off, and then the bull wins. Yet when that happens in the book, it’s a moment of transcendence. Sad, yes, but glorious as well.
This is all beautifully told by Andrew Robinson, Kyle Baker, and Steve Dutro. The art in this book is incredible. The use of colors, the command of facial expressions, body language, camera angles, symbols, and typography are excellent. For example, when Epstein first tries to sell The Beatles to a record company, the executive he talks to is positioned above him. The camera angle is set so that he looms over us in the frame. A poster of Elvis from Jailhouse Rock is positioned behind him with the bars quite prominent. In the next panel, we see Epstein facing the camera, but this time the camera is positioned high, so that we’re looking down on him (presumably from the executive’s point of view). This scene is followed by two similar ones showing Epstein getting rejected from a fashion agency in 1956 and getting discharged from the Army in 1952. The same camera angles are used in all three sequences and it does a wonderful job of highlighting his position not only as The Beatles’ agent, but in life as well.
In some ways the art style reminds me of the work of Gabriel Ba and Fabian Moon (which is one of the highest compliments I can give), and this is one of those graphic novels that truly exemplifies the strengths of the comics medium. This is Eisner-level work here and I hope it will be recognized as such.
In Summary
The Fifth Beatle is an amazing book that tells the story of Brian Epstein, the manager directly responsible for The Beatles’ rise to fame. It’s a sad, human, triumphant book about a man imprisoned by the world and how he channeled the fear and frustration that arose from that into helping a band that resonated with him on a deeply personal level. Excellently written, drawn, colored, and lettered, this is an Eisner-worthy title that showcases the best of what comics have to offer. Highly recommended.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A+
Packaging Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: November 19, 2013
MSRP: $19.99
