A book cover titled “The Beatles in Comic Strips” featuring a colourful illustration of the band. John Lennon is in the foreground wearing a red jacket and glasses, with the other three members behind him.

A great new book collates The Fab Four's comic book appearances

Words: Rob Alderson
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Date: 31 August 2012; Work
Illustration

There are certain barometers of fame – being known by your first name only, having an airport named after you and I think it’s fair to say being given a cameo in a comic. The Beatles were co-opted into graphic form hundreds of times and now Enzo Gentile has collected more than 200 of these appearances into his new book The Beatles in Comic Strips. What’s fascinating is to see how many different styles they’ve been reproduced in, from retro 1960s aesthetics to Futurama and how cultural cornerstones capture the imagination in such different ways.

A comic book cover titled “The Beatles Story” features an illustration of the band performing on a yellow stage. They are surrounded by a cheering crowd and psychedelic shapes, with large portraits of the band members framing the top. — Above
Beatles Story 4, 1978

A comic book cover for “Batman” no. 222 from June. Batman and Robin look on as a four-piece band approaches, with a gravestone marked “R.I.P.” in the background. Robin holds a record sleeve titled “Dead Til Proven Alive”, which features a drawing of the band. Speech bubbles read, “Here they come!”, “One of them is dead... but which one?” and “The clue is on their album cover!”. — Above
Batman 222, 1970

A black and white comic strip titled “Jhon Lennon” by Karen. The panels depict a stylised version of John Lennon ascending to heaven and interacting with St Peter and God. The dialogue is written in a phonetic, non-standard dialect. — Above
Il Male, 1980

A comic strip page with colourful panels depicting the making of the film “Yellow Submarine”. The top panel shows a group of figures, including the Beatles, standing beside a yellow submarine. Lower panels feature stylized characters and portraits of the band members with Italian text. — Above
Tutto Musica & Spettacolo 1988

A comic book page featuring psychedelic illustrations and text boxes. A large, stylised portrait of a person wearing red-rimmed glasses dominates the lower half, surrounded by swirling, colourful patterns. — Above
The Invisibles 1994

A comic strip page in Italian featuring a fictionalised version of the Beatles, referred to as the “Bleatles”. The panels show the band arriving at a crowded party, surrounded by excited fans and guests. — Above
Playboy’s Little Annie Fanny, 2010

An illustration of the Beatles from behind, wearing colourful military-style jackets and trousers. Above them, the words “THE BEATLES” appear in bold red lettering. Below the figures, text reads “di Raffaele Ciccaleni” and “LATO SIDE EDITORI”. A small signature reads “GUIDO CREPAX”. — Above
The Beatles by Raffaele Ciccaleni, 1981

A collage illustration of a city at night, featuring a glowing “Cinzano” sign and a statue of an angel. Several portraits of a person are layered over the scene, accompanied by handwritten notes and blocks of text. — Above
Voodoo Child. The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix, 1995

A comic book cover titled “Robot Robin Hood” shows a red-haired person and a grey robot watching a television. On the screen, four alien figures with antennae are posed like a pop band, with a speech bubble reading “...Meet the Beetles!”. — Above
Futurama 25, 2006

A comic book page titled “Beatlemania” shows the Beatles leaping through the air in blue suits. Below, panels depict crowds of fans and police officers struggling to maintain order. — Above
Beatles Story, 1978

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

A great new book collates The Fab Four's comic book appearances

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