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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
De vijfde Beatle is een prachtig getekende graphic novel over Brian Epstein, de manager en degene die de Beatles heeft gekregen waar ze geeindigd zijn, als sterren. Het is ook heel mooi geschreven, we leren van alles over Brian Epstein, zijn visies, zijn plannen, over zijn pillen die hij gebruikte om zijn homoneigingen te onderdrukken (zijn dokters woorden, niet de mijne), over hoe graag hij gewoon zichzelf wil zijn maar dat niet kan in Engeland van die tijd, over hoe echt alles deed voor de Beatles, en meer. Ik vond het razend interessant om de Beatles te zien groeien, maar ook om meer te weet te komen over Brian.
En aan het einde is er nog wat meer informatie over het boek en een aantal concepttekeningen en schetsen waar ik erg blij mee was.
Aanrader!
En aan het einde is er nog wat meer informatie over het boek en een aantal concepttekeningen en schetsen waar ik erg blij mee was.
Aanrader!
geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
The Fifth Beatle is a graphic novel about Brian Epstein and how he became the manager of The Beatles. It's told at times in a surreal fashion, and there is even a character that may or may not have even existed. This is told in an afterword of the book by Vivek Tiwary, who weaves an interesting story about a man that so few no much about.
Brian Epstein was from wealth, and this allowed him the ability to find this band and help boost them into legendary status. By promoting singles, and even buying large numbers of them to help promote them. By creating the clean cut look of the early band and by just believing in what they could do. Brian was also gay in a time when that was taboo. There are secret meetings and affairs, even a hinted at dalliance with John Lennon. And there are the prescription narcotics that Brian used, and abused, and which ultimately led to his fate.
It's told so well, and the art by Andrew C. Robinson is absolutely gorgeous, transporting the reader right back to the 1960s from the opening panels of a rainy, gloomy Liverpool, right through to the end of The Beatles as a band. Of interesting note is the strange adventure the band had touring the Philippines, which was a horrible adventure. It's told here in a similar style to the old Beatles cartoon series. Good story, great art, and I'm glad I got to read it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.
Brian Epstein was from wealth, and this allowed him the ability to find this band and help boost them into legendary status. By promoting singles, and even buying large numbers of them to help promote them. By creating the clean cut look of the early band and by just believing in what they could do. Brian was also gay in a time when that was taboo. There are secret meetings and affairs, even a hinted at dalliance with John Lennon. And there are the prescription narcotics that Brian used, and abused, and which ultimately led to his fate.
It's told so well, and the art by Andrew C. Robinson is absolutely gorgeous, transporting the reader right back to the 1960s from the opening panels of a rainy, gloomy Liverpool, right through to the end of The Beatles as a band. Of interesting note is the strange adventure the band had touring the Philippines, which was a horrible adventure. It's told here in a similar style to the old Beatles cartoon series. Good story, great art, and I'm glad I got to read it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.
posies23's review against another edition
5.0
An interesting look at Brian Epstein's life, highlighted by gorgeous art and an interesting script. Clearly a "labor of love" for its creators, it's surreal at times, and heartbreakingly real at others. I remember a lot of "hype" about this before it was released, and I'm happy to say it was worth the build up.
unladylike's review against another edition
4.0
This was a gorgous, well-told story. In the afterward Vivek Tiwary explains how obsessed he's been with the Brian Epstein story for decades and is currently turning this graphic novel into a film screenplay. He also mocks standard legal disclaimers and says that almost everything in this book actually happened. Which really makes me wonder more about the various surreal, hallucinatory? panels throughout the book. It never says exactly what drugs Epstein was being prescribed, or what evidence there was that influenced some of the bizarre things we see from his perspective. That's what I want to know in some follow-up discussions.
I'd absolutely recommend this book, even to folks like me who only casually care about The Beatles, for their impact.
I'd absolutely recommend this book, even to folks like me who only casually care about The Beatles, for their impact.
rebus's review against another edition
3.75
I've never felt any great love for the Beatles and didn't think they stood for any progressive politics--they were indeed tools of the establishment and mere liberals--but I have heard all of their work and read a couple of biographies and do find the story somewhat interesting in terms of the marketing and sales of records. This story, however, is almost pure myth and reveals things far more unsettling than what Andrew Loog Oldham said were the 2 great marks against Epstein from society (yes, being gay at that time was awful, and no, being Jewish has NEVER affected their financial situation, being the richest people AND religion per capita on earth).
Epstein did things that were time honored in his cultural tradition. While a very sad and lonely nice guy who popped a lot of pills--give the authors credit for not covering that up in the manner of films like Ray or Cash--he also cheated, lied, and manipulated in order to make the Boys a success. He inflated their chart image by buying up singles in the thousands (and even 10s of thousands) for his record shop, engaged in other forms of accounting trickery, and basically bribed Ed Sullivan to get the lads the headlining gig on that show (Ed was less than impressed and thought them more of a Fad Four than fab).
The dialog also doesn't ring true, suggesting that the Boys all spoke in clever and cheeky phrases littered with song lyrics, and the entire graphic novel suffers from its own professed desire to be more myth than fact.
It's a good read, informative about a lesser known figure in the tale, and has exceptional artwork. It's just not the masterpiece everyone made it out to be.
Epstein did things that were time honored in his cultural tradition. While a very sad and lonely nice guy who popped a lot of pills--give the authors credit for not covering that up in the manner of films like Ray or Cash--he also cheated, lied, and manipulated in order to make the Boys a success. He inflated their chart image by buying up singles in the thousands (and even 10s of thousands) for his record shop, engaged in other forms of accounting trickery, and basically bribed Ed Sullivan to get the lads the headlining gig on that show (Ed was less than impressed and thought them more of a Fad Four than fab).
The dialog also doesn't ring true, suggesting that the Boys all spoke in clever and cheeky phrases littered with song lyrics, and the entire graphic novel suffers from its own professed desire to be more myth than fact.
It's a good read, informative about a lesser known figure in the tale, and has exceptional artwork. It's just not the masterpiece everyone made it out to be.
turquoisetyto's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Homophobia
circlepines's review against another edition
4.0
Behind the scenes Brian Epstein was one of the transformative figures of modern pop music: the man who discovered The Beatles and figured out how to spin their homegrown talent into an international phenomenon. He was also an outsider in the music world -- gay and closeted, Jewish, with a dishonorable army discharge and a background running a family record store -- and his death at age 32 left plenty of secrets and a management void that lead to The Beatles' fragmentation. This book sketches his achievements and inner struggles with honesty, sensitivity, and captivating art. Brian Epstein deserves a comprehensive, rigorously-researched biography, and this isn't it -- there are too few citations and too many liberties taken to satisfy a devoted Beatles wonk. But it is a beautiful, impressionistic tribute to someone who deserves more recognition, and it's subtle enough to be worth reading more than once.