The 25 Baubles of Pop Culture! Advent 2022 Day 3

The Beatles have been decorating Christmas trees ever since 1964. That's when an Italian company released a set of 4 blown glass ornaments representing John, Paul, George and Ringo. The set, manufactured by Marteli, was released with the Fab Four in their original suits. Sets came in a variety of colors including hot pink and orange. But the most popular set was painted with blue outfits as that most represented the way the group looked from their visits to The Ed Sullivan Show.

Since the release of that first quartet of ornaments, countless baubles starring the band have been released by many different manufacturers. My top 3 favorites is a glass Christopher Radko decoration that looks like the green Apple Records apple with the Beatles recreating their iconic Abbey Road crossing, a Charlton Cards depiction of the Beatles in their animated cartoon selves from their 1965-66 ABC Saturday morning series and one of a plastic TV set showing a photo of the band in concert from Kurt S. Adler.

As for the fan made ornaments, I want to give an honorable mention to a set of 4 hand-painted peg doll trinkets. Decorated to look like their Sgt. Pepper likenesses, this set is available on Etsy from a seller known as florenceandbelle. I just love it because they look like Fisher Price Little People figures.

Lastly, I want to pay tribute to the late leader of the group, John Lennon. Ornamentshop.com sells a roughly 4 inch tall resin version of John in his iconic 1974 New York City tank top and classic round sunglasses. Based on the photo shoot by Bob Gruen. 

Unfortunately, the pop culture random generator didn't pick the Beatles for day 8 of my Advent. That's because on December 8th, 1980 a deranged gunman shot and killed Lennon in front of his New York apartment home. Had fate chosen the 8th day of my Advent to represent the Beatles, I think I would be completely freaked out by the coincidence...

Paul is Dead: When The Beatles Lost Paul

We all know that Paul McCartney died in a fiery car crash and was replaced with the winner of a Beatles look-a-like contest. Or did he? Explore the myth and legend of the death of one of the Fab Four in Image Comics' new graphic novel: Paul is Dead!

Paul is Dead: When The Beatles Lost Paul
Writer: Paolo Baron
Artist: Ernesto Carbonetti
Publisher: Image Comics
Code: FEB200089
SRP: $16.99

Paul is Dead is a trippy narrative about the conspiracy theory that Paul of the Beatles died and was replaced by a doppelganger to prevent mass chaos from fans of the Fab Four. In November 1966, Paul gets in a fight with the other three members of the Beatles. He angrily drives off to his home, runs into a tree and is burnt to a crisp in a fiery death.

Right off the bat, I know that Paolo Baron is an unreliable narrator.  Some put Paul's death on January 7th, 1967. And he was decapitated not immolated by flames. Or maybe he was? The legend of Paul's death has been a thing for over 50 years. And the facts of the story have changed. Or it could be that nobody really can agree on how the Beatle really died.

Just because I call writer Paolo Baron unreliable as a storyteller, that doesn't mean that he is a bad storyteller. I had thought I knew for sure that Paul is really alive. But with the twists and turns Baron puts on this story, including experiencing an acid trip with John Lennon during a key part of tale, has got me questioning that urban legend once more. I usually hate open-ended endings. But this time around it really works.

One neat aspect of Paul is Dead is that for about most of the middle act, John, George and Ringo play detective. According to the myth, the British government covered up the death of Paul to prevent a riot (and possible plague of teenage suicides), as the UK was in the midst of albeit waning Beatlemania. To have the other members playing Holmes and Watson brought a new dynamic to this myth and I loved it. I just wish that Paul is Dead went more in that direction instead of possibly having Paul return from the dead having faked his death for the sake of some personal tranquility. But this all takes place just as John has dropped that acid I mentioned earlier, so for all we know, Lennon dreamed it all!

I was in love with the artwork. Ernesto Carbonetti uses technique of caricature and psychedelics mixed with water-color looking paints to give a drug addled view of the late 60s. Those colors in Cabonetti's palette were so very much from the Summer of Love. Be sure to check out the artist's process further in the sketchbook section at the end of Paul is Dead.

Now here's where I express a little bit of frustration with this book. And it's geared to the publisher and editing team at Image Comics. Comic books and graphic novels these days are not affordable. Not at regular price. This book is 126 pages long. But the first 9 pages are mostly either blank pages or of a rough sketch of Paul's famous bass guitar. The last 4 or 5 pages of this book are the same way. If Image (and other publishers guilty of this sin) would stop adding such unnecessary filler to their books, you could reduce the cover price another buck or so. Instead of cutting talent, Image and company need to cut waste such as this!

Paul is Dead was an uncertain mystery that will leave you guessing until the very end. As well as days after you've finished it. It's a look at a 1960s pop culture conspiracy that has spawned countless theories. Why, there was even a rebuttal from 'Paul' in an episode of The Simpsons, where if you play the credits backwards, the singer claims "Yes, I am very much alive!", to the tune of 'Maybe I'm Amazed.' But we all know that's fake, right?
Paul is Dead: When The Beatles Lost Paul debuts in print and digital formats on June 3rd, 2020!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Red Rocket 7

  Red Rocket.

It’s a mystery that has fascinated music lovers and musicians alike for the past 60 years. A young man with striking red hair, who seemingly never ages, keeps popping up throughout the annals of music history.

  Elvis- he was there, learning the newest rockabilly chords.

  The Beatles- he was there, working as a roadie.

  Bowie- he was there, inspiring the genius’s Ziggy Stardust personality.

  And then in the 1980s, he just disappeared.

  Jump ahead 18-years and now there’s a new band with a lead guitarist, as ginger as can be, claiming to be Red Rocket.

   Is it the same man? His son? An impostor? And just where has Red Rocket been for the last 2 decades?

   An intrepid young music journalist seeks to find the answers to all these questions. As her research opens her eyes to the secret history of rock music, so will her stream of consciousness, as the mystery of the Red Rocket 7 will take her to the farthest edges of the galaxy and beyond.

     Last year, Mike Allred made no excuses to show his love and devotion to the artist David Bowie when he lost his battle with cancer. Really, Allred's fandom has been evident for years, like the cover to Madman: Atomic Comics #15, in which he renders his beloved creation with Bowie’s Space Oddity lighting bolt across his face.

     Reading this 1998 book, I was struck with two thoughts. One: Red Rocket is the music version of Forrest Gump as the character is involved with every major rock movement from the early 50s up to 1998. Secondly, (and most importantly): This is Allred’s Space Oddity or The Man Who Fell To Earth. I’m not sure which. Could be both. No matter which it is, Red Rocket 7 is also some very trippy stuff.

      Elvis, the Stones, The Ramones, and the Dandy Warhols play some major supporting roles in this book. But it’s Bowie's book through and through. If you love David Bowie, this is the comic book series you must read- even if it’s in that odd 45 record shape.

      Amazing artwork by Allred. He’s one of my favorites and his wife Laura who does the inks and colors IS my favorite in the industry. I may not understand all of the zen the Allreds put into this love song to rock & roll, but I loved Red Rocket 7 nonetheless.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Fifth Beatle

John, Paul, George, Ringo, and the Fifth Beatle.

   But just who is this Fifth member of the greatest rock and roll band of perhaps all-time? Is it drummer Pete Best, the band's first tempo keeper kicked out in favor of Ringo Star? Was it Eric Clapton, who played lead guitar on the White Album's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' and was frequently asked to join by the quartet? Was it Yoko, who once she married John, was joined at the hip and known to sit in on sessions? Or was it Billy Preston, asked to play piano for the Let It Be sessions in order to help keep the peace amongst the band in the throes of breaking up? 

    While the answer has stymied fans for decades, the most definitive answer has always come from Paul. In the 70s, McCartney once said 'If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian.' The Brian in question was the late Brian Epstein. After reading this graphic novel about the unsung first manager of the Beatles, I am inclined to agree.

   Without Epstein, the Beatles probably would be just another band playing gigs in Liverpool. They were good but they weren't at that next level that would make them legends. It was Brian who got them to that legendary status. 

   The new manager made the band be more clean cut, drop Best for Ringo and made John marry his girlfriend Cynthia whom he just got pregnant. Epstein was also behind getting the band on Ed Sullivan which kicked off the global phenomenon called Beatlemania! I think this also shortened the band's lifespan by about 5-10 years, in which the grueling pace caused riffs and exhaustion amongst the four friends and their eventual breakup in 1970.

    Not only does this book focus on Epstein's role with the Fab Four, but it also chronicles the pain and struggles of a hurting man. Brian was gay and though the Beatles and his parents knew, it was kept secret. I didn't know this but until 1967, it was a crime in Great Britain to be homosexual. So, Epstein frequented Spain and the Big Apple, two more 'tolerant' areas during his holidays from the band in order to live his life a little more openly. But all of his hiding plus the frantic pace of being the manager of the biggest band in the world saw Brian taking tons of drugs, therapy, and alcohol all of which lead to an accidental overdose just one month before the criminal band of homosexuals in the UK was lifted.

   I got this book in a Comic Bento box as a gift from my wife over the Christmas holidays last year. But this graphic novel has been available since November of 2013. At the time, Brian Epstein had yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and gay marriage was still illegal in about 38 states. A lot has changed in the past 3 years and I think this book had a lot to do with those changes.

   Less than one year after the Fifth Beatle was published, Epstein finally got inducted in Cleveland. And just last year, the Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is legal nationwide. Now, you might be thinking 'how did this book help gay marriage?' Well, in the back, legendary underground comix artist and writer, Howard Cruse wrote an afterword expounding Epstein's influence on his life. That page goes on to say that proceeds from this book went to the Freedom to Marry campaign, which was a fund for the gay marriage fight in the US Supreme Courts system. In 1966, Epstein inspired the world to know 'All You Need Is Love' and after he telecast that song worldwide on a Beatles simulcast, that challenge was took up by many, including Cruse.

   I see this book as being the next non-superhero comic book blockbuster in theaters and currently writer Vivek J. Tiwary is working on a screenplay. I kinda hope the film is at least partially animated relying on the artwork of artist Andrew C. Robinson, who does a beautiful job making the Fab Five come to life. The only thing I was not a fan of was Kyle Baker's inclusion as the artist for a scene in the Philippines. I'm not sure why he was even used for this book. I love Baker, but his comical anecdote detracted from the rest of this beautiful book.

   A must-read for Beatles fans whether you like graphic novels or not!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.