Meet The Beatles - as comic book heroes!

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Meet The Beatles - as comic book heroes!
Crosby author Jason Quinn reveals all about his new graphic novel
BY PADDY SHENNAN
29 JAN 2017




From Barbie and the Care Bears to The Beatles! It’s been an incredible journey for comic book novelist Jason Quinn.

Jason, 52, from Crosby, is the author of a Fab Four book with a difference – a graphic novel called The Beatles: All Our Yesterdays (published by Campfire at £12.99, www.campfire.co.in) .

Now living in Tunbridge Wells and the editor of the hit BBC magazine Doctor Who Adventures, Jason’s working life has been fascinating to say the least.


Images for the new book Beatles, The: All Our Yesterdays (Campfire Graphic Novels) by Jason Quinn and Lalit Kumar Sharma

And explaining how it all began, he says: “I grew up reading Marvel comics – I think I learned to read with Spider-Man! Later, my brother Tim was working for Marvel UK – and it’s who you know so he got me in.

“I thought ‘I’m going to be working on superhero titles!’ But the first title I worked on was Barbie! Then it was the Care Bears. I didn’t get to the superheroes for ages – I was in the nursery and girls’ department!

“I then worked in TV at Pinewood Studios (as head of creative development for Platinum Films) but I decided I preferred comic books so I went freelance and ended up working in India for two and a half years.”

Jason moved to Delhi in 2012 to work for Campfire Graphic Novels as their creative content head. In his time there he won the Comic Con India Awards for Best Writer and Best Graphic Novel two years running, with Steve Jobs: Genius By Design and Gandhi: My Life Is My Message. He returned to the UK in 2014.

He adds: “I’ve been so lucky. I’ve never had the chance to get bored, and I’m always looking for the next adventure.”


Images for the new book Beatles, The: All Our Yesterdays (Campfire Graphic Novels) by Jason Quinn and Lalit Kumar Sharma

Jason explains: “I’d wanted to do this for years. And I wanted to really focus on areas I think, for kids, are the really exciting parts of The Beatles’ story – like their early lives and the grit of their times in Hamburg.

“There have been graphic novels about The Beatles before – Marvel did one years ago, but I thought it was c**p. I think what I tried to do was get their characters across – the nitty gritty of them, including the way they spoke.

“There would be nothing worse than reading comic books that would have these lads speaking like Dick Van Dyke. Hopefully, people will be able to hear their real voices in this book. That, to me, was the most important thing – getting them across properly.”

He adds: “This started, simply, with ‘Let’s do a graphic novel on The Beatles’. I was looking around for someone to write it. I asked Bill Harry (founder of the Mersey Beat newspaper) but he didn’t have the time. Then I thought I’d love to have a crack at it because I know their story very well and I love them.

“I grew up listening to The Beatles and my brother Tim is a massive Beatles fan. My favourite Fab Four LP is their debut, Please Please Me. I love every track on that – I really love their early stuff. And one I can listen to at any time is Rubber Soul, because I love Girl and Norwegian Wood.


Jason Quinn, author of The Beatles: All Our Yesterdays

“For the book, it probably took six months for me to write the script and then another year for the artwork to be done. The artist, Lalit Kumar Sharma, is based in India. He came over to Liverpool to do his research and got a real feel for the city. And I think he has done a great job.

“The book was great fun to write because I knew the characters so well. I knew The Beatles’ voices, and it was a lot of fun picturing them saying certain things – having Paul and George bickering, for example.”

He adds: “I think there will always be room for more books on The Beatles. They are timeless – like Elvis and Sinatra. Yes, they were around in the 1960s but their music hasn’t dated. I want people to understand The Beatles. And I want younger people – teenagers and children – to get excited about the idea of making music, and to think that they CAN change the world by following their dreams, like The Beatles did. But, like The Beatles, you’ve got to work at it – and not expect an easy 15 minutes of fame.”

* A launch party and book signing for The Beatles: All Our Yesterdays will take place at Write Blend book shop on South Road, Waterloo at 7pm on Friday February 10 – the day the book is published. Len Garry of The Quarrymen will be a special guest, and Jason’s brother Tim will interview Len and Jason.



The Beatles – All Our Yesterdays

The Beatles are the world’s most enduring and biggest rock band ever! This is the story of their struggle for success. Taking us through the early days of rock ‘n’ roll, and their lives in Liverpool during the 1950s, we journey with them to Hamburg as they come of age and through grit, determination and masses of talent became the lads who made the sixties swing!
PRICE
$16.99