Posted By Dan Greenfield on Feb 24, 2025 | 3 comments

MORRISON MONDAYS!

By BILL MORRISON

Whenever anyone asks me who my favorite Beatle is, I always answer “George Harrison!” I not only love his music — both with the Beatles and solo) — but I’ve always shared an affinity with “the quiet Beatle” in his personality, his spirituality, and his dry and biting sense of humor (at least, I like to think so). So, in celebration of my favorite Beatle’s birthday on Tuesday — he was born Feb. 25, 1943 — and because this is a website largely about comics, I’d like to tell the story of the Beatles comic book that almost wasn’t.

Some things in life are just not meant to be. At least that’s what I told myself when my dream project, a graphic adaptation of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, was suddenly terminated in 1998.

The job began with a call from an editor at Dark Horse Comics who asked me if I would be interested in writing and drawing a 48-page adaptation of the famed, animated Beatles feature film. He explained that Dark Horse would be releasing the comic in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the 1968 movie.

Naturally I was beyond thrilled and flattered to be invited to contribute to an official Beatles project, and especially one that would complement a major re-release of  the Yellow Submarine movie itself! Thanks to two older sisters and an older brother, I grew up in a home that was filled with the music of John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

But while my siblings danced around the house to Beatles records, I had a fab four recording that was more my speed — The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles’ Hits! I think you could say I was a casual fan of the group’s music as a kid (I was a bigger fan of the Monkees) but my interest in the band grew as I entered my teen years and heard their solo music on the radio. Through George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, Living in the Material World, Dark Horse, and 33 and 1/3, I realized that he was my favorite ex-Beatle, though I also loved and sought out the music of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr.

Naturally, by the time I received that intoxicating phone call in 1998, I was a full-fledged Beatles fanatic of longstanding, so, of course, I eagerly agreed to take on the job. But as I hung up the phone, my euphoria turned to panic when I realized that I had just committed myself to creating a neutered version of a classic film that was renowned for its animation and music, that would have no sound nor motion!

I recall thinking “Why would anyone want to read this comic when they could just watch the film on video?” I couldn’t help but think about the multitude of Beatles fans who might have the same reaction to a static, silent stand-in for their beloved feature-length Beatles cartoon.

I despaired for a minute, but since I was committed I started thinking, “What could I bring to this comic that would set it apart from the film, yet still allow me to remain faithful to the source material?” I mused on the strengths of the printed page for a while and considered, “What can I do on paper that can’t be done on film?” My love for the 1960s storytelling innovations of Neal Adams and Jim Steranko entered my thoughts, as did 1960s graphic design in general on record album covers, in advertising, and on magazine covers. That led me to start thinking of the psychedelic posters I had on my bedroom wall as a young card-carrying junior hippie. (Please see my column on Marvel black light posters for more on this obsession!)

I decided that if I could make certain pages of the book resemble psychedelic posters in their design, I might be able to create an adaptation of Yellow Submarine that would be faithful, but also offer Beatles fans something new and exciting.

With renewed enthusiasm, I got to work. I didn’t have a copy of the original screenplay or even a VHS tape of the film, so I needed to secure a copy of the movie for visual reference, and also so I could start transcribing the dialogue. Luckily, I’m friends with Scott Shaw! who is a major Yellow Submarine fanatic and he had a laser disc copy! I borrowed it and struck off two VHS tapes, then drafted my wife, Kayre, into service, and we both began transcribing the dialogue.

I was also able to get some screen shots for reference and laid out a cover and the first 25 pages. I was very pleased with the page designs and felt they were accomplishing my goal of bringing something unique to the adaptation. I decided to take all 25 to finished inks so I could get a better sense for how the book would look.

I was in the process of getting some of those pages colored when I got another call from Dark Horse. This one was the emotional opposite of the first one, as the editor told me to stop work on the project for the time being. I don’t recall if a reason was given at the time, but eventually I was told that the book was completely dead, the reason being that the head of Apple Corps (the Beatles’ many-armed multimedia corporation) decided that comic books didn’t fit in with his merchandising plan for the film’s re-release.

I was a bit devastated, but since this was a side job and I still had my duties as Creative Director at Bongo and Art Director on the Futurama TV series to occupy my time, I moved on. My finished pages went into a flat file drawer, and every so often I would show them to friends, but I considered the project dead and buried. (Though at one point I did think about finishing the book on my own, just for closure, but never found the time.)

However, after a few years, I decided to post some of the pages online, just as a novelty, just to show what might have been. That led to a bit more attention than I expected, in the form of an article about “The Lost Beatles Comic” on Comic Book Resources. I believe that because of that article, the cancelled project became pretty well-known in comics circles. After many years, this notoriety lead to another fateful phone call, this time from my friend Charlie Kochman at Abrams ComicArts. Charlie asked me the question I had longed to hear for nearly 20 years, “Would you be interested in completing the Yellow Submarine adaptation?”

Needless to say, my excitement level was off the charts! That summer at San Diego Comic-Con, Charlie introduced me to the Beatles’ licensing agent. Charlie had shown him my unpublished pages and he was excited to meet me. By this time, Apple Corps had a new chief who was interested in seeing a deluxe comics adaptation of the film, published in time for its 50th anniversary. So, it looked like I was going to finally be able to finish the project, and potentially with more pages than I’d been given with the first incarnation!

But as I said before, some things in life are just not meant to be. I did get to finish the book, but sadly not with Charlie and Abrams. As often happens in the business world, negotiations fell through and the project went to Titan Comics in the UK, who was already producing Yellow Submarine vinyl toys. Don’t get me wrong: Titan and Bongo had been publishing partners for many years, and I enjoyed working with those fine folks on the Yellow Submarine book. But I also would have loved to have done it with my good pal, Charlie!

To get the book finished in time for the anniversary in 2018, I put together my own Fab Four, comprised of me on script and pencils, Andrew Pepoy and Tone Rodriguez on inks, and Nathan Kane on colors!

After finishing the book, the folks at Titan asked me about the possibility of doing an expanded edition. I told them that there were a few scenes that I had to cut for space, and that I could add them into the existing book with some minor editing. I also pitched the idea of doing some pin-ups to illustrate a few of the song sequences, since I wasn’t able to include lyrics in the book for legal reasons.

I got the OK to produce the extra pages, but when they were finished I was told that Apple wanted Titan to hold off on publishing an expanded edition to give the original book more time on the market. But after a few years, Titan’s Beatles license expired and it was granted instead to Insight Editions. Insight published a new edition of the original book in 2023, along with a deluxe edition that includes the three pin-ups that I drew for the Titan expanded edition as gicleé prints.

And so, there are 22 pages of unpublished Yellow Submarine comic art sitting in a flat file drawer in my studio.

Once again… some things in life are just not meant to be… but maybe some day…

As George said, it’s all in the mind, y’know.

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