The floodgates open

New kind of comic hero

LIVERPUDLIANS. ROCK ’N’ ROLLERS. COMIC-BOOK HEROES.

It’s little wonder that the creators of comics used the Beatles as characters in their work. After all, these four living, breathing human beings were always perceived as “characters” anyway. “A Hard Day’s Night” is sometimes like a live-action cartoon.

Readers in the 1960s saw the Fab Four enter the four-color realm and rub elbows with comic-book characters — typically lovestruck teenage girls and costumed heroes.

One of the Beatles’ earliest appearances in the comics happened in Betty and Veronica #104 (1964). In an essay titled “Here Come the Beatles,” an uncredited writer notes of the Fab Four: “As a group they are very talented, haven’t changed with their terrific popularity and acclaim, have an impish philosophy and are very articulate.”

The boys are shown in an illustration that looks to be good light-table work, based on a 1963 publicity photo. (John Rosenberger has been suggested as the likely illustrator.)

Before long, the Beatles became part of the illustrated stories — “cast members,” if you like. But, as was the case with humor magazines, care was not always taken by comic-book artists to get the Beatles’ likenesses strictly correct. (At the time, these artists were usually World War II veterans who viewed the Beatles as a passing fad.)

A happy exception was Dell’s The Beatles (1964), an “official” comic book depicting the Beatles’ rise. Dell — and Beatles fans — hit the jackpot with artist Joe Sinnott.

Top and right: Archie’s early foray into Beatle territory, from Betty and Veronica

#104 (1964). Opposite: Girls’ Romance #109 (1965). © Archie Comics; © DC Comics, Inc.