It’s a subject that’s been covered numerous times, most notably in the 1994 movie Backbeat. The Beatles (I’m sure you’ve heard of them) spent several months playing in Hamburg, Germany. While there, they not only honed their musical ability and stage presence, but they also lost a member of the band and gained a new look. Arne Bellstorf’s new graphic novel Baby’s in Black, covers this same material, but it really only focuses on German photography student Astrid Kirchherr who falls in love with the music and with art-student-turned-bass-player Stu Sutcliffe. So, let’s see what’s different about Baby’s in Black.

The book starts with a Klaus Voormann (a boyfriend of Astrid) telling her about this band he’s found in a bar at the not-so-nice section of Hambug (the Kaiserkeller club). After checking out the band, Kirchherr becomes fascinated with the band, especially their bassist Stu Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe was recruited to leave art school and play bass for The Beatles. Slowly, Sutcliffe and Astridstart falling in love (pushing Voormann out of the picture).

As the band grows (and has problems as well), Sutcliffe starts to realize that he would rather be an artist than a musician. And when Astrid gets him contacts at the Hambug Art School (Meisterschule für Mode, Textil, Graphik und Werbung) where Sutcliffenot only gets accepted, but gets a scholarship for his studies. He then leaves the band and moves in with Astrid’s family. He gets a few major headaches which are unexplained before dying of an aneurism before the Beatles are able to make it back to Germany.

The book itself seems more like an outline than a real story. The time frames seem compressed and you really don’t get much of a sense of any of the characters except Astrid (and Stu to some extent). It’s an interesting look from an outsider’s perspective, but it mainly just left me wanting more. Mildly recommended.