Yellow Submarine: 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel Review

Titan Comics has published a graphic novel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 cinematic release of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine animated film. Does the Yellow Submarine graphic novel capture the story and quality of animation from the film?

The 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine animated film sees the classic animation retold as a graphic novel that is in expert hands as it is written with art redrawn by Bill Morrison; co-founder of Bongo Comics, artist of Disney posters, an illustrator for The Simpsons, an art director for Futurama and editor of Mad Magazine. The experienced talents do not end there though as the graphic novel collaboration also features inker Andrew Pepoy that has previously collaborated on Batman, G.I. Joe, Godzilla, Spider-Man, Superman and many more comics, while Aditya Bidikar is a letterer for such graphic novels as Empire of Blood, Every City is a Story and Grant Morrison’s 18 Days, alongside colourist Nathan Kane.

The story of the graphic novel is fully based upon that of the Yellow Submarine animated film. The captain of the Yellow Submarine sails the seas to find the Fab Four to help in defeating the music hating Blue Meanies in an attempt to save the Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, return the tranquil peace of the underwater Pepperland and allow music to thrive again.

The quality of writing is superb as it encapsulates the story, characters and mannerisms of the Yellow Submarine animated film, while retaining clever and humorous references to popular songs from The Beatles. For instance, when the Fab Four find themselves in the Sea of Holes with John Lennon proclaiming, “This place reminds me of Blackburn, Lancashire”, while Paul says, “Oh, boy…”, then George asks, “How many do you think there are in all?” referring to the quantity of holes in the floor with the response being, “Enough to fill the Albert Hall!” that are all references to the popular song from The Beatles titled A Day in the Life; a song that was not only ranked The Beatles’ greatest song, but also the 28th greatest song of all time according to Rolling Stone magazine.

The Yellow Submarine’s graphic novel adaptation’s presentation will be a pleasant surprise to anyone who watched the original cinematic print of the Yellow Submarine animation and even those who have seen the 4K remaster. Yellow Submarine’s beautiful artwork is brought to the forefront with vibrant colours in each of the wonderful drawings of not just the fantastic front, spine and back covers, but also every page of the graphic novel, alongside crystal clear stylised lettering in each of the speech bubbles. Meanwhile, The Beatles Yellow Submarine: Limited Edition Box Set is an amazing gift for any fan of The Beatles and Yellow Submarine as it comprises of the hardback graphic novel; a 6.5 inch smiley Yellow Submarine figure; 5 Yellow Submarine badges; an exclusive art card autographed by writer and artist Bill Morrison; 16 Yellow Submarine lobby cards, 4 movie posters and a movie premiere ticket that are faithfully reproduced from the 1968 originals.

The Yellow Submarine graphic novel adaptation’s value is in the artistically driven story spanning 112 pages that will be as mesmerizing if you are a fan that has seen the animation a hundred times or discovering it for the very first time.

Fans of The Beatles and Yellow Submarine can look forward to future The Beatles and Yellow Submarine products from Titan Merchendise including the Fab Four dynamic glow in the dark 3 inch figures; John, Paul, George, Ringo and Blue Meanie full colour 4.5 inch figures; and the smiley Yellow Submarine full colour 6.5 inch figure are available to purchase individually in the Titans range from late March 2019. Fans of The Beatles and Yellow Submarine can read more about The Beatles and Yellow Submarine Titans figures and Titan Merchandise’s figures.

Analysis
• Title: Yellow Submarine: 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel
• Writer: Bill Morrison
• Art: Bill Morrison (Artist), Andrew Pepoy (Inker), Aditya Bidikar (Letterer) and Nathan Kane (Colourist)
• Publisher: Titan Comics
• Length: 112 pages
• Cover: Hardback

The Yellow Submarine graphic novel can be purchased in the UK from Amazon and Forbidden Planet and digitally at ComiXology, while the Yellow Submarine graphic novel can be purchased in America and Canada from Amazon. You can also find Titan Comics’ official website including a back catalogue of captivating comics and graphic novels and product details regarding the Yellow Submarine graphic novel.