The Fifth Beatle

This week I read The Fifth Beatle, by Vivek j. Tiwary, Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker. The comic is very new and just came out last year, 2013, It deals with Brian Epstein and his passion for the Beatles and helping them achieve fame, as well as his battles with addiction and hiding his homosexuality. I enjoyed the novel very much and it is wonderfully composed and the story is extremely well written. In the story there are a few fictional characters the writer, Vivek J Tiwary, throws into  the book to help personify the internal struggles Epstein deals with during his life managing the Beatles.

            I have searched online for a second opinion on what some of the fictional characters in the book represent or symbolize, but the book seems to be to knew or I am too bad at searching for me to find anything. What I think though is that moxie, Epstein’s fictional assistant, is a symbol for Epstein’s desire for heterosexuality, to be “normal.” During the entirety of the book she is drawn out as some sort of sexual interest for Epstein, yet we know that Brian is gay which makes their relationship quite conflicting.  Also there is a gay lover that Brian has when he moves to New York, he appears to be possibly represent Brian’s desire and fear of homosexuality, due to the fact that after engaging in this relationship soon after the man extorts Brian of a good amount of money. Also one thing I am not entirely sure of is purposeful, is in the beginning we see a sailor, who Brian looks at and then gets beat up by, who seems to look a lot like Brian’s gay lover in New York. This may just be coincidental, or it may represent his desire and fears shown in the book a lot sooner then when we see him in New York.

            I highly recommend this book, it tells a story I did not know very well myself, and I like to consider myself a somewhat big Beatles fan. The artwork is amazing and the story is fantastic.