For as much as I've read about the Beatles' time in Hamburg, nothing has shed light on Stuart and Astrid as clearly as this book has. I loved the black and white as well as seeing the world mostly through Astrid's experiences and getting to know Stuart as an artist more than anything. Well done! ( )

Reading two graphic novels about the Beatles seemed like a good idea at the time, but when one is so clearly better than the other (both in terms of writing and art) it becomes a let down.

The artistic stylings of this book - stark black, whites, and greys combined with a rudimentary line treatment - fall extremely flat in comparison to the lush colours and emotive lines of The Fifth Beatle. Maybe the artist meant to evoke a feeling of bleakness (counterpoint to the illness of the "lost Beatle") or to represent the artistic motifs of Germany in the post-war period, but I still feel like they elementary quality of the artwork really let the story down. Repetitive elements of the story (such as the lovers in the woods) did not help, as they just emphasized the lack of maturity in the story as a whole. ( )

«Baby's in Black» (Sins Sentido, 2011), novela gráfica del dibujante alemán Arne Bellstorf, es también el título de una conocida canción de The Beatles compuesta, en 1964, por John Lennon y Paul McCartney. Este primer gran éxito de los británicos está incluido en el álbum Beatles for Sale (1964) y fue dedicado a Astrid Kirchherr, la fotógrafa y diseñadora de moda alemana a quien se le atribuye la creación del famoso corte de pelo estilo ‘moptop’ novia de Stuart Sutcliffe, el malogrado ‘quinto Beatle’.
A partir de conversaciones personales con la propia Astrid Kirchherr, Arne Bellstorf desarrolla un relato en imágenes cuyos protagonistas son el universo underground del Hamburgo de principios de los años sesenta, la apasionada y trágica historia de amor entre la joven fotógrafa y el músico, poeta y pintor Stuart Sutcliffe, quien falleció en 1962, a los 21 años de edad, a consecuencia de una hemorragia cerebral; y los primeros pasos de la banda de Liverpool, cuando el por entonces quinteto aún actuaba en antros de mala muerte en el hamburgués barrio rojo de Sankt Pauli.
En cuanto al autor, debe destacarse que Arne Bellstorf (Danneberg, 1979) es uno de los historietistas más reconocidos del cómic alemán actual además de encontrarse entre los más aclamados creadores de tiras de prensa del país.
En Baby's in Black, Bellstorf optó por un blanco y negro lleno de expresividad y por un estilo a medio camino entre el realismo y la caricatura, fascinante expresivo. Un cómic ideal para leer escuchando los primeros discos de The Beatles.

Para Adultos
Disponible en todas las bibliotecas municipales de Leganés

I read so few graphic novels that it really isn't fair for me to rate or review them. You need a good story and you need good artwork to make me happy. The artwork here, with just a couple exceptions, I thought was rather bland. It didn't hit me with any emotional impact and it felt repetitive and unexciting. The story starts with Klaus Voorman finding the Beatles playing in a club in Hamburg in October 1960. He tells his ex-girlfriend Astrid that she must come see them with him the next night. The story ends on April 10, 1962 with the sudden death of Stu Sutcliffe.

I approached the book with a bit of excitement but was ultimately disappointed. I love the Beatles but can't recommend this. ( )

A mediocre book about Stu and the early days of the Beatles. Nothing special ( )