Paul is Undead

Title: Paul is Undead - The British ZomBie Invasion
Author: Alan Goldsher
Illustrator: Jeffrey Brown
Published: 2010 by Gallery Books
Genre: Investigative music journalism
Pages: 310


I'm not a big fan of the Beatles; I've seen the Yellow Submarine countless times as a kid, and I know all the big hits, but don't consider myself a fan. Still, a book about them as zombies, except for Ringo who's a Seventh Level Ninja Lord, with Mick Jagger as a zombie hunter, and many, many other celebraties as guest stars... how's one supposed not to read it?

John Lennon was turned into a zombie as a newborn, and grew up to be a man with a mission: to start a band and become the Toppermost of the Poppermost, whatever that means. He eventually meets a nice, talented musician called Paul McCartney, and turns him. George Harrison follows much the same way, and once they attract the attention of the Ninja Lord Ringo Starr, we're making alternative history.

Goldsher interviewed all the members of the band, plus others like Mr. Jagger, Brian Epstein, Roy Orbison, and many who worked with the band, and gathered their tales into the Beatles' history until their break-up in 1969. I'm fairly sure that if I knew more about the real Beatles' history, I might've gotten even more out of the book, but it was still hilarious and I found myself giggling several times in the bus on my way home. Comics artist Jeffrey Brown has illustrated the book very... oh gosh. Some of the pictures actually made me squeamish! Which was nice.


RINGO STARR: Maybe it was because I was the last one to join the group, or maybe it was because I wasn't a zombie, but I sometimes felt like the band's whipping boy. Think about it: If I'm not picking up their fallen testicles, I'm wrapping duct tape around their naked bodies. And how many songs do they let me sing per album? One, that's how many.
On the plus side, that was the last time I ever had to handle Lennon's and McCartney's boy parts.