Arne Bellstorf: Baby´s in Black. Sammakko 2012.

The Story of Astrid Kirchherr & Stuart Sutcliffe. Suomentanut Seppo Lahtinen. Nidottu, erinomainen kunto, 214 sivua.

GERMAN CARTOONIST ARNE Bellstorf's latest book, Baby's in Black, is a graphic novel that tells the story of the courtship of the photographer Astrid Kirchherr and Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist of the Beatles during their early period in Hamburg, Germany. The story may be familiar to hardcore Beatles fanatics, but Bellstorf's artwork is fresh and distinct, rendering the lovers and the youthful Beatles in a clean, dynamic style that mixes bold black ink lines with softer shading in black crayon.

Bellstorf was inspired to tell the story after discovering Kirchherr's own artwork. "I found Astrid's photos and I didn't know anything about both her relationship to the Beatles and Stuart," he told Rolling Stone. "The first thing I saw [of hers was a] famous self-portrait in front of a mirror. And I was just curious who this young pretty girl in Sixties Hamburg, my home town." Quote from Rolling Stone magazine.