Image Comics have announced they will publish “Paul Is Dead,” an original graphic novel by writer Paolo Baron and artist Ernesto Carbonetti. The pair, who previously collaborated on the comic “Punk Is Undead,” are returning to the realm of musical mortality with the book, which is set to answer the question, “What if Paul McCartney really did die in 1966?”
The novel takes place in 1966 after Paul McCartney dies in a fatal car accident, with the remaining three Beatles assembling at the Abbey Road Recording Studio to trawl through the final hours of Paul’s life. The story follows the three in the midst of them recording their eighth album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and presumably peppering it with clues towards their friend’s death.
The story is inspired by the real urban legend of the same name, which alleged McCartney was replaced by a lookalike after dying in a car accident. The conspiracy theory came about after fans spotted “clues” in the song “Revolution 9,” which, when played backwards, reveals the message “turn me on, dead man.” Other ‘evidence’ includes the album cover to Sgt. Pepper, which supposedly features the secret message “November 9 He Die.”
“Paul Is Dead” will be available in comic book stores worldwide on April 22 and in bookstores on April 28.
