THE BEATLES
(cover band)

Membership: None identified by name but they were posing as George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr

Purpose: To entertain audiences by providing a concert experience similar to the original Beatles band

Aliases: None

Affiliations: The Avengers (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Hawkeye/Clint Barton, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Thor/Thor Odinson), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange), Dorrie Evans, the Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Susan Richards, Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards, the Thing/Ben Grimm), J. Jonah Jameson, Willie Lumpkin, Alicia Masters, Norman Osborn, Reverend Miller, Phil Sheldon, S.H.I.E.L.D. (Timothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Nick Fury, Gabe Jones), Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke

Enemies: A group of Beatles-impersonating thugs (indirectly -- the thugs stole their payroll but never directly encountered the band)

Base of Operations: New York City, New York, USA, possibly mobile

First Appearance: Strange Tales I#130 (March, 1965)

History:
(Strange Tales I#130 (fb) - BTS) - The Beatles cover band arranged a concert in New York, with much of the marketing playing them up to be the actual Beatles despite the Beatles band having long-since disbanded.

(Strange Tales I#130) - As a shopping Dorrie Evans and Alicia Masters noticed a Beatles concert poster advertising a show that evening, the band acting as the Beatles walked past the two women to enter the venue, exciting Dorrie into purchasing four tickets to the show so they could see it with their boyfriends, the Human Torch and the Thing. The girls then phoned the Fantastic Four's headquarters to invite the Torch and the Thing to the so-called Beatles concert. The Torch readily agreed to go to the concert by the Thing at first said he was going bowling until Alicia Masters entered the room and expressed interesting in hearing the Beatles perform, at which point the Thing also agreed to go. Later that evening, the two heroes and their dates found themselves stuck in the traffic surrounded the so-called Beatles concert but the Thing managed to lift cars out of the way so their taxi could get through. The foursome then entered through the stage entrance and both Dorrie and Alicia went further ahead, running right into the midst of the seeming Beatles themselves. The two heroes followed and while the Human Torch appeared jealous of the attention Dorrie Evans was showing the group, the Thing eagerly ran ahead to meet his supposedly secret idols, the Beatles. When the venue manager entered the room and revealed that a group of hoods had made off with the "Beatles"'s payroll, the Human Torch and the Thing went into action, soon tracking the Beatles-impersonating thugs to Laffland Amusement Park. The duo eventually defeated the thugs, causing them to lose their Beatles wigs, and the heroes quickly flew back to the Beatles concert, hoping they hadn't missed much of it. Returning the stolen payroll, the Thing briefly put on the Beatles wig he had been given weeks earlier until the Human Torch teased him into removing it. As they entered the theater, however, fans came running out of the door cheering about the Beatles concert and hitting the two heroes with the flown-open doors. When Dorrie mentioned that the Thing and the Torch had arrived just in time to take them home, the Human Torch asked about the Beatles and Alicia suggested the band could get home on their own. The Torch then griped at how they worked so hard only to miss seeing the supposed Beatles in concert and Dorrie promised they would tell the heroes all about the show.

(Marvels I#2) - The members of the Beatles cover band was present in a crowd of well-wishers following the announcement of the engagement of the Fantastic Four's Mister Fantastic and Invisible Girl. The foursome later attended the wedding of Mister Fantastic and Invisible Girl alongside numerous other special guests.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Dick Ayers and Paul Reinman.

    In Strange Tales I#130, the Beatles seen in that issue were originally and historically written and drawn to the be the actual Beatles but, due to Marvel's sliding time scale, there's no way it could be the actual Beatles, as the real Beatles had long since broken up and both John Lennon and George Harrison were deceased at the time the story now takes place. As suggested in the Marvel Appendix profile on the criminal Beatles impersonators, the "Beatles" seen in Strange Tales I#130 (and subsequently, Marvels I#2) must be a Beatles cover band, one that dresses & acts the part, much like the real-life Beatles cover bands Beatlemania, 1964: The Tribute or Rain...hence this profile to distinguish them from the actual Beatles.

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Beatles (cover band) has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
 Strange Tales I#130, p3, pan4 (Beatles walking into concert venue, main image)
Strange Tales I#130, p5, pan2 (Beatles cover band headshots)
Strange Tales I#130, p5, pan1 (Beatles cover band hanging with Dorrie Evans & Alicia Masters)
Marvels I#2, p24, pan1 (Beatles cover band amidst the crowd of well-wishers at Mr. Fantastic & Invisible Girl's engagement - SEE IF YOU CAN SPOT THEM!)

Appearances:
Strange Tales I#130 (March, 1965) - "Meet the Beatles!" story - Stan Lee (writer, editor), Dick Ayers (pencils), Paul Reinman (inks)
Marvels I#2 (February, 1994) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Alex Ross (art), Marcus McLaurin (editor)

First Posted: 11/22/2024
Last updated: 11/22/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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