This week on the Major Spoilers Podcast, the crew are tossed a copy of Larry Marder’s Tales of the Beanworld and told to get crackin’.
Tales of the Beanworld is an independently published comic book, created by Larry Marder. Beanworld features stories about the life and times of the Beans, minimalistic characters which Marder has been drawing since childhood. The stories borrow concepts from various world mythologies, popular concepts of ecology, and pop culture.
The first issue was published in 1985, and the series ran 21 issues until 1993. The first four issues were printed independently (under the imprint The Beanworld Press. Starting with issue five, the title was released by Eclipse Comics. A total of four book collections were released, reprinting issues #1-16.
The series was revived in February 2009 and is now published by Dark Horse Comics in deluxe hardcover editions. Wahoolazuma (February, 2009) reprinted the first nine issues. The second volume, A Gift Comes!, came out in July, 2009, reprinting the remaining twelve. A new one-shot comic came out in December, 2008. A third hardcover volume, Remember Here When You Are There!, came out in November, 2009, with all new material. Marder says that this completes the “Springtime” cycle of Beanworld stories. Further volumes are planned.
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1 Comment
Thanks in advance for reviewing this book. This book was a favorite of mine back when the original issues were coming out, although I admit I never got around to getting the recent collections…even the new material. I blame cheapskate comic stores that don’t give away Previews!
At the risk of not having anything to say about the actual comic (go read it!) I’ll add a note about my own comics buying journey, and how TotB figured in to it. Heck, the comic is as much about narrative journey, so I don’t think this even counts as a digression…
I was sharing a train ride into NYC with a fellow college student who suggested that I should check it out. Once in the city, I picked up a copy (at St. Marks?) and was hooked. It wasn’t until several hundreds of miles later I picked up the earlier issues I was missing at a South Bend head shop(!) that had boxes of old Indy comics like Miracleman, Elementals, Zot!, Swords of Cerebus…and Tales of the Beanworld, among other treasures. TotB was by that point on my pull list, although very few shops had ever ordered a single copy!
I got to meet Larry Marder at a Chicago Comicon (pre Wizard World) in the 1990’s…although by that time I think he was only selling postcards and actions figures of the Beanworld characters. It’s possible I also bought a Mac-based hypercard Beanworld comic from him…even though I have never owned a Mac, because I wanted to show my appreciation for his work.
Anywho, I recently received a gift card for a book store…I think I know what I will spend it on!
Bottom line: If you love comics, this is necessary reading. If you are a comics reader and have any remote interest in mythology, anthropology, narrative structure, or art…put down whatever you are reading from the “big two” and search this out.