So yesterday, longtime customer Mark, who’s visiting from up north, drops by the store and requests…nay, demands that we deliver unto him some Tales of the Beanworld. Which pleased me to no end, as Larry Marder’s Beanworld has always been one of my favorite comics and, coincidentally enough, I had been reminded of it just the day before. Primarily, I was reminded of how we may never see the end of the Beanworld saga.
For those of you who don’t know what Tales of the Beanworld is, a very brief description is that it’s story of a group of beans living on what appears to be a small island, and their day-to-day existence as they struggle to survive and learn about the world around them. At the center of this island is Gran’Ma’Pa, a tree that provides food (and spiritual guidance) to the beans. Gran’Ma’Pa also produced Mr. Spook, the island’s Hero, who…well, I can already see it’s going to be a lost cause trying to sum up the series briefly. You can read more about Beanworld at this long-running site, which includes an issue-by-issue synopsis.
Anyway, Marder appeared to have long-term plans for this series, and I would love to see more Beanworld stories. However, the series’ last issue was twelve years ago, and aside from a short color storyline that ran in Maximum Press’ Asylum anthology, and an ashcan I bought from Marder himself at a convention several years ago, I think that’s been pretty much it for new Beanworld stories. There’s also a mention here of a Beanworld print created for the 2003 San Diego Comic Con.
It would probably (well, certainly) be tough going to revive the Beanworld series now, since over a decade later I’m sure a good chunk of its reader base has since abandoned comics. Plus, it would be a bit of a hardsell to new readers without making them buy all the trade paperback reprints of the early material. Maybe an online comic strip may be the way to go…reprinting old material as “archives” for new readers, while producing new material that picks up from where the series left off. And, of course, selling the print versions in an online store, and perhaps reprinting the webstrips in a comic book format…. Sure, I know, that’s easy for me to say…I’m not the one that would have to do it. But boy, I’d still love to see some new Beanworld, regardless of format.
I’d been obsessing over the genius that is…Snakes on a Plane for a while now (just ask pals Dorian and Tom), but somehow I overlooked The Real Sam Johnson’s thoughts on the matter. Go look, you!
“Mature story lines, artwork attracting more grown-ups to comic books”
“Spider-man wrestles with insanity. Piranhas chew off Aquaman’s hand. The Elongated Man’s wife is murdered.
“Comic book readers have grown up, and so have the comics.”
Wicker Man remake, now with 100% more killer bees. (via Robot Wisdom)
