More Beanworld: Hither and Thither

Publishers Weekly
"Where other fantasy authors are happy to mirror our present or past in their secondary worlds, embellishing their borrowed settings with a patina of imaginary magic and invented legend, Marder's Beanworld is its own highly original realm, with its own natural laws and mythology."


Good Reads
"I get the sense that he didn't come back to writing Beanworld until he was good and ready, and I'll be interested to see where he goes with it now."


The Beat
"BTW: the 3rd volume of Marder’s Beanworld saga, including new material 16 years or so in the making, came out recently. Recommended!


A Nice Cup of Rabies
Peggy knocked it out of the park with this beautiful drawing. Just fabulous.


Spunky Bean
" It’s about exploration – not in the physical sense, as the beans have a small and clearly mapped out world, but rather in the creative sense."


the electronic replicant
"(A)s simple as the life of the beans appears, there are signs that something happened just before the story began, something terrible that upset the process of life in the Beanworld..."


Every Day Is Like Wednesday
2009 Favorite Writer List


Every Day Is Like Wednesday
"(Beanworld) is, as has been observed, weird as hell, but for sheer entertainment value it is very hard to beat.


Reading, Watching, Playing
"Beanworld is deceptively cute and two-dimensional when you first look at it, but the more you read the more you realize how deep and multi-layered it really is."


Forbidden Planet
"This year sitting down and reading all three beautiful hardback volumes of Tales Of The Beanworld is my Christmas treat to myself."


Dave Rants
"The Best Comic Books Dave Read In 2009"


Four Realities
"(B)ook of the year is the all-new BEANWORLD BOOK 3 - REMEMBER HERE WHEN YOU ARE THERE. Runner up is BEANWORLD BOOK 1 - WAHOOLAZUMA, collecting the earliest Beanworld adventures. And in a surprise third place showing is BEANWORLD BOOK 2 - A GIFT COMES, collecting the balance of the original series."

Tomorrow ~ January 1st ~ STATE OF THE BEANWORLD 2010

Catching Up!

Catching up with some mail for Leguminous Fan Art Gallery.

First up is from John Scrudder and his family.

Take it away John:

Meghan, age 7 with her Christmas copy of "Here There!"

Larry!

Meghan (7) opened up her 3 Beanworld books and went through the roof!

"I Got Beanworld, I got Beanworld, Oh my gosh, I got Beanworld!"

She has, since Christmas morning, read book 3 (which she calls book 5,because she had the 4 TPB before the hard covers editions) several times.

My son Ben (8) Has now also become a fan of Beanworld, as has the oldest boy, Luke (12). Meghan was Ecstatic to see the signed books - she completely flipped out! Both Ben and Meghan have composed letters to you. I thought I would share them with you.

Meghan's Letter:

"Dear Larry Marder,

I have some ideas for the Pod'l Pool Cuties. First they grow in a few months and they can look like this (A picture of her version is included from the original letter). And a few months later they can get bigger. And after a year they could be beans! Thank you for the books! I also made a Pod'l Pool cutie in it's pool for you out of clay.

Your Pal,
Meghan.

Benjamin's letter:

"I'm a very big fan of yours, please respond back when you can.
I think that Mr. Spook and the Hoi poi are related. What do you think? Look at their hair.

Plus they are the same color and sort of look like they are made from similar shapes.
The mystery pods are eggs. But I don't think they've hatched because it is not warm enough.

An Airship could be built out of the four realities and could be powered by static electricity.

Anti-Bean.

Beanish gets mistaken for one!

Please put these ideas in your book.

Your good fan,

Benjamin Winters

--------

Larry,
Needless to say, this was the Beanworld Christmas. The kids were ecstatic and wrote their letters to you right away!

I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to have finally met you, and I know for Meghan, at least I hope, it has given her an inspiration that neither you nor or I had when we were growing up, the chance to meet the writers and artists of books that inspire us to be writers and artists.

It's really all she talks about now. Thanks again Larry for making this one awesome Christmas none of will ever forget!

Your Friend,

John M. Scrudder

My pleasure, John.

Georgia, age 5

Mr. Marder,

I have adored Beanworld for more than twenty years, and I'm delighted that the collected editions have given me the chance to introduce it to my daughter, Georgia Roberson. She's five years old now, just having started kindergarten, and for the last month or so we've been making our way through the Beanworld collections a bit at a time at bedtime. We just started A Gift Comes, and are on track to be ready for the third volume as soon as it's out!

The other day I showed her the fan art that you'd posted to your blog, and she *insisted* that she draw her favorite characters and send them to you. And so, with Georgia's compliments, here are her interpretations of a Pod'l'pool Cutie, a Goofy Service Jerk, and a couple of Mystery Pods.

(I've also posted these to my blog,

as I usually do with the drawings Georgia is proudest of.)
From a couple of devout fans, our sincerest thanks for Beanworld, and please keep up the great work!

Best,

Chris Roberson

These are great, Chris!

Argh, I regret it took me so long to get these posted but better late than never.

Nothing makes me happier than hearing about families that enjoy Beanworld together.

Conor, age 10

And last, but not least, Conor, son of ZenMondo.

Conor loves to draw Beanworld. I am including 2 images of his. One is Mr. Spook saying "Fear Me!" and the other is of a Cutie and a Bean. He is age 10 now. I must thank you Larry, for giving us something we can share together. Just this past weekend, as I was in my room reading, Conor passed by me on the way to the bathroom and just said "Hoo Hoo Ha" to which I replied "Hoka Hoka Hey" He smiled and said "that's right". Conor being Autistic, finds his own way to relate to those around him that may seem a bit odd to those that don't understand him, but in Beanworld, we have an entire VOCABULARY with which to communicate and explore not only your world, but his world together.

ZenMondo is the leading instigator behind the burgeoning Beanworld Wiki. We correspond frequently. He often passes along Conor's burning questions and keen Beanworld observations.

Very insightful stuff.

Even today, after all these years, the industry keeps trying to pigeon hole Beanw0rld as a book for grown-up when anyone who has ever actually seen a kid crack the cover of a Beanworld book has witnessed those kids tumbling directly into the Beanworld as surely as Alice tumbled down the rabbit hole.

If your comic book store doesn't rack Beanworld along with Bone, Owly, Sonic, and Muppets--it should give it a whack there and see what happens!

All the drawing mentioned in this post are in Leguminous Fan Art Gallery.

Fan mail from some Frickes!

On Saturday, my old friend Paul Fricke, who I've known for a zillion years. in regards to SOLSTICE SOL'JER posted on Facebook: You just blew my daughter Emily's mind.

Well Paul and Mary, your daughters returned the favor today!




Hey, Larry!

Hope you and Cory had a dandy Christmas!

I've attached pix of a Beanish ornament Laura (13) made for her younger sister, Emily (9) as an Xmas gift. Beanish certainly seems to be Em's fave right now. She and I both loved book 3 - lots to chew on. So excited Mr. Spook got his fork back! We both can't wait to read it again.

I got my comp copies of Bedbugs last week, blogged about it today. Thanks again for your help in shepherding this to fruition, and continual plugs. = - )

Happy New Year!

Paul

A while back when his daughter, Emily, was 8 she sent me a terrific drawing of Dreamishness -- on display in the Leguminous Fan Art Gallery.

Laura: these ornaments are absolutely spectacular and totally Wahoolazuma!
Emily: you have a very generous and talented sister!
Paul: You are so thoughtful to send these along so everyone can see them.

I'm incredibly happy that Paul's labor of love Night of the Bedbugs is on its way. Paul asked me take a look-see at what he was doing about a year or so ago. I found Paul's contemporary up-date of a Dr Seuss-like story to be incredibly charming and clever. The coloring is sensitive and appropriate. I knew it was just a matter of time before someone would snatch it up for publication.

And that turned out to be my (even older pal) Jim Valentino at Silverline Books who grabbed it on first sight as I hoped he would.

Highly recommended!
And check out the promotional video!

Night of the Bedbugs is (c) 2009 Paul Fricke/Blue Moon Studios

Everyone wants to get into the act!

Our curious cat, Olive, "helping" me draw.

She loves to assist!

Happy Boxing Day !

And don't forget:
CBLDF Special Offer
Offer ends Dec 31, 2009

State of the Beanworld
January 1. 2010.

There's a Beanworld Christmas present waiting for you@Bleeding Cool!

Want to see the rest of this drawing?

It's waiting for you under the Bleeding Cool tree.

All you gotta do it click here!

And make sure you check out the rest of the Christmas treats @Bleeding Cool!

(like comics pros at cosplay)

Thanks to Rich Johnston for asking!

------------------------

And don't forget:

CBLDF Special Offer

Offer ends Dec 31, 2009

State of the Beanworld
January 1. 2010.

Louis Armstrong reading "The Night Before Christmas!"

Pops could swing it no matter what he doing!

"Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

A Grand Holiday Tradition!

It's the holiday season and with it comes a plethora of holiday rituals, superstitions, and traditions.

Chicagoland's local television giant, WGN, had three great Christmas animation shorts that they ran continuously from Thanksgiving through the season.

Every kid growing up in the 50s, 60,s and 70s who’s home antenna could receive WGN-TV’s powerful signal has the content of these shorts seared into their memory.

The most powerful was this one--The Three Little Dwarves.

If you grew up in that part of the Midwest, in that time frame, you can go up to virtually anyone and sing "I'm Hardrock. I'm Coco." And it is almost impossible that the other person won't respond by singing "I'm Joe" in the deepest bass voice they can muster.

I remember teachers being totally stymied with all the "I'm Joe" laughter that would roll around with every season.

Once Christmas vacation was over, the animation went back in the film library and out of one's daily thought process. But every year, the film would reappear to every kid's delight.

I have found that if you didn't grow up in the Midwest and have access to WGN, there is a good chance you've never seen (or even heard of) this bizarre holiday classic.

The animation is quirky, jerky and the puppets look, well, weird, particularly Santa.

And so, without further ado—it’s time to visit Hardrock, Coco, and Joe!

SPOILER Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY!

SPOILER ALERT!

"Spoiler is slang for any element of any summary or description of any piece of fiction that reveals any plot element which will give away the outcome of a dramatic episode within the work of fiction, or the conclusion of the entire work"

Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY! is a modern day online letter column for Beanworld fans.

On the docket is Remember Here When You Are There!

Italics are me--roman font is you guys!

--------------

Last chance...if you haven't read Here There yet...
it's probably a good idea to avert your attention elsewhere.

--------------

Read further at your own risk!

--------------

I believe it's easier to follow my comments if I address the questions as they are asked.

Anonymous wrote:

In looking at the Float Force effect on the slats and chips ridden by the adult beans and by Mr Spook, I notice that the b&w striated effect that takes place looks similar to that on both Beanish when he "jumps" and on the Float Factored Mystery Pods - but there is a significant difference - the chips and slats retain their solid outline... I'm wondering if this is significant? Is that a graphic indication that they are not "charged up" as much as the Mystery Pods? Or am I reading too much into this?

In my opinion, it is impossible for a Beanworld reader to inject too much meaning into his or her understanding of what he/she is reading.
What you get is what it is.
For you.

Sometimes I get to fool myself into believing that I'm making decisions purely for aesthetic (or even technical) reasons and then, at a later date, Beanworld lets me know the decision I made has a much deeper meaning than the visual solution I was going for at that date and time.

That was one of those moments.


(I did think it was kind of odd that the super-charged chips that the Cuties use are represented as solid black rather than solid white which would make them look distinctly different from regular old non-charged chips...)


This is another one of those decisions.
Over many, many, I mean many years I played around with designs, shapes, and patterns for the fully activated Chip Skates.
(I suspect some of those have showed up in Beanworld Archive postings and will continue to.)
Only when they were in black did it feel right.


Drained of power?
White chips felt right for that.

Black chips.
Striped chips.
White chips.

The Bean-made processes that put these changes into effect are many.
Only a few have been mentioned let alone revealed.
We all have a long way to go together on this.
But in Book Four there will be a lot more revelation in this particular direction.


Finally, and this is something I thought about a long, long time ago, but I'm reminded of it because of such a focus on making tools, etc, in the new volume - where do old tools, broken tools, old Look*See Shows, etc go? Recycling in the Beanworld? Where do used spears in the Hoi Polloi realm go? Do they just fall down forming Der Stinkle?


I always thought that this would be a questions Beanworld fans might ask a lot.
It's only recently that it has become a frequently asked question.

I've already scribbled out many pages of notes regarding this. I even have a (mostly) finished story regarding the Look-See Shows.

Oh, and the 2008 eight page color story for MySpace Dark Horse Presents #14 ? Even that was only half a story and the other half is still waiting to find an appropriate slot. And, if you remember the tale, it's conclusion will answer a bunch of your questions. This stuff will probably be explained in full in Book 4 (or Five).

As far as Der Stinkle goes.
We have hardly scratched the surface, literally, of Der Stinkle.
The only existing hint of Further Adventures in Der Stinkle is shown in the poster "YOO-HOO, MR. SPOOK."
It's a teaser of a very big moment in the Beans' future!

Next letter.


JohnH wrote:
I have to admit, I first picked up Beanworld by reading (gasp!) illegal copies on the Internet. I know, shocking! But it showed me how wonderful Beanworld is, and I have bought Book 2 in print since then and hope to get Book 1 soon, which hopefully I can then use to show other people why I am so obsessed with the beans.

This is the counter argument to piracy.
It leads to paying customers eventually.
It's not something I can condone, but, very few people can honestly say they've never made use of a pirated something-or-other at least once in their life.

It wouldn't be a Beanworld letters column without rampant speculation about what everything means, so here goes!

You got that right, John!

One thing I have noticed from the earlier issues and struck me is the nature of the Beanworld's ground. What I noticed about it first came when the poisoned Sprout-Butt landed after Mr. Spook's Pod'l'Pool emerged from Gran'Ma'Pa. The patterns on it seemed to change from poisoned to a more normal Gran'Ma'Pa pattern gradually starting from when it touched the soil of the Beanworld. Then, too, there is the weird shape of the Beanworld island, how it is lopsided, weighted down on the left, that it is literally out of balance! Then there is the effect of gravity, which only appears to affect the Beans, and then by drawing them to the surface of the island. Very interesting! Well to me anyway.

To me too!
This is a very perceptive observation.
Well worth speculating upon!

One of the things I wonder about the most in the new book is the strange image of Big Fish swimming by the worms that are too big to eat. Could those be important in some way?

How can they not be?

The Cuties are growing up nicely into full-fledged characters. There seems to be some differentiation between them in personality, with one acting as leader and another taking after Proffy. Could they become apprentices for Mr. Spook and Professor Garbanzo?

The answers to that are, in fact, a primary story arc of Summertime.
What's gonna happen as the Cuties grow up?
Will they become Chow Sol'jers or are they going to become something new?

Thanks again for Book 3. Hopefully we won't need to wait as long for the next cycle!

Nope.
My answer to this question is simple.
The last interval was 15 years.
The next will be more like 15 months.

Next letter.

Shawn O'Hern wrote:

Just devoured volume 3 in one sitting. Like catching up with old friends. While I like having such a huge chunk to read at one time, I'm sad to have to wait an indeterminate amount of time for new material.

Any hint as to when we can expect new single issues or web comics?
Pretty please?

See "State of the Beanworld" at New Years on this very blog!

As for Here There...literally gasped when Beanish invaded the Hoi Polloi ring to examine the hearts' effect on the sprout butt - it felt like such a violation. I wonder if there will be more ramifications from this. It definitely seemed to upset the natural order of things.

When that sequence wrote itself, I was shocked at Beanish's behavior.
My mind was on fire "Can this be right?" was my overwhelming concern.
It took a while for me to accept the direction this major development was taking the story.

But when I saw where it was leading, it started making sense.
A lot of sense.

Beanish's seemingly bizarre behavior challenging the social codes of his tribe is also one of the main story arcs of Book Four.

Very intrigued by the sister Cutie's Proffy-like savvy. And by their odd growth development. Also not sure I understand what effect Heyoka had on the bean template and why it reversed when she left it.

Check out pages 266-268 of Book Two: A Gift Comes . As you will see the change in Here There was actuaally a reversion to the original "factory specifications."

That she becomes the Cuties' teacher is not what I expected at all.

I'm glad you didn't see that one coming!

I also noticed that Mr Spook's reference to invaders from the sky could allude to that color Beanworld story from Asylum of years ago in addition to the Goofy Service Jerks' attack. Any plans to reprint that?

Yes.
It does allude to that.
There is even proof of the fact that the story occurred within the pages of Here There!
That story will be re-jiggered and appear somewhere, some day.
Maybe ome sort of special Beanworld Apocrypha Color volume ala Usagi Yojimbo: Yokai.

Thanks again for bringing back Beanworld!

You are welcome!

CBLDF Special Offer!

The other day, I was talking about the two exclusive, limited edition, signed Beanworld posters I created for Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

The first one nowadays formally called "Codex Beanworld" is the one that seems to kick up the most interest when Beanworld fans first see it.

The second "Yoo-Hoo, Mr. Spook!" is also the source of much speculation as to what I might mean.

Over the weekend, I'm going to talk about the creation of these images and what they may mean (or not mean).

But in the meantime, Charles Brownstein, Executive Director of the Fund, noted that the supplies of these posters are dwindling very quickly and the inventory might not last long very long.

He came up with a great idea that makes it possible for you, the fans of Beanworld, to adopt these posters from the comfort of your own home.

Become a member of CBLDF NOW and you can adopt one of the posters as your Membership Premium.

If you are already a Member you can qualify for the premium by purchasing an early Membership renewal.

The funds raised in this membership offer help support the First Amendment legal work the CBLDF performs on behalf of the comics community. As I've said before, I know times are tough, and money is tight, but the good work that CBLDF does is just as important as it ever has been--if not more.

Here is how you do it!
Start by clicking here.

Chose your desired Level of Membership.

Click on it to learn more regarding the level of membership.

Under Premiums click
“Please send premium, if available, with my membership.”
And click on “Add to cart”

Fill in all the empty data blanks
and then
click on “Proceed to Check Out"

On that page at Step 4 “Payment Information”

in the second block titled “Order Comments”
type in your preference of poster:

1) Codex Beanworld

2) Yoo-Hoo, Mr Spook

And place your order.

You will receive a confirmation from CBLDF.

Indicate which of the prints you’d like under Order Comments as indicated below, but unfortunately, because supplies are so limited there can be no guarantees.

This is a first come, first served offer.

Offer ends at midnight December 31, 2009.

Noelco and World Peace!

Over on Facebook I mentioned, as I tend to do on an annual basis, that the Norelco Santa Ad is hands down my favorite Christmas commercial of all time.

My pal, Steve Bissette and others have weighed in with another great one, R. O. Blechman's spot for CBS.

I talked a little about the Blechman piece on FB after my friend, Betsy Gomez, posted it there a while back.

I wrote: "Man do I remember this CBS spot that ran when I was in high school. I'm not a person who who remembers a lot of details about animation but I do recall that this was by R O Blechman. His work was seemingly everywhere in the late 70s and early 80s and I think his influence cast a long shadow...from people like Keith Haring all the way to me. The sentiment of the spot's message is as true now as it ever was."

(Now that I see I meant to say late '60s not '70s...oh well)

In its short span Blechman's spot knocks the message of Peace on Earth right out of the park.

But is it a great ad?

What is it selling?

Watch CBS?

You were already watching CBS to see it.

That puts it into the realm of behavior reinforcement.

You are a fine person because you are watching CBS.

Now, if the goal of the spot was to say that "CBS is promoting world peace and to be kind to the environment"...well, those were not exactly the corporate goals of the Columbia Broadcasting System under William S. Paley!

Now on the other hand, the Norelco ad had a very tight sales goal.

Sell more Norelco razors.

Norelco entered the 60s facing declining sales of electric razors.

Its market share was declining.

The company made two critical marketing decisions:
Football and Santa.

Sales went up.

The company believed that their "Noelco" ad campaign was a big part that success.

I've always thought that this was, in part, because it marketed to kids and this was one of the only times of year where kids were ostensibly involved in making purchases for their Dad.

In those days, I firmly believe it was harder to know what get for Dad or Grandpa than it is today.

Kids didn't know what to buy.

How many jokes have there been over the years about sweaters, ties, shaving stuff, and other types of Christmas gifts over the years?

Plenty!

But by making this jolly Santa ad, they got the attention of the kids and helped make the suggestion that this a jolly good present for the man of the family.

(After all, it was competing with stuff like this doozy!)

The company believed that this was a good campaign and up-dated it at least two more times over the years.

So.

On the one hand...did world peace go up?

Uh, no.

Did Norelco razor sales go up?

Yes.

So.

Noelco?

Better ad.

Blechman spot?

The tight, concise story telling of this powerful 60 second micro-drama makes this arguably the best Christmas animation of the entire decade of the 1960s.

And that is what I was thinkin'....

What do you think?

HERE THERE: Hither and Thither

It's been a while so it's time to tune into some more Beanworld buzz!

Read Anout Comics "I love how Marder can take shamanistic traditions and transplant elements into a story that also includes the hero’s journey, pop culture references, slapstick comedy, and the life cycle of a plant. "

Jog - The Blog " Halfway between an experimental clip art webcomic and a gag-heavy serial newspaper strip, Beanworld is just too damn peculiar to look its age..."


Jog - The Blog Featuring a fascinating conversation between Jog and Tucker Stone that goes into Beanworld territory.
"TS: I wonder what anybody makes of Beanworld. People talk about in the sense that they like it, but I don't know that I've ever read anything about it that's gone beyond that, something that goes beyond to the "I like it because of..."[Tucker gestures to indicate a paucity of substance.]"

Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin
"Once again my need's been awakened to see how the whole Beanworld story eventually works out, while at the same time never really wanting it to end. "

Glow In The Dark Thoughts
" There are so many little secrets in this book. The book is refreshingly simple, yet surprisingly deep. I highly recommend a reading."

Living Between Wednesdays
"...a couple of nights ago I sat back and read the continuing adventures of Mr Spook and Professor Garbanzo and the Pod’l Pool Cuties, occasionally heaving great sighs of contentment. What a time to be alive!"

HEEB Hannukah Gift Guide "Deceptively simple illustrations of a quirky symbiotic universe come to life like a psychedelic sea monkey farm. Crumb, Kirby, Jung and Seuss collide in this surreal ride.

Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY!

Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY! is a modern day online letter column for Beanworld fans.

On the docket is Remember Here When You Are There!

Italics are me--roman font is you guys!

From Tabkend:

I think it should be stressed that if people haven't picked up the Holiday Special, they definitely should. It might help the perspective on the evolution of the Cuties, particularly in their interactions with each other.

Nobody will be disappointed when they pick up the graphic novel, I think.

Makes me wonder, will the other "seasons" be as long as Springtime has been? If you're going with mostly graphic novels, it definitely changes the pace of what we were used to so long ago.

Tabkend, the following seasons will be as long or short as the stories tell me they are supposed to be. That said, I believe that the Summertime cycle will be much longer than Springtime's 700-ish pages. There are a very large number of things that must happen within the frame work of Summertime. Most have barely been hinted at.

Regarding formats, unless the business formulas of the marketplace change drastically over the next few years--somehow the current model of graphic novel publication and distribution collapses and an unforeseen insatiable demand for indie periodical comics arises that make a profit--I am very happy with the current arrangement.

I've been asked if I wanted to consider Dark Horse's Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo model of comics first and collections later.
I thought about it.

And recognized that, for better or worse, I'm not that disciplined of a story teller.

I approach storytelling like a musician.

I come up with a little fragments of stories like a musician will come up with a ditty, riff, or hook and shuffle them around in a very grand scale.

Then, changing metaphors, as the story begins to take shape, I mess around with them in a process that is more similar to trying to finish a Joseph Cornell box than an issue of Tales of the Beanworld was. I was re-jiggering pages and sequences within Here There until the very last possible moment.

I really enjoyed exploring the subtle nuances of telling a long form story. What I really liked was getting to page 150 and recognizing that I didn't need page 2o and 21 and just yanking them and adding something else. If those pages had already been published, the entire story just might have veered of into something else. ( I just pulled those imaginary pages numbers out of nowhere. They aren't real.)

I now know, with no doubt whatsoever, that the long form, self contained graphic novel is the way that I'm supposed to work.

The Beanworld Holiday Special is still available.

From Kenny Hobbs:

Probably easier to follow my comments if I address the questions as you ask them, Kenny.

Soooooo many questions now.

The Secret Path to Something More???

What what what?

Here is cryptic answer number one.

When? When? When?

Nowhere near as long as you might think.

The hearts seem to be tangible objects that affect other characters... are the Boom'r's music notes the same?

Cryptic answer number two.

Looks like it huh?

I refer everyone to the cover of TOTB #21 and this too.

Why do the Cuties know so much?

Is it because they're still connected to Gran'Ma'Pa in the Pod'l Pool?

That would make sense wouldn't it?

What happens when they leave it?

Good question!

Is whatever went wrong with the original beans going right with the Cuties, and if it did, what does that mean for the original beans?

"We'll understand it all by and by."

And now I look at those prints my brother got me and wonder, what's the deal with this "chow factory" thing they visit, and what's the story behind the long thin beans?

It's a game plan that Beanworld provided for me to ponder.

Now that particular posting was in February 2008.

In March of 2009 something happened and I rediscovered something that had been lost.

Although I have spoken about it to people at conventions (pretty sure I talked about it with the Serious crew at Baltimore) it deserves an updated post of its own.

I'll try to remember to do so soon.

And why does Mr. Spook visit Der Stinkle again... apparently long enough to cause Proffy to worry? Or was there an emergency while he was gone on a pre-planned expedition? Heck... Don't even know if that's Der Stinkle! Maybe it's somewhere else!

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I think my favorite panel was when Proffy was talking to Beanish about the Float Force and talks about "something more." And then Beanish just LOOKS at him so weird.

Kenny, that little moment is one of my favorites too.

Phew.
That's enough for today.

I'll post more later.

As Dino used to say "Keep those cards and letters coming folks."

Hoka-Hoka Jeff Smith!

Oh man.

In all the excitement of the last few weeks, I've overlooked something very important.
Time to fix that.

I want to thank my ol' pal, Jeff Smith, creator of BONE and RASL, for writing the introduction to "Remember Here When You Are There!"

While we were working on the first hardcovers, I told my editor, Diana Schutz, that it was my dream to have Jeff write the intro to my comeback book.
She agreed. Great idea!

However, I confess I was a bit nervous asking Jeff for this favor.
Even though we have known each other for a very long time, I know how busy he is and how many requests of this sort he gets on an almost daily basis.
So I waited until the very last moment to ask.

How last moment?

Uh...Diana writing and saying that solicitations are due now and and asking if Jeff going to write the intro so it can be solicited properly.

Uh-oh.
That's what I get for being so procrastinatingly shy.

So I wrote and asked Jeff, and asked him if he could find the time to do it, and how I really regretted waiting until the last possible moment to do so.

His answer was brief and to the point.

"Lar, if it wasn’t last minute, it wouldn’t be comics.
Of course I’ll write it. I wouldn’t let anybody else touch it!"

What guy!

I can not begin to tell you how wide my grin was when the piece came in and I read for the first time his words "Beanworld is a mixture of Krazy Kat, Tinker Toys, and Haiku… "

Cracked me up then, cracked me up just now.

So a very big Hoo-Hoo-HA & a Hoka-Hoka HEY to Jeff plus a hearty Wahoolazuma for the great news that The Cartoonist is going to be aired on PBS.

Oh yeah, the above drawing, as you can probably figure out, is from The Bean Book.

Larry Marder will be a Guest of Honor at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con !

Comic-Con announced their Guest List for 2010.

I'm on it.
(And so are some of my favorite people in the art form.)

Next year is the 25th anniversary of the publication of Beanworld #1 and this will be part of the celebration. My thanks to the folks @ Comic-Con who decide these things and have made it so.

More about this and many more things in my New Year's State of the Beanworld posting but this news just couldn't wait.

Also....
A new Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY! coming soon!

Where to buy Beanworld!

People have been writing and asking where they can find Beanworld.

Here is a list of folks I am certain are doing Beanworld e-business.

Things From Another World

Powell's Books

Amazon

Amazon UK

Panel to Panel (with free bookplate)

Barnes & Noble Borders

Mile High

For a walk-in-the-door comic retailer close to home there are at least two places to start your search.

Comic Shop Locator Service.

The Master List of Comic Book Stores

Here There: here and there.

This isn't going to be an edition of Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY!
Not quite yet.

Some great letters about Here There! pop-pop-popping into my mailbox and I'll start posting and commenting this weekend.

But I wanted to grab a few moments To update you about some of the online commentary that I'm aware of.

Comics Alliance :"...it's as beautifully weird as anything he's ever done. "

Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader: "People work too hard at trying to “get” Beanworld and not simply observe the Beanworld. To enjoy what is truly the most immersive comics experience ever, you must begin like the still growing characters: Clueless, overwhelmed by the world around you."

Read About Comics: "Beanworld continually has surprises just hiding up its sleeve, and this new volume is no exception. I love how Marder can take shamanistic traditions and transplant elements into a story that also includes the hero’s journey, pop culture references, slapstick comedy, and the life cycle of a plant. There’s nothing else out there quite like Beanworld. If you’ve never read it before, please, check it out."

Roasted Peanuts: "I've been obsessed with Beanworld for months now, and to actually have not just one, but a thick book of new stories, it seems almost like too much. It is wonderful."

And last but not least--this Facebook post from Don Murphy (yes, that Don Murphy) : "Don Murphy has his copy of Beanworld vol 3 already and is off to the bathtub to read it!"

Hoo●Hoo●HAs & a Hoka●Hoka●HEY!

A.V. Club

As far as I know, this is the first online review
for Remember Here When You Are There to appear online.

Don't worry about reading it....it doesn't contain any spoilers.

My favorite passage is:

"...it has the internal rhythms of an excellent poem, and a strong and striking vision that’s entirely unique. In spite of the vague lesson about how environments are interconnected and we’re all part of a connected chain of life, there’s rarely any sense that any of this means anything, and yet it’s strangely addictive, like watching a civilization build itself within a bottle.

It appears that Thanksgiving pushed back deliveries to comics shops to Thursday, December 3rd.

You can send your keen observations and burning questions regarding Remember Here When You Are There! right here.

Anyway....if you have something you'd like to say in public about Here There! you can say it here.

If you want to say it in private, the email address is larrymarder@gmail.com.

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This "strongly recommended" just in from Dave Rants!