Crazy Trade-Ins from Floating World!

Last Tuesday, I made an appearance at Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco
The Storytime! show is really quite extraordinary and very informative.
We wanted to focus on the process of creating comics and the show really demonstrates how all of the artists in the show work out their stories.
Everyone does it differently.
(Hope Larson's thumbnails are something to see!)
My stuff looked a lot better up on the walls then it did when I was sorting through it on my studio floor. Context is everything, huh?

Duh....I forgot my camera and failed to get any pictures.
The exhibit is up until November 14 and if you are going to APE--you really want to pop in and give the show a look-see.

Then last Wednesday, I did a signing at Floating World Comics in Portland OR.
It was an opportunity to see old friends, make new ones, and have a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Many thanks to Jason of Floating World for working with Diana Schutz and making the whole thing happen in a very short period of time.

And there were even some particularly excellent Crazy Trade-Ins.

Riley, age 8, wasn't a bit shy to show me her Beanworld originals. She insisted I take several pages because "It's easy to make more." When I asked her who her favorite Beanworld character is, hands down it was "Pod'l'pool Cuties." More of Riley's fantastic artwork here.

Kids love the Cuties. Doesn't matter what stage the Cuties are in--they are popular as can be.I've written about it before, and will again, but it amazes me how they took over the book and in turn Beanworld fandom. There really needs to be Cutie merchandise of its own--don't you think?

Speaking of merchandise: please post your wish lists of what you most need to have!
We'll speak of this again later

This watercolor illo of Beanish pondering Kant came from the incredibly talented Dylan Meconis.

Totally cracked me up.

I was truly complimented she took the time out of her busy schedule to join the Beanworld Trade-In craziness!

One of the things that also came out of that night was me agreeing to come up again next spring for Stumptown Comic Fest April 16 &17, 2011.

In a day or two, I'll post about something that happened at Floating World that reminded me that a post about the Eclipse Comics hard covers from two decades ago is long over due.

Kids draw the darndest Beans!

One of my greatest joys since the Beanworld reboot has been just how popular the book has become with the kids of the 21st century.

I get reports from parents and teachers all the time--a boy or a girl sits down with a Beanworld book and something starts zapping back and forth from the printed page directly into the child's mind back to the page and so on.

Is it the deceptive simplicity of the iconic art?
Can it be the intertwined concepts that make up the rules and laws of the Beanworld?
Maybe it's the maps and glossary.
Maybe it's just that this generation is totally poised to grok what I mean when I say: Beanworld isn't a place; it's a process.

This is all rather remarkable to me because I've never actually had a target audience in mind as I've written and drawn Beanworld tales over the decades. As I say all the time: Beanworld more or less writes itself and I often feel like a glorified scribe getting it all down on paper as fast as I can once it starts to emerge and flow.

Who the Beanworld audience/readership is really has little to do with whatever I (or my publisher) wants it to be.

It's a contract between Beanworld and its readers of all ages.

Beanworld has been around long enough now that folks that read it when they were kids can now share it with their own children and Beanworld appreciation becomes a shared family activity. This is something I could never have imagined when the first Beanworld stories came together in a comic book stories I genuinely believed no one would ever read.

But those stories are in fact the first few chapters of Wahoolazuma! and are the entry point for kids into the Beanworld.

Interaction with Beanworld fans (of all ages) is why I go to comic book conventions.I love the questions and observations.I like to talk about my influences.I like to talk about whatever a Beanworld fan wants to talk about.

That's why I'm there.But the most fun is interaction with young readers who "get it" and immerse themselves in the whys and wherefores of the Beanworld.

One of the true highlights of my 2010 Comic-Con was when this kid kept coming back and very politely requesting the loan of some blank beans and the use of a Sharpie and proceeding to make his own personalized Beanworld Action Figures. He's show them to me and saunter off. He came back several times--both alone and with his older brother.

Some one carried this drawing all the way from Tallahassee FL on behalf of Fiona Grace Jacoby-age six. Her Dad, Brian Jacoby is the proprietor of Secret Headquarters: Comics and Games for Everyone! and a very good friend of the Beanworld's. Fiona Grace's drawing skills have come a long way since her first contribution to the Leguminous Fan Art gallery in 2009.

Another repeat young Beanworld fan artist: Treasure Olson!
This year, Treasure was able to write her own letter and showcased her own Bean characters for me--plus she used a Beanworld Action Figure in a bit of multi-media collage. Really cool for age 6 if you ask me.

I had a lengthy chat with her Dad who delivered her drawings and he filled me in on all the Bean adventures Treasure is creating on her own. Her favorite character of her own is "Cookish" so that the one I drew for her in trade.

I think I was given this trade-in drawing at the LA Book fair and it hid out from me until today. The name Greg is on the back. I haven't found any other information. Thanks, Greg!

This goth Bean was a trade in from Teresa Gonsoski.

I love these trade-in drawings at conventions.
Next opportunity will be at New York Comic-Con in October.

Comic-Con 2010 Beanworld/Larry Marder things to not forget:

Larry Marder is in Artist's Alley: DD-17

Larry Marder's schedule.

Crazy Trade Ins!

I might be CRAZY but sketches
like this and this and this
will get YOU one one of these!

Here is the deal!
Come by my table in Artist's Alley (DD17) and trade-in one of your homemade Beanworld drawings for a genuine Marder-drawn, signed original sketch of the same character!

Offer open to kids of all ages!

THE DETAILS: Only one trade-in per person allowed.
If your drawing contains more than one character,
you must decide which single character you'd like as your trade-in sketch.
After the drawing exchange you agree
that I can post your sketch in theLeguminous Fan Art Gallery.
And it would be nice if I could get a snapshot of you and your art

TCAF & those Crazy Trade-Ins!

For a couple of years I've been hearing more and more good things about the Toronto Comics Art Festival aka TCAF.

Everything I'd heard was true and more.

What a great weekend it was.
I got to meet a whole passel of creative people for the first time including: Eric Orchard, Jason Turner, Abby Denson, Jim Zubkavich and many others.

Got to say hello to old friends like Dan Clowes, Jim Woodring, Evan Dorkin, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Spike, and Charles Vess.

But I really didn't have a chance to have an in-depth conversation with any one of them due to the fast pace of the show. Fortunately the Great Northern Nexus Mark Asquith and I did have a chance for a lengthy chat towards the end of the show.

And had a chance to meet and chat with Bob Heer of Gunk'l'dunk who also brought me the raw beans needed for FREE Beanworld Action Figures. Thanks so much, Bob.

I greatly enjoyed giving my "The Leguminous History of Larry Marder & The Beanworld" talk.
It's changed over the years and it's now includes a lot more discussion about my influences. I'll be giving some version of it at Comic-Con this July. The Q & A was particularly lively and vivid, talking about Art and Science and everything in between. I believe a good time was had by all.

I sat at my table the entire run of show drawing and talking and drawing some more.
A lot of good sketches and drawings went to good homes!

As always there were Crazy Trade-Ins.
Pics of them start here.
A few pics of the artists and such starting here.

Thanks to all connected to both the TCAF & Beguiling crews particularly Christopher Butcher, Peter Birkemoe, and Gina Gagliano. Gina got me hooked up early with their techie guy, Parrish, making sure the PowerPoint presentation was pre-loaded and ready to go.

TCAF is such a well run show. Very dedicated & attentive staffers & volunteers. Highest possible recommendation!


And last, but hardly least, a hearty Hoo-Hoo-HA & A Hoka-Hoka-HEY to Natalia Lopez who was drafted by the amazingly efficient Gina into watching my table when I was upstairs giving my panel.


I'm pretty sure Natalia didn't quite know what she was getting herself into...but she got to witness first hand what it is happens when kids & grown-ups are snagged by the FREE Beanworld Action Figures display and the light bulb of recognition goes off over their heads.
Thanks, Natalia. You were a life-saver!

Crazy Trade-Ins @ Wondercon & C2E2!

So once again, I ask myself: am I crazy to do this?

Nope.

Beanworld fans of all ages spent a lot of time plotting and planning their drawings to trade with me. Everyone really knocked 'em out of the proverbial park!

The drawings I traded with Beanworld fan artists were just thoroughly Wahoolazuma!
You can read about them in the Leguminous Fan Art Gallery starting here.

Also you can see pics of the Beanworld connoisseurs who made the trade starting here.

I might have kerfluffled some of the names and spellings--if I did write me at
larrymarder[at]gmail.com and I'll make the correx pronto.

Am I going to continue the trade-ins?
Yep.

So far it has been a thoroughly manageable program and a lot of fun.

So it is a go for TCAF and SD10!

Will I make trades through the mail?
Sorry, no can do.
I just don't have the time to manage anything like that.

Home From My My Autumnal Wanderings!

So was I crazy?

Nope.

The drawings I traded with Beanworld fans were just thoroughly Wahoolazuma!

You can read about them in the Leguminous Fan Art Gallery starting here.

Also you can see pics of the Beanworld connoisseurs who made the trade starting here.

I was on the road for almost a month jumping from Chicago, New York, Baltiomore, and San Francisco. I entered time continuums from my entire life from birth to the present. Saw most of the best friends I've ever had. (Just missing Captain Hats and Suzy).

You can scan the highlights starting here.

Of course I wish I had remembered to take far more pictures...but I was having so much fun that pictures often were the furthest thing from my mind. I'm sure I screwed up some of the names and spellings--if I did write me at larrymarder@gmail.com and I'll make the correx pronto.

Will I continue the trade-ins?

Sure, I guess so, until it gets unmanageable.

Will I make trades through the mail?
Sorry, no can do.

I just won't have the time to manage anything like that.

I have to get back to work now.

I'll be announcing a bunch of stuff soon.

And now I gotta start actually doing the work.

Hoo-Hoo-HA & a Hoka-Hoka-HEY!
Larry

Some related links well worth checking out:

Jesse's Take

David's Take

The Youth Market

Jeff Smith Panel