Tales of the Beanworld
Encyclopedia
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. http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2008/04/the_beanworld_resurrected.html 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.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, created by Larry Marder
Larry Marder
Larry Marder is an American cartoonist and writer, best known as the creator of comic book Tales of the Beanworld, which began as an "essentially self-published title" in 1984.-Early life:...
. 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
1985 in comics
-Year overall:* More independent publishers enter the marketplace: Aircel Comics, Arrow Comics, Blackthorne Publishing, Dragon Lady Press, NOW Comics, Sirius Comics, Strawberry Jam Comics, and Wonder Comics all publish their first titles...
, 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
Eclipse Comics
Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market...
. 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
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
in deluxe hardcover editions. http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2008/04/the_beanworld_resurrected.html 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.
Characters
- Beanish: an artist bean, who creates the “Fabulous Look•See•Show”, artwork for the other beans to appreciate
- Mr. Spook: the Beanworld hero, who leads the Chow Sol'jer Army and performs heroic deeds. In addition, he is the leader of the Gunk'l'Dunk Gang.
- Professor Garbanzo: an inventor/scientist bean who also functions as the Beans' primary manufacturer and supplier of tools and weapons.
- Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd: inveterate gamblers, who use “chow” as money. An individual member of this group is referred to as a Hoi-Polloi. During attacks by the Chow Sol’jer Army, the Hoi-Polloi shove their individual stores of chow into collective piles, then link arms with their neighbors in a circular formation (hence the “ring herd” moniker) to defend the chow. The Chow Sol'jer Army steals whatever portion of one ring herd's chow they can carry, and leave behind a “sprout-butt.” The Hoi-Polloi turn the sprout-butt into more chow, which they divide among themselves. The beans take the supply of chow back to their part of the Beanworld and consume it. It is unclear what the connection might be between these characters and the traditional term, “hoi polloiHoi polloiHoi polloi , an expression meaning "the many", or in the strictest sense, "the majority" in Greek, is used in English to denote "the masses" or "the people", usually in a derogatory sense. Synonyms for "hoi polloi" include ".....
,” a colloquialism for “the common man.” - Gran’Ma’Pa: a large, mute, mostly immobile being resembling a tree which is the beans’ spiritual guardian and physical parent. Among other things, Gran'ma'pa produces sprout-butts for the beans to take on Hoi-Polloi chow raids.
- Boom’R Band: three musician beans, who play tunes for the other beans to enjoy and dance to. Music and dance are both referred to as "boom'n." In certain circumstances, their music can perform additional tasks, such as healing injured beans, and in the case of the band’s rhythmist, in the curing stage of Gunk’l’dunk.
- Pod’lPool Cuties: baby beans
- Chow Sol’jer Army: beans which don’t have any other specific task form the Chow Sol’jer Army, who get chow from the Hoi-Polloi. The Army is divided into two squads:
- Spear Fling’n Flank’rs: small elite squadron who wear special masks. They attack and painfully disable the Hoi-Polloi of a ring using spears formed from a Slat and a Chip. They are assisted in this by Mr. Spook and his Trusty Fork (and its successor weapon).
- Chow Pluk’rs: they move in after the Spear Fling’n Flank’rs have done their job, grabbing the newly abandoned chow using Pluk’r Wands formed from a Slat and a Hoop.
- Gunk’l’Dunk Gang: a small, semi-secret society within the Chow Sol’jer Army, whose function is to clean out the “gunk” from the bottom of the Chowdown Pool and process it into Gunk’l’Dunk, a useful adhesive.
- Heyoka: A shamanistic bean, who does everything backwards. Appropriated from the Lakotah HeyokaHeyokaThe word Heyókȟa refers to the Lakota concept of a contrarian, jester, satirist or sacred clown.Heyókȟa are thought of as being backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in nature. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionally—riding a horse backwards, wearing...
tradition, as is the beans' characteristic cheer of "hoka-hoka-hey". - Goofy Jerks: shiny wormlike beings from The Big•Big•Picture, with large heads, buck teeth, dark glasses, and hats (which illustrate their specific functions). Goofy Jerks usually travel in threesomes and perform specific functions stated by the second word in their name.The first ones seen in the series were the Goofy Service Jerks, which brought “Reproductive Propellant” to Gran’Ma”Pa, leading to the birth of the baby Pod’lPool Cuties. Later in the series (but earlier in the continuity, via a flashback / historical tale) were seen a customer satisfaction research team (Goofy Survey Jerks), a medical squad (Goofy Surgeon Jerks), and later in both the series and in continuity, a police squad (Goofy Surveillance Jerks). Their leader and judge is the enormous Goofy Sermon Jerk.
- Dreamishness, a sun-like being (possibly the Beanworld's actual sun!) with whom Beanish has daily, secret colloquies. By dancing, he finds he can prolong the ecstatic moment when she pauses directly overhead. Dreamishness can't stand the Goofy Jerks, who refer to her as a "hot babe".
Locations in the Beanworld
- Chowdown Pool: a large, communal facility which the Beans use for 'eating'. They mix chow taken from the Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd with water from the Thin Lake to produce 'soup'. The Bean community then enters the Pool and takes in nutrients through osmosisOsmosisOsmosis is the movement of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, aiming to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides...
. - Legendary Edge: traditional exit point from the Beanworld, used when Beans wish to explore the Four Realities or hunt for chow.
- Proverbial Sandy Beach: traditional re-entry point onto the Beanworld.
- Thin Lake: relatively shallow but apparently endless layer of water that rests on top of the Four Realities.
- Four Realities: strata of objects from which the Beans make virtually all of their possessions and structures. They are, in descending order, Slats (essentially lumber of various sizes), Hoops (exactly that), Twinks (five-pointed stars), and Chips (flat, triangular solids).
- Bone Zone: During the first published Beanworld story, a processing ship invaded the Beanworld, containing four-armed corn kernels who were led by 'The Mirthful Mossy Mammoth and his Little Clone Son'. A significant number of Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd were murdered and 'processed' into 'Mossy Mammoth Luncheon Meats: Boiled in Butter!', leaving only their skulls. These skulls all collected in a stable 'level' below the Four Realities, although the Beans do not refer to this as an additional Reality. This level also established an additional distance for the Chow Sol'jer Army to travel in order to reach the Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd and the chow.
- Der Stinkle: the lowest level of the Beanworld, literally beneath the notice of both the Beans and the Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd. Apparently analogous to compressed soil that is not quite as hard as sedimentary rockSedimentary rockSedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
, as the inhabitants have created a vast network of tunnels through it. The author states on his blog that he meant Der Stinkle as a form of XibalbaXibalbaXibalba , roughly translated as "place of fear", is the name of the underworld in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the vicinity of Cobán, Guatemala. According to some of the...
. Der Stinkle is presumably uninhabited, as the insects (and their leader, Der Kveen) all abandoned it in search of the beans' surplus of 'mountain-grown chow'. Having eaten all the chow, Der Kveen laid thousands of "aigs", which the beans know as "mystery pods" and use for a variety of purposes. - The Big•Big•Picture: the greater universe of which the Beanworld is one small part. Mentioned briefly by the Goofy Service Jerks, and was partially explored by Heyoka in the final issue of the first run.