Customer Reviews

Beanworld Book 1: Wahoolazuma! (Larry Marder's Beanworld)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Beanworld is strange and different and odd and exceptional. It encompasses mythology, ecology, psychology, and social commentary, all in a cute cartoon format. It is entirely its own in a way that can never be duplicated. It is deep in ways that cannot be guessed from the simple art.

Beanworld means a lot to me. We did a reading from the book at my wedding. I've started reading them to my son, now seven. He loves them. He even saw Mr. Marder at Comicon and drew a Bean invention for him, which was great fun for them both. Give it a try - it's worth it.

"Beanworld" is a wonderful example of how a graphic novel can express so many different levels and themes through a unique medium. At first glance this might just seem to be a little funny book about beans but Larry Marder has created a world that tells a story that touches on many universal themes. The art is very basic but compelling nonetheless. The characters have a tremendous depth that is slowly revealed as the stories unfold and the themes are just as relevant today as when Marder first produced this work. This is an all ages book that can speak to children as well as adults and should even appeal to those who would never even read a comic book. Compared favorably to "The Watchmen" and "The Dark Knight" returns it is a graphic novel that stretches the boundaries of traditional sensibilities about comics and sequential art. No superheroes (kinda) in costumes but a very valuable work. Once you read the first volume, you will want all the rest.

Beanworld is unique, and as such is hard to properly describe. It is a world with a balanced cycle of life. A tree provides raw food which a tribe of beans take to a race of gamblers who possess 'chow'. The beans need chow for nutrients but the gamblers use it as money. The beans steal chow from the gamblers, but leave the raw food in exchange - which the gamblers than process into chow. Things happen that affect this cycle and the world reacts. That's the dry description. What Beanworld actually is is the only comic that is guaranteed to leave me happy and joyous after reading it no matter how many times I've read it before.

I tried writing an explanation of the cycle, but it's complex enough in its simplicity and has enough unique jargon to make a second-hand telling of it burdensome. If I had said that the Hoi Polloi ring the talking sprout-butt and woo it until it explodes while at the same time healing their fork and spear wounds from the chow sol'jer army, not only would it seem impossible to understand to someone who hadn't read it, it would suggest an impenetrability of a subject full of strange terms and situations. However, on the page, the art makes everything perfectly clear with a minimum of words or explanation. The first few pages move you through the daily cycle succinctly and clearly.

The art in the book is just like the art on the cover: A two-dimensionally drawn world bursting with joy. Larry Marder has managed to create such a welcoming world that a story about cleaning goo off of the bottom of the pool makes me happy. That is where the title of the book comes from: Wahoolazuma! What an expression for joy!

For those familiar with Beanworld already, this volume collects the first nine issues of the series, including the two-part Proffy back-up story. A second volume will finish collecting the original tales and shortly thereafter, new stories will be printed!

Beanworld is the tale of the Beans, a clan of happy little... well, beans, who live in symbiosis with the Gran'ma'pa tree and the Hoi Polloi Ring Herd. There are occasional challenges, but Mr Spook and the Chow Sol'jers can generally handle things. Despite some menacing mysteries, it seems likely that things will continue to go well for the beans.

The black and art is simple and quirky. The characters are straight forward. The plots are unsophisticated. It is naive, and fun, and a welcome relief from the dark, brooding styles that are so popular these days.

Good, lightweight fun.

E.M. Van Court

This was one of my books, and my then-four-now-five year old got her hands on it and asked me to read it to her. I said, "no" because the first chapter (and ONLY the first chapter) has a kind of dark and scary part. But she was enchanted by the pictures, and I really did want to share it with her. So I warned her that the first chapter is a little scary, and we read the whole thing. Then the second book. When the third came out, we were both very excited. (I skipped one part of the second book that was tangential to the main story, and a little scary)

Since then, she does things like point out swirls in her cinnamon toast that look like the Hoi-Polloi, and she likes to play Heyoka with me. (Heyoka is not in the first book) The thing is, the book captured my imagination, too. And now that we've gone through it several times, I'm picking up little things I missed before. I lent it to a friend, and it did not grab him, but his tres-cool son asked me through him if I had the second book, and then the third.

Like all things of quality, it does get a bit over-hyped, and I don't want you to be disappointed. This book is not the Second Coming. But it is a very good story, where words and pictures dance beautifully together, and it is different than any other book I've read.

I opened up "Beanworld" expecting the traditional comic book experience. That is I expected to encounter a world which was clearly articulated but tightly bound to the reality of our own lives with only a faint hint of abstraction... instead Larry Marder starts over with a more or less blank slate. The beginning pages of "Beanworld" work to define Beanworld itself forcing the reader to step away from the constraints of worlds bound by human understanding and into an environment drastically more dynamic in its construction.

Admittedly, my initial description makes the comic sound overly complex and convoluted, but it's really nothing of the sort. Marder gives the reader an experience that gives them ample room for their imagination to take root and to sculpt the storyline into a truly personal experience. That's not to say that "Beanworld" isn't capable of standing on its own plot, but the plot is enhanced by the reader's perceptions and reception of Beanworld.

The story follows the Beans as they undergo their daily routines and looks into the politics and life philosophies of a world far distant from our own. The center of the adventure focuses on the oft contentious battles between the Hoi-Polloi and the Beans for chow. The Beans must also struggle to build a cohesive society which is frequently threatened by threats from a mysterious outside world. The Beans's saga is captivating in its simplicity yet complex requiring the reader to mentally juggle the rules of a society that stands completely apart from our own.

In the same vein as the "Bone" comic series, "Beanworld" offers a light feel in the sense that it's not overly dense with complex and painful emotion. I found myself thoroughly immersed in Beanworld and the plight of the Beans almost instantly. While I did struggle to conceptualize Beanworld initially, Marder's construction is impeccable allowing the reader plenty of time to grasp the story.

My review for Larry Marder's first collected edition of Beanworld will undoubtedly suffer from numerous instances of backhanded compliments. I thought I'd get that caveat out of the way before I got ahead of myself. To be perfectly honest, when I started reading Beanworld, my first thought was "What is this?" But by the end, I was sorely disappointed that my visit to this very odd place had ended. Beanworld seems simple and even juvenile at first, but underneath its childlike veneer lays a rich and complex narrative.

I wish I had a better grasp of Marxist critical theory, because I think I could have a field day if I examined Beanworld through such a lens. Now I'm going to try to sound smart: The inhabitants of Beanworld (the world, not the book) operate in a sort of socialist collective wherein all inhabitants have their own prescribed roles, which they dutifully perform in exchange for food. There's no currency exchanged--some beans are soldiers who hunt down "chow" to be consumed from the "chowdown pool"; other beans are musicians, artists, or scientists, all of whom do their part to ensure that the society runs smoothly. The de facto leader of the beans is Mr. Spook, though he himself is deferential to the beans' spiritual guide, Gran'Ma'Pa, who maintains a silent visage over the beans and also provides them with the resources to secure the aforementioned chow.

In writing (and rereading) the previous paragraph, it strikes me how altogether odd the book still sounds, even though I'd gotten through my initial feelings of confusion when I read it. Beanworld is the kind of book that only makes sense after you immerse yourself in it and put away your hangups about what a story ought to be. The illustrations are simplistic in terms of the level of detail they display. But their lack of detail, and their dependence on a cartoony-style, allows readers to more easily identify with the characters, enablimg them to imprint their own identities on the mostly featureless characters. They're drawn so simplistically, in fact, that the gender of each character is only discernable by the pronouns other characters use to refer to them (with the one exception of Mr. Spook). This simplicity seems like a problem at first, in that the whole enterprise seems the work of an amateur. But after a very short time readers will begin to see the depth that the figures belie.

You probably shouldn't read this if you're looking for a relaxing, leisurely book. Beanworld requires an active reader in order to fully appreciate all it has to offer. It wouldn't be a stretch to suggest this as a required text at many educational levels; younger readers can learn the basics of how societies function, while students at higher levels can delve deeply into socioeconomic theory, and alternative socioeconomic structures. Beanworld is strange, and somewhat off-putting, but ultimately it is one of the more rewarding and unique comics experiences you'll encounter.

-- Brian P. Rubin

I recently stumbled across the fact that Larry Marder's Beanworld was being reprinted, and I could not be happier. Once I married and had children I had to leave my comic books behind--it was too much money for a young couple to comfortably afford. I had no trouble quitting for the most part, but I did miss two titles in particular, Beanworld and Jeff Smith's Bone.

I often thought of both titles as my kids were growing, thinking they would be wonderful reading for children with open minds and imaginations. Several years ago I discovered the Bone books had been collected, and my daughters read them with great delight.

Now, at long last, I can read and share with them the weird and wonderful world of Larry Marder. Even now, 15+ years later, I smile with nostalgic joy at my memories of discovering Beanworld. Like Marder said, "It is a most peculiar comic book experience."

... or you don't. I'm a "don't". Art, plot, characters, settings - nothing there for me.

If you enjoy it, great. I'm moving on.

-- wiredweird

I remember seeing ads for 'Beanworld' back from my days in HS when I was still fairly regularly collecting comic books; I believe I saw the ads in various Dark Horse titles, which makes sense as the collection was published by Dark Horse.

I'll be honest - I don't understand what the draw is. I can make some unfavorable assumptions (similar to my assumptions as to why folks enjoy the Grateful Dead or the Pink Floyd movie 'The Wall'), but that really won't be doing anyone a whole lot of good.
The art is... Well, I guess the most positive thing I could say about it was that it was "consistent," but it struck me as random doodles more than anything.
The message of "everything needing to work together" was about as unsubtle as a train-wreck.

Probably the most irritating thing was how the basics of the Beanworld society worked were repeated it seems just about every "chapter" of the story; I understand that the comics probably came out months (if not years) apart, but having the material all sequentially available just makes the retelling all the more egregious.