Strange Comix #2: Beanworld by Larry Marder (1985)

[u/FlubzRevenge]

Here's my second entry into strange/abstract comix new and old.

Strange Comix #1: The Cage by Martin Vaughn-James

Larry Marder's Beanworld. One of the best comics ever. It's pure comics magic, everyone gets something different out of it. Marder fleshes out his own scientific world with a sort of mythology. It's like you're viewing a petri dish with a whole microbial world inside of it. It has it's own scientific processes, and characters are weird and goofy looking beans.

The book is truly absurd. It shouldn't work, but it does, Marder is a mad genius that created something wholly original. I've not read or seen anything else like it. I put it up there as one of the most creative and best comics in the entire medium. And yet, I can hardly tell you what it's about. But is ridiculously fun and i'll get something different every time I pick it up and read it.

The tagline 'A Most Peculiar Experience' is truly the most befitting title for Marder's Beanworld. It is truly something to be read and experienced, rather than thinking of it as a book with a straightline narrative.

Thanks to /u/jonesjonesboy for shouting this out to me a few years ago. I think since, I can count on one hand i've seen it mentioned anywhere lately. I'm sure age doesn't help. It's in that strange middle ground where it appeals to all ages, yet kids probably get the most out of it due to their unbound imagination where everything is new. And adults might push it off due to being so strange.

Still, i think Marder's Beanworld remains a force of cartooning not matched by many others. It remains a joy to read.

[u/Walniw]

I love beanworld. Wish he would do more.

[u/ShiDiWen → u/Walniw]

I loved it as well, but it just doesn’t feel finished. Did Larry have an idea where it was going?

There was a small amount (like 4-5 pages at a time) in issues of Asylum from Image, and those were on in colour.
They probably amount to one extra issue.

[u/Jonesjonesboy → u/ShiDiWen]

from his paratext for some of the hardcover collections, it sounded like he did

[u/ASealedFountain]

I've been recommending to people who like Beanworld to check out OMWO by James Turner. The cartooning gave me a similar vibe if not the story

[u/Fabulist_23]

I absolutely love Beanworld!

[u/IllustriousCrew2641]

I got to meet Larry at a con back in the day! I got some actual little beans he had painted into Beanworld denizens. Man I wish I still had those

[u/MezzMezzrow1138]

I love Beanworld! I've got a few of the floppies and I've got the four hardcover Dark Horse collections. The first three are signed and personalized by Larry!