Larry Marder's Beanworld Holiday Special

by Larry Marder

It's great to see the return of this 'most peculiar comic book experience'. I don't remember the last time I bought or read a Beanworld comic - I do remember discovering it around the time the last two issues came out, and I did find a few random issues in some bins once, but I hadn't even thought about the book for years.

This is a typical Beanworld story. Spook and the Chow Sol'jers dive through the four realities to steal chow from the Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd; Beanish jumps; Professor Garbonzo postulates, and the Boom'rs notice something stange about the Pod'l'Pool Cuties.

The book runs according to its own internal logic, as the Cuties learn about play and how to communicate with one another. It's a charming story, with beautiful, simplistic art by Marder. The straight-forward, solid colours enhance the story (I'm sure the originals were black and white).

The original series is being released in trade starting next month, and I think it's time for a lengthier return to Beanworld.