Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 6

Written by Mac Walters, LeVar Burton, Mark Wolfe, Frank Stockton, Art Baltazar, Scott Morse, Andi Watson, Larry Marder, Stan Sakai, Ron Chan, Jaime Hernandez, Jason Little, Garaham Annable, Matt Kindt, Gabriel Bá, Mark Crilley, Justin Aclin, Simon Spurrier, Jackie Kessler, and Evan Dorkin
Art by Eduardo Francisco, David Hahn, Frank Stockton, Art Baltazar, Scott Morse, Andi Watson, Larry Marder, Stan Sakai, Ron Chan, Jaime Hernandez, Jason Little, Graham Annable, Matt Kindt, Gabriel Bá, Mark Crilley, Ben Bates, Christopher Mitten, Paul Lee, and Hilary Barta

I'll be completely honest - most of the comics collected in this book are completely skippable.  That's probably one of the main reasons why the whole Myspace Dark Horse Presents experiment failed (well, that and the fact that just about the whole world stopped using Myspace).  It was a commendable concept, and I believe it did lead to the resurrection of the monthly Dark Horse Presents, which has been a very good thing, but it's clear that Dark Horse was rarely coming through with their A-game on this thing.

Because I want to stay positive though, I will focus on what is good about this collection.  Scanning the credit list above, one name should immediately stand out to anyone who knows what I like - Gabriel Bá!  He provides a short piece called Fiction that could only work in comics.  A writer appears at a festival, where he grumbles about how his readers think they know him by reading his books, but they don't.  After a few pages though, Bá pulls a switch on the reader, and we find out that that character is a character in someone else's writing.  The whole thing has a very Borgesian feel to it, and is beautiful to boot.  Easily worth picking up this book for, as so far as I know, this story hasn't been collected anywhere else.

Among the other things I liked were the Giant Man story by Matt Kindt, a companion piece to his 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man graphic novel.  I've read this before though - it was recently collected alongside two other stories in a one-shot.  It's still good though.

Likewise the Beanworld story by Larry Marder.  I think it was included in the recent Tales of the Beanworld collection.  Every day needs a little Beanworld in it though, so it's also all good.

I was also pleased to see a Bee story by Jason Little.  I read Motel Art Improvement Service a little while ago, and enjoyed it.  In this story, Bee spends a day in New York with her friend, and goes through some of the existential issues of Bá's story.

Simon Spurrier and Christopher Mitten provide a creepy horror story involving a man whose pregnant wife was killed in a car wreck, and who is visited by the fetus's ghost (in a really disturbing way).  Also of note are the collection of Brody's Ghost stories by Mark Crilley.  These aren't exactly my cup of tea, but I like the fact that Dark Horse gave over a fair amount of space to them, making them stand out a little more through sheer volume.

The rest of the book is a melange of licensed properties (Mass Effect, Buffy), children's comics (which never feels like a good fit), and stuff that just didn't resonate with me.

Tales of the Beanworld (Book 3.5)

by Larry Marder

I've been reading and loving Beanworld since sometime towards the end of its Eclipse Comics run in the early 90s.  When Dark Horse began republishing the early comics, followed by a volume of all-new material, I was very excited.  Now, they are giving us this slim volume, which includes all the shorter, colour Beanworld stories that Larry Marder has done, and despite my already owning 2/3 of this book, I had to get this hardcover.

Beanworld is not easily explained or understood.  The standard quote is that it's 'a most peculiar comic book experience', as Marder tells us on the cover, and that's a fair assessment.  Basically, this comic is about a group of walking, talking beans who live in a tiny little world.  Everything in their world has a purpose, and there is a sense of order about how the beans go about their day.  Sometimes that order is disrupted by outside forces, and sometimes it is inner exploration and pondering that creates the story.

This book opens with a story from some anthology comic that Rob Liefeld published back in the early Image days (and therefore, is probably the most action-oriented this comic has ever been), as a creature called the Red-Hatted Gangster Racketeer shows up, and gets beaten down by Mr. Spook (as shown on the cover).  The next story deals with the inability of the Cuties (baby beans) to communicate with one another.  The final one involves recycling in the Beanworld.

All three tales have been newly melded together with some framing sequences.  Beanworld can be deceptive - it looks like a kids' book when you first glance through it, but there is much more going on in the story, and Marder weaves in a number of complex themes and ideas.

While I enjoyed reading this stories, and especially enjoyed Marder's use of colour (the main books are black and white), all this really did was whet my appetite for more Beanworld.  I hope the wait for volume four won't be too long...

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 3

Various creators

To be honest, there's not much to say about this volume that would be different from my thoughts on the first two.  Dark Horse appears to be using their Myspace digital platform as a way of advertising existing properties or upcoming series through short pieces that work as a sampling menu of the greater Dark Horse line.

Anything with a Beanworld story in it can't be too bad, and while this is a nice little bit about recycling, it doesn't add much to the Beanworld mythos.  I also liked Becky Cloonan's (I know, shocking that I liked this) short story about a man plagued by nightmares, Chris Onstad's Achewood piece, and the Serenity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer shorts.

Some other pieces had potential, but didn't go very far.  The Mister X piece and the Applegeeks story are good examples of this.  One piece that stood out for weirdness and originality was the Creepy: Om Nom Nom story by Andrew Mayer and Lukas Ketner.

Overall, this book is enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.

Larry Marder's Beanworld Volume 3: Remember Here When You Are There!

by Larry Marder

I've written before about the pleasure I get from reading Marder's Beanworld comics, and I won't go into that again, except to say that it is a pleasure heightened, not diminished, by the recent easy availability of Beanworld stories thanks to Dark Horse republishing the original comics, and now, with this volume, ALL NEW material!

This volume (somewhere between thin and chunky in length) concludes what Marder is referring to as the 'springtime cycle' of the Beanworld, a strange and inventive land.

A lot happens in this volume. The Pod'l'pool Cuties are getting older, and getting more involved in the day-to-day life of the Beanworld. Mr. Spook is still mourning the loss of his trusty fork, while Proffy is still trying to figure out the float factor, and now has the new mystery of float force to deal with. Heyoka is still stuck with the Goofy Service Jerks, and the Boom'rs are still booming. The Elusive Notworm is now pitching in to help raise the Cuties. I know that none of that makes sense if you haven't been reading this title for a while, but trust me, it's all good stuff.

If there is an emotional centre to this volume, it is Beanish, and his quest to understand his relationship with Dreamishness, his secret friend in the sky. She asks him to sing her a love song, and this causes him no end of grief. Beans in the Beanworld each have a particular job or function to perform, and Beanish is increasingly feeling like he's having to step outside of his usual place in society. He's keeping secrets from his friends, and is even neglecting the Look-See Show, his contribution to Bean society.

Marder's books are infinitely charming and readable, even though there is a steep learning curve to starting out with this series. It's such a treat to be reading new material, and I hope that the books are finding a whole new audience. This is a completely unique project in comics, and it deserves much more recognition.

Larry Marder's Beanworld Book 1: Wahoolazuma!

by Larry Marder

I have three or four of the original Beanworld series, having discovered them some time in the mid-90s, and immediately falling under the spell of their charm, optimism, and intelligence. They were the perfect antidote to the comics of the day, and I had always wished that there would be a proper collection of these books some day.

This new collection from Dark Horse is better than I could have wished for. It contains the first nine issues of the series, handsomely bound and in a very durable format.

It is very difficult to explain Beanworld to someone who hasn't read it. Basically, it's a series about the beans and their eco-system. They live on an island, and to gather food (Chow), they must dive through the four realities to the land of the Hoi-Polloi Ring Herd - inveterate gamblers with one arm, who hoard the Chow, until the Beans are able to reak their rings and steal it from them, leaving behind a Sprout-Butt, which, when given love, turns into more Chow. Then the Beans soak in the Chowdown Pool, until they are fully fed. Sometimes other stuff happens too.

Marder portrays the Beans not as masters of their eco-system, but as key components of its healthy functioning. Everything that exists in their world serves some form of purpose, and their society becomes increasingly complex, as they make new discoveries (art, music, Gunk'l'Dunk) or as other species invade their territory (resulting in Mystery Pods). The environmental message is never far from the surface of these stories, but Marder never preaches, preferring to let the tale unfold on its own.

The art is as primitive as Bean culture, but what at first looks like child-like drawings is actually a rather sophisticated approach to telling the story. Marder's work here is absolute genius. It deserves all the recognition that these new printings can bring it.

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.