-Link- Marder interview at Scripts & Scribes

One hour audio interview of Larry Marder at the Scripts & Scribes podcast, where he talks about the origin of the Beanworld, his early self-publishing, his time at Image comics and his reasons for going to Dark Horse with his return to Beanworld.

-Link- Marder CBLDF Presidency

Congratulations to Larry Marder, now President of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Don’t forget to check out the Marder-edited LIBERTY COMICS #3, coming out in a few months.

-Link- McCloud birthday card by Marder

Scott McCloud turned 50 recently, and among the things he got was a birthday card from Larry Marder that he shares over here.

-Link- Marder panel at TCAF

A reminder that Larry Marder will be attending the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend, May 8-9 2010. The programming schedule includes this:

The Leguminous History of Larry Marder & The Beanworld
Saturday, May 8th, 2:15 – 3:15pm, Novella Room

Learn how beans have been part of Larry Marder’s life since the day he was born! The rich visual presentation covers the entire history of his peculiar fantasy dimension including discussion about Marder’s many influences. This is your opportunity to discover why Beanworld has captivated readers from grade school to grad school since its first publication as a series of comic books in the 1980s. Now Beanworld is at Dark Horse Comics entertaining an entire new generation of fans. Be the first to get a glimpse into Marder’s next original Beanworld graphic novel Something More!


Which is obviously a must-attend for Beanworld fans. And obviously readers of Larry Marder’s blog know the usual things about saying the magic words, or trading in your art, and of course there should be:

-Link- Marder interview in Action Figure Insider

Action Figure Insider interviews Larry Marder as the first in a series of “Catching Up With…” interviews, mostly about the stuff he was doing in his long absence from the Beanworld.

Some Beanworld stuff in there:

FREE Beanworld Action figures have always been a great parody and marketing tool and will continue to be part of my convention set-up. Mass manufactured Beanworld toys….both in plastic and in plush would be a fun thing to do. At this point it doesn’t seem so much question of “if” but of “when.”

-Link- New Beanworld short on DHP

The Dark Horse Presents site on MySpace hosts a second Beanworld short story in the issue number 32, March 2010. Go over here for the 2-page story teasing the next phase in the Beanish/Dreamishness relationship.

(note if you have trouble with the MySpace site, as I often do, you can read the story over here)

Still over a year before we get to the next book, SOMETHING MORE, but remember there are regular teasers for it showing up on Larry Marder’s Blog.

-Link- State of the Beanworld

Massive update on future plans from Larry Marder up now.

New on-line story in April
Book 4 – Something More coming in early 2011
Short non-Beanworld comic in Fractured Fables anthology

And much more, including an appearance at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Hey, I live in Toronto…

-Link- Remember Here

Larry Marder has an advance copy of Book 3 in his hands!.

Should be in stores in just a few more weeks, finally continuing the story after 16 years.

-Link- Beanworld in SCIENCE

Leigh Boerner has a review of the recent BEANWORLD reprints in a recent issue of the journal SCIENCE. Read Larry Marder’s account of how it came about here and find a link to the review over here.

-Link- Beanworld in Dark Horse FCBD comic

Well, this one is a bit of a surprise. Larry Marder announces that Beanworld will be a part of Dark Horse’s 2009 Free Comic Book Day giveaway comic, available March 2 in participating stores. There are beans all over the cover, along with Usagi Yojimbo and others. Hopefully I’ll have a post about it up this weekend.

I have to admit, I had more than a few doubts when Marder announced Dark Horse as the publishing home of Beanworld, but they seem to have really gotten behind it with efforts like this and the MySpace comic, and WAHOOLAZUMA looks spectacular, and really seems to be getting out there. By the way, December 15, 2009, mark your calendars.

-Link- Beanworld Wiki

Just in time for the return of Beanworld to print with next week’s holiday one-shot, there’s a new Beanworld Wiki over at wikia.com, administered by ZenMondo, using Mark Irons’ BeanWeb content as a starting point. Check it out and feel free to contribute. 

-Link- Various promotional interviews

The imminent release of the BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL means a flurry of promotional articles including preview pages and interviews with Larry Marder. Check out these from publisher Dark Horse and Comic Book Resources.

-Link- Marder/Gaiman jam sketch for CBLDF

The CBLDF has an auction right now for a jam sketch by Larry Marder and Neil Gaiman. Check it out and see if you can outbid me.

...well, that jumped out of my price range right quick. Three days to go, so bid it up to the point where I'll be sure there's no way I could get it. It's for a good cause. Marder's comments on the piece and his rather odd relationship with Gaiman over here.

-Link- 3-Part Marder interview

Brian Heater has a 3-part interview with Larry Marder about Beanworld past and future over on The Daily Cross Hatch. Go here for links to all three parts.

-Link- Marder interview at Westfield

Roger Ash, of the mail order comic book store Westfield, conducts a brief interview with Larry Marder.

-Link- Major Beanworld News

New Dark Horse solicitations are available. The important bits?

BEANWORLD HOLIDAY SPECIAL

Larry Marder (W/A)

On sale December 17
FC, 24 pages
$3.50
One-shot

The first new Beanworld story in print in over a decade, the Beanworld Holiday Special is the perfect introduction to Larry Marder's inimitable creation!

As enjoyable for children as it is enlightening for adults, Beanworld is a grand adventure that explores social dynamics, culture creation, and ecological networks--all in great fun! Take a tour of this magical world, from Proffy's Fix-It Shop to a Fabulous Look-See Show, in this issue that introduces toys to the baby Cuties and plunges readers into one of the most original and brilliant comic-book universes ever created!

You've never seen anything like it--unless you're a longtime fan of Marder's, in which case you'll be thrilled by the return of this wonderful and peculiar comic-book experience!

"Larry Marder's Beanworld is a vegetarian update on Krazy Kat with a world and lingo unto itself."
--Smithsonian Studies of American Art

"One doesn't read Beanworld at all, one lives it. Beanworld draws you into its world and plays out in your mind. This is a rare feat in any medium, and a treasure in comics."
--Feature Magazine

LARRY MARDER'S BEANWORLD BOOK 1: WAHOOLAZUMA!

Larry Marder (W/A)

On sale Feb 4
b&w, 272 pages
$19.95
HC, 6" x 9"

Beanworld is a peculiar fantasy that operates under its own rules and laws. Series creator Larry Marder says, "Beanworld is about the affinity of life. It's like A Bug's Life meets Mutts, as told by Dr. Seuss and Joseph Campbell." Meet Mr. Spook, Professor Garbanzo, Beanish, and the Chow Sol'jer Army as they experience adventures that prove, whether friends or adversaries, we all ultimately depend on each other for survival. Beanworld reflects deep truths about our world, including themes of ecology, advertising, culture, and art, making the experiences of these fanciful creatures feel as true, funny, moving, and relatable as anything in our own reality.

- Rescanned from the original artwork, this deluxe hardcover collects the long-out-of-print first nine issues of the original acclaimed comic-book series in an affordable single volume for the first time!

- Suggested for readers aged seven to adult.

- For a fascinating look into Beanworld, go to http://larrymarder.blogspot.com/!

-Link- New Beanworld Online soon

Larry Marder announces that a new Beanworld story will be available in the 14th issue of MySpace Dark Horse Presents, which will be at this link starting September 3, 2008 (I’ll update that to a direct link when available).

The story, “? and !”, 8 pages and full colour, is now live and available right here.

-Link- Marder in San Diego

Larry Marder’s schedule for San Diego, including signings, a Beanworld panel and a CBLDF sketch party.

-Link- Marder interview in PW

Publishers Weekly’s Wil Moss interviews Larry Marder on future plans for the Beanworld. Man am I getting impatient for the books to actually come out…

-Link- Marder audio interview

Comic Geek Speak has a long audio interview with Larry Marder for your downloading pleasure. Some details about the upcoming books (original 21 issues and various short bits collected in two volumes prior to the new book), Beanworld history, the comics market past and future, working at Image and McFarlane toys and more.

Also, some discussion at their forum about comparing Beanworld to Fraggle Rock. A comparison I have made myself on occasion...