Line #41 ComicBook/TalesOfTheBeanworld


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/talesofthebeanworld.jpg]]
2
3	''Tales Of The Beanworld'' is a comic book written by Larry Marder.
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5	It focuses on [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the tales of a world of anthropomorphic beans.]] The comic has an incredibly detailed, bizarre semi-2d cosmology, and a surprisingly rich plot given that most of the residents of the world are nameless. Notably, the comic does not feature humans in any way, shape or form.
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7	The original comic ran from 1985 to 1993. It was reprinted in 2009 in two volumes, along with a third, entirely new volume. A shorter book ("volume 3.5") was published in 2012, and a fourth volume was released in July 2017.
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9	As of 2017 it consists of:
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11	* ''Wahoolazuma!'' (volume 1)
12	* ''A Gift Comes!'' (volume 2)
13	* ''Remember Here when You are There!'' (volume 3)
14	* ''Tales of the Beanworld'', a collection of short stories.
15	* ''Hoka Hoka Burb'l Burb'l!'' (Volume 4)
16
17	----
18	!!Tropes:
19	* ArcWords: "Something more!" and, in the fourth book, [[spoiler:"Find the Five!"]]
20	* AuthorAvatar: Beanish, with his love Dreamishness as a stand-in for his wife Cory. Marder mentions losing all taste for the Dreamishness scenes after Cory passing away.
21	* BloodlessCarnage: Somehow, the Hoi-Polloi never bleed no matter how many spears are flung at them. The coloured chapter "While we wuz eatin'!" does show them bleeding, though.
22	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Hoi-Polloi have this to the beans. Their entire society, mentality, and existence is wrapped up in a cycle of endless gambling.
23	* {{Cephalothorax}}: The Hoi-Polloi. Beans may count as well - they have no real 'head'.
24	* {{Cloudcuckoolanguage}}: Everyone, but the Boom'r Band takes this up to eleven. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] InUniverse, with both Mr. Spook and Professor Garbanzo noting how hard it is to keep up with their slang.
25	* CrackIsCheaper: InUniverse Example: [[TheSmartGuy Professor Garbanzo]] discovers the abilities of Mystery Pods. She later gets obsessed with them. [[MemeticMutation Mr. Spook is not amused.]]
26	* {{Crossover}}: Beanish participated in the Total Eclipse crossover event for the ten year anniversary of Eclipse Comics in 1988.
27	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The page where Beanish describes his involvement in the big Total Eclipse crossover positively smacks of shamanic imagery. According to Beanworld creator Larry Marder, he was already planning to have Beanish go on a shamanic journey (and even have an upsetting experience involving Dreamishness, who's basically the sun, being eclipsed), and the Total Eclipse crossover fit both those bills perfectly.
28	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first two chapters. The first chapter involves an attack by some strange corn-shaped creatures, which only serves to set up the second chapter. The second chapter in itself is almost never mentioned again either, and its only purpose (albeit a very important purpose) is to explain where the Mystery Pods came from. Even the first issue had a persistent effect - the eerie Bone Zone of Hoi-Polloi skulls between them and the Four Realities.
29	* EyesAlwaysShut: While not ''always'', starting with book 3, the Boom'r Band spends far more time with their eyes closed than open.
30	* {{Flashback}}: Several. Notably, there is issue 3 (Big Fish Story), as well as "Beanworld Zero" and "How Proffy Discovered the Four Realities"
31	** Volume 3.5 is almost entirely flashbacks.
32	** Volume 4 adds the story of how the Boom'r Band broke out.
33	* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: [[spoiler:It turns out that the Fix-It Shop was created during a previous season - read 'generation' - and ended up playing this role after a disaster almost ended the Beanworld's cycle of life and death. It didn't even just do this for Proffy - it did it for the Boom'r Band, too.]]
34	* TheHero: Mr. Spook. That's his actual title.
35	* MadArtist: Beanish has shades of this.
36	* NonstandardCharacterDesign: Mr. Spook. He is more realistically drawn compared to the other beans, and more resembles a Hoi-Polloi. InUniverse, adopting a new appearance to set yourself apart from the rest of the identical beans is part of the "breaking out" process. Mr Spook is a special case, though - he's [[spoiler:a mutant born from the same disaster that almost ended the Beanworld]].
37	* OutsideContextProblem: To the beans, ''any'' threat is effectively this, given their small frame of reference. Special mention, however, goes to the corn creatures in the first chapter, and the Red-Hatted Gangster Racketeer from "While we wuz eatin'!". The latter even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it himself:
38	-> I mean, the NERVE of an unknown entity like ME showing up unannounced during DINNER!
39	* SapientHouse: Professor Garbanzo's Fix-it Shop has some kind of sentience on its own, though it communicates only with Proffy. In book 4, [[spoiler:Proffy temporarily fuses with the Fix-it Shop itself, and is named as the "stem" of the shop, with the building itself being the "root". One of the cuties even joins in, becoming the "leaf".]]
40	* ShoutOut:
41	** The Inspiration Constellation may seem completely nonsensical, but it's actually [[http://www.rdrop.com/~half/BeanWeb/Places/InspirationConstellation.html one big homage to Larry Marder's main artistic inspirations]].
42	** The alien hero Limelight's outfit and equipment bear no small resemblance to those of the [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]].
43	** The beings taking a tour of a Service Station have the heads of [[{{ComicStrip/Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]], [[ComicStrip/KrazyKat Krazy Kat]] and [[ComicBook/MegatonMan Megaton Man]].
44	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: {{Averted}} in the black-and-white comics. Beans call each other "brother" and "sister" and clearly have ''some'' concept of gender, but they all look identical. In the coloured chapters (collected in book 3.5), however, brothers have blue "pants" and shoes, while sisters have red.
45	* TheSmartGuy: Professor Garbanzo. Actually, more like The Smart GIRL.
46	* VoiceOfReason: Mr. Spook comes off as this pretty frequently.
47	* WorldTree: Gran'ma'pa, the tree at the center of the Beanworld - literally and figuratively.
48	----
49	-> '''Mr. Spook:''' Proffy, [[Webcomic/{{xkcd}} who linked you to TV Tropes?]]
50	-> '''Professor Garbanzo:''' Why, [[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife this is even more addictive than researching Mystery Pods!]]

Context ComicBook / TalesOfTheBeanworld