-Link- JJA’s Beanworld stuff

Joseph J. Anthony, who previously supplied a much appreciated photo of one of the Beanworld bolo ties, has put some more Beanworld stuff online, including a great clay model of Mr. Spook, an inventive t-shirt design and much more. Check it out.

Marder-ography – Strip Aids [1987]

STRIP AIDS was a benefit comic from 1987, with proceeds going to London Lighthouse. Among the contents was this one page jam piece, featuring the “Jill de Ray” (a pseudonym for Alan Moore) character Maxwell the Magic Cat, and artists Larry Marder, Monte Beauchamp, Skip Williamson, Kim Deitch, Jay Lynch and Dan Clowes drawing their own characters.

Thanks to Shield Albright for providing the scan for this piece (signed by Larry Marder, no less) that I didn’t even know about before.

[STRIP AIDS shouldn't be confused with the related 1988 anthology STRIP AIDS USA]

Marder-ography – DIYB certificate

One of the regular features of the second half of the TALES OF THE BEANWORLD series was the Do-It-Yourself Beanworld contest, where Larry Marder would provide a four panel wordless comic sequence and invite readers to fill it in as they saw fit. Several entries would run in a later issue, with the winners getting a certificate suitable for framing. I’ve gotten a few people e-mailing since I re-started Gunk’l'dunk asking about the certificate, but I’ve yet to dig out my copy (from contest 10). Fortunately, Stéphane Bura, one of the winners of contest 8, provided a scan, seen over on the right. Below is Stéphane’s winning entry from TotB #17.

Larry Marder has made mention on his blog recently that the DIYB contest will probably be seen in some form in the future of the Beanworld, possibly as an on-line feature.

-Link- Short Marder interview

Tom Spurgeon has a brief interview with Larry Marder about his departure from McFarlane Toys and his past and future in the comic book industry over on The Comics Reporter.

-Link- Major Marder announcement

Some big news relating to the future of Beanworld over at Larry Marder’s blog:

For the first time in over 15 years, I’m back in the Larry Marder business…

If you encounter Marder at SPX, feel free to send along a report to run here in Gunk’l'dunk, or a link if you write about it on your own site.

Bean Spotting – Army Surplus Komikz Featuring Cutey Bunny #3 [1984]

Army Surplus Komikz Featuring Cutey Bunny #3 [1984]
By Joshua Quagmire

Here’s one that takes some squinting. There’s a pile of comics on the floor on the first page of this Cutey Bunny story, with all sorts of real and imagined comics of the mid-1980s. Among them, next to a NEXUS and below a SPIRIT is an issue of BEANWORLD.

Read more about Joshua Quagmire and his creations over at his website.