GUNK'L'DUNK e-mail newsletter for fans of _Tales_of_the_Beanworld_ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 05 12/16/91 Gunk'l'dunk is here to provide a forum for fans of Larry Marder's _Tales of the Beanworld_ (TOTB), and to promote wider readership of this unique comic. This newsletter usually sent out every 2-3 weeks, though fluctuations happen... Compiled by Jeremy York, jeremy@stat.washington.edu Submissions, and comments on content and/or format gladly accepted! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION AND ADMINISTRIVIA In this issue : news about my interview with Larry, and survey results. If this is your first Gunk'l'dunk, make sure I've sent you the introduction to Gunk'l'dunk file. Back issues and other files are always available on request. Does anyone have access to/suggestions for an anonymous ftp archive? #00 - written by me, just a sketch of what Gunk'l'dunk would look like #01 - news of the second trade paperback, character descriptions, a detailed list of sources for backissues, various discussions. supplement to #01 - Tim Tjark's Beanworld index, with plot synopses and cover descriptions for each issue through #16 or #17 #02 - mostly discussion by the readers, including the identity of the three lil' Mr.'s in TOTB #19 #03 - a quick summary of a conversation with Larry, speculation about the origin of Mr. Spook, the Fantastic Four reference in #19 #04 - discussion of the Four Realities, jeremy gushes about Total Eclipse and some back-issues sources - a slightly revised version of the backissues source list from Gunk'l'dunk #01 WANTED : More ASCII art! I'd try, but I'm no Beanish. Somebody out there's gotta have some time to waste... WANTED : More subscribers! Feel free to advertise this newsletter through any local means, and give my e-mail address out. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTIONS From mkelly@frumpy.helios.nd.edu My name is Mike Kelly, and I am a 23 year old physics grad student at Notre Dame, and I got my BA from Drew (Hiya DCOSTA!). I've been into Beanworld for about one year, although it was first introduced to me on a PATH train by another Drew Alum. (Thanks Barry!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BEAN NEWS To repeat from last time, TOTB#20 will probably not be out until February of 1992, and the second trade paperback is at least at the printers (Larry sent it there last month). #20 will be late because the comics distributers tend to play hardball with small circulation books when they fall behind schedule. The result with TOTB #20 is that it had to be "re-solicited" to the distributers, and this is the cause of the delay. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TALES FROM THE MARDERWORLD I've finally finished transcribing my hour and a half interview with Larry. He's checking it over (and hopefully making some additions); I'm expecting it back from him any time now. By the way, I'm on a limited grad student budget; if anyone feels like contributing a buck or two to help defray the costs of the call, I'd be most grateful. My address is: Jeremy York, 6702 Roosevelt NE #B307, Seattle WA 98115. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISCELLANEOUS DISCUSSION Seen on the comix list : From: moriarty@tc.fluke.com (Jeff Meyer) To: comix@world.std.com > * Scott McCloud is working on a great, secret new book that's > about comics and rethinking the whole medium; Larry thinks it's > going to set the industry on its ear. He mentioned this a last year (at a wedding reception) to Jerry B. and I; from the sounds of it, a real honest-to-goodness history of the comics medium as an art form. Don't know (or remember) if strips were going to be part of it, or if it was going to concentrate on the comic book/graphic novel, or how far back he was going; but it sounded like he wanted it to be a large and complete overview. I did get the strong impression that non-American comics were going to get equal time, and American and non-American talents were going to be evaluated side-by-side -- something I've long wanted to see. All I'm sure of is that it won't be another Steranko History of Comics (which I like, BTW), if for no other reason that this will be Scott McCloud writing it, and the man has perspective and talent in very large dollups. If someone was taking advanced orders for it, I'd place one, sight unseen -- this should be a very interesting book. *****gunk'l'dunk***** From: HOBBKD@morekypr.BITNET (Kenny Hobbs) ABOUT PROFFY'S HAIR.... oops sorry i mean her hat....getting confused with Boom'rs... I contend that Proffy's "hat" is actually her HEAD! I for the life of me cannot think how she could have gotten a material to make the "hat," and if you look at her, she does look sort of like a string bean. Perhaps the same argument for the Boom'rs "hair?" Anyway, it's the only thing I can come up with. Please don't laugh. *****gunk'l'dunk***** From mkelly@frumpy.helios.nd.edu Does anyone know what was "slowing" in the "Something Growing. Something Slowing." issue? (#12?) Was it Beaninsh and Dreamishness's time together? Random Blathering about Comic Stores Forbidden Planet (in London Somewhere near Leicster Square?) was not a very good shop (IMHO) for back issues, although I did pick up my copies of 15 and 16 there. If you are in London, I suggest getting a telephone directory and looking up comic shops. There is a number of small ones within walking distance of FP...up towards the British Museum (you know, the one with all the loot, including the Rosetta stone). Also I think there is one near Covent Garden. NYC (Manhatten): The FP near the village is much better for comics. As an example, I was able to pick up the first 10 issues of Sandman at cover price (this was years ago, tho'). Also, there is a small 2nd story shop (steve's?) right across from the PATH exit on 11th street. The southern FP is not far. (It's across from the Strand.) From the strand, it is just a short hop to St. Marks Square and there is another small shop (St. Marks Comics?) nearby. Morris County NJ: Heroes world has moved up to Route 10 I believe. They are more of a where-house now, you really have to dig around. Fat Moose at the Morris County mall is not so great, nor is the shop in the Livingston mall (although between the three, you might be able to find some things). Does anyone have some info on Chicagoland stores? [Well, you have to check out Moondogs, because that's the company Larry's doing advertising for right now. I think he's particularly involved with one of their stores that just opened up a few months ago...] *****gunk'l'dunk***** From: Danny Horn I want to respond to John Charles Fiala's questions on the seemingly endlessly reusable nature of the Four Realities: Clearly, the (perhaps limited) supply of the individual FR pieces is on the minds of the Beans; whenever Proffy or Beanish go on a scavenging mission, they always say something like "Gee, I hope I find what I want," although the question is usually whether they find it quickly or not rather than finding it at all or not. It seems like there is some question about the re-usable nature of the pieces. Perhaps the scavenging is part of the FR's ecological process. Perhaps the pieces are living organisms in some way, and that they reproduce, or some other organism produces them, faster than they die (a Four Reality population explosion). Each of the kinds of pieces (differentiated by size and shape) is reproduced at the same rate, and then have to fight with their counterparts for whatever it is they need to survive. By taking the spear-shape slat, Proffy is weeding out the spear-shape slat population, which allows others of the same size and shape to take their place. Non-useful shapes, however, are not taken by Proffy or Beanish, and therefore there are too many of those shapes. The excess non-useful shape population dies more quickly, leaving an even distribution of sizes and shapes in the immediate area. Of course, we don't know (yet) how the pieces or produced, or that they are the result of a natural phenomenon. But we readers know where the mystery pods come from, and the Beans don't. So maybe there's some kind of biological process producing the Four Realities that we haven't seen yet... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Survey Results : I got around 35 completed ballots -- thanks, folks! Without further delay, here are the results for selected questions: (2) How into TOTB are you? Almost uniformly, people responded "one of the best comics out there". I was a bit surprised that only two of us said it was the best comic on the face of the earth (though a couple of folks said they were close to being that far over the edge). (3) Are you into comics in general? I'm not into comics in general, just the occasional wierdo thing that catches my eye, so the options I gave you for this question didn't fit very well for a lot of you. Ten people were mostly just indies readers; there were about 5 omnivores who read everything; nearly half of us only follow only a few titles; and a number of people pointed out that they read indies and adult DC titles. (4) How many issues of TOTB do you own? About half of us have the whole shebang; after that, people are pretty evenly distributed between 15+, 10-14, and 5-9. There are a few folks who only have a few issues -- good luck finding backissues (e-mail me for the back-issues source file), and I'm sure you'll have a great time catching up! (5) Which was your first TOTB? A half-dozen people started with #1, on the ground floor. The rest of us are very evenly scattered amongst issues all the way from #2 to #19; the only issues I didn't hear mentioned were 6, 7, 14, 15, and 17. (6) How did you come across TOTB? Half of us saw it on the shelf of a store; most of the rest heard about it by word of mouth. A number of people pointed out that they had it recommended to them via the net; Scott McCloud infected a couple of people (one through plugs in Zot; another had Scott shove a pile of Beanworlds at him in person). A few other people had responses such as seeing an advertisement by Eclipse, seeing it reviewed in the Comics Buyers Guide (CBG)... (8) About the second trade paperback -- around three quarters of us intend to buy it. cat yronwode, who is one of the chief editors at Eclipse and Larry's primary editorial consultant, is doing the introduction. For a sample of her prose, check out the regular ad by Eclipse in the CBG. A few people said things like "I'll buy it in spite of the cat yronwode introduction"... Seems a number of folks find her writing style annoying... (9) What do you think of Gunk'l'dunk so far? "Gunk'l'Dunk is a Good Thing. It's fun to read. It's free. It contains no Mystery Pods." "Might be nice if it were set up as a mail relay rather than a digest -- it's kind of hard to get into real discussions with this kind of lag-time." " 'S great! Fills and ecological niche, guess you'd say. Bit slow, tho'--little action. Since it's subscriber-written, I guess I only have myself to blame. I'm hoping to see some more explaination of how Beanworld works; being fairly confused myself, I'm afraid I've little to contribute yet." "Like it. Really looking forward to hearing more from Marder. One of the letters likening BW to a Hebrew text seemed surprisingly on target, and got a response from Marder that suggested the allusions were deliberate; I'd be interested in more info on that subject." "I'm impressed with it. One thing I'd like to see added is dates and places for appearances that Larry Marder will be making (like 11/22-11/24 at the Rosemont Expo in Chicago). Something else that would also be useful is a list of places that Gunk'l'dunk issues can be obtained by those not on the internet (my BBS, at 608-256-5697, is one place)." If I might take a moment to address some of these points...First, I don't really have the freedom or facilities to set up a mail-relay/mailing list set up for you all. When I was first bringing up the possibility with the people on the comix list, they didn't see why yet another mailing list was necessary -- they have no problems with bean discussions there. So, if folks really want a regular mailing list, I'd suggest using the comix list at least for now. If someone wants to do the dirty work to get a regular mailing list going, I don't have a big problem with that (I don't feel like I own this thing, in fact I'd be really happy to hand over the editorship sometime in '92). But, aside from necessity, here's my rationale for a moderated digest : less garbage mail cluttering your mailbox, a person to make sure the thing keeps going, and the comix list is already there. About appearances by Marder, he actually told me about that Chicago gig when I did the phone interview with him, but it was at the end of a long and exhausting conversation, and I plain forgot all about it. Sorry! Anyway, Larry won't really be doing any appearances until next summer's conventions, it seems; most definitely, we should try to get accurate and timely information about things like this into Gunk'l'dunk. (10) Which was your favorite TOTB? Why? Heh, heh. I can't even answer this one myself, but it didn't stop me from asking you...Many people were undecided. Of those who could make a decision, they were all over the place. Some people liked one of the first half-dozen issues the best : the humor and action of #1, the appearance of the pods in #2, pre-fork life and how rough it was, Beanish breaking out, the Clang Twang, Gunk'l'dunk...The first time we saw a key part of the Beanworld seems to have stuck in some people's minds. Those who liked the Clang Twang and the New-and-Improved Gunk'l'dunk issues liked the self-contained, well paced stories. There were a few votes for #9 and #10, too, when the Beanish-Dreamishness relationship was starting to change and when all the fork chaos broke out. Other people seemed to like the issues where we learned the most, and saw some of the Big Big picture, such as #18 and #19. Many folks just said they liked 'em all. I know that depending on my mood, I could be in any one of the camps described above, and I bet many of you feel the same way. (11) Are you anxious to see Mr. Spook's fork restored to its previous state, or would you rather have the elusive notworm remain elusive? Comments? I asked you this question after talking about this with Larry. He seemed to be up in the air as to what to do -- the Fork-quest was initially intended to be a fairly short thing. But, there was so much else that had to get done, and the Elusive Not-worm is currently one of Larry's favorite characters to draw. It sounds like, around the time of the interview, that Larry was searching in himself to figure out some dilemmas like this (instead of reaching for others' advice), but I thought I'd ask it anyway. The majority of folks say "hey, I'll follow Larry's lead". A few exceptions and comments follow : "I want to know more about the Notworm. As long as that happens, I'm ambivalent about the fork." "Not my business. It is Marder who is telling the story. I assume that there is a purpose to it being elusive, or one to it being restored. Take a look at Dorothy Sayer's "The Mind of the Maker" where she discusses how readers try to grossly force authors to change characters into their own preconceptions." "Rather it remains elusive, if only for the reason that the beans should not be dependent on things that they don't understand and thus can't always trust." "If the Beanworld is inherently an evolving place, then let the notworm stay free. Mr. Spook, the Canonical Conservative, needs to evolve too. If the Beanworld is basically cyclic, and "what was, is, and shall forever be" -- then let it come back to the fork eventually." " I think the author should do whatever he damn well pleases, pardon my hoi-polloi. (*Spook* is clearly anxious, and that's the interesting part, yes?)" "Very eager[to see it restored]. It's his trademark, and it's his friend." "Well, Mr. Spook's present fork (spear?) still manages to get the sprout-butt relatively happy. But with the baby beans growing, and soon leaving the pod'l'pool, they'll need healthy chow to chow on :), and for that reason I hope the fork gets restored, or that at least the elusive notworm participates in the sproutbutt catch to sweeten it." "I'm not at all anxious for the notworm to conform to expectations. I just hope (and fully expect) for any resolution to be interesting!" "Fork. I say this because, from what I have read and inferred (Danger Zone!) from the text of TOTB, it would involve the Big Fish in Sky. Wanna see Big Fish!" "I miss the trusty old fork. The elusive notworm makes me nervous; I al- ways have the impression that it's going to fly away at any moment. On the other hand, being made to feel nervous can lead to some very interesting and involving stories..." (12) What are you just dying to see/know about? What do you like best/worst in TOTB? Comments? "Are there other worlds? Life on them? What makes Beanworld different? Is Beanworlrd (the world) gonna die when the pods hatch?" "are the current beans the first generation? If not, what happened to the previous generation? If so, why? Presumably, once the cuties start to grow in Chow Soljers, there will be more than enough beans to handle the Hoi Polloi raids. Will this trigger still more breakouts? Is there a connection between this and my first question above?" "I would like to see it get back to focusing on the Beans and not on the "upper world" that Heyoka is exploring." "I dislike illustrations of dance scenes done from a distant perspective - seems like filler. I'd like to know about Heyoka, how the beans' island fits into their world (are there other islands?) and what is going on with Dreamishness." "More About Proffy and the early history of the Beans. What about that hat of hers? And more info on her shop? And what was the situation before Mr. Spook arrived? When/where did Mr. Spook join up with the Beans? Was Proffy the first BreakOut? Were there ever more beans? Who/what created Gran'Ma'Pa? After the "mistake" in Mr. Spook's creation, wouldn't G'M'P have tried to create another hero? If so, where is s/he?" "Best things are the feeling of "wholeness" to the world -- you never get the impression that the universe ends at the panel borders -- the way the ecology works, the way the characters are all part of that organization. Worst thing is the way the Big Big Picture sometimes overshadows the Beanworld story. I like the Goofy Jerks just fine, but I don't love them the way I love the Beans, and when a long-awaited issue has lots of Jerks material I feel a little snipped by the priorities." "What the civil service test is for Goofy Service Jerks." "I am completely bored with Beanish and Dreamishness." "The storyline having to do with Beanish and his muse (the woman in the sky) is sweet and interesting; I'd like to see more about that." "I wanna see more of the Big*big*picture. I am curious about all the other races that we've sort of seen." "I want to know more about the float factor, it's very interesting." "I'd like to know more about the life cycle of the Hoi-Polloi. Have they got a parental totality somewhere? (This is somewhat implied by the speculation that Mr. Spook is a Bean/Hoi-Polloi cross breed, but here I am trying to apply genetics to Beanworld! Stop it! Larry warned us about things like that!)." "I like Proffy and Beanish's work experiences the best...sometimes I am unsatisfied with an issue because it doesn't seem to cover a coherent chunk of story that I can digest." "More on Mr. Spook's early experiences, especially with Mr. Teach'm." "More of the everyday lives of a bean. Perhaps a spotlight on a typical chow so'jer." "What am I dying to see? Everything! :) No, really, I just take pleasure in discovering what's going on as each issue gets out. As for what I like most, well there's the story, of course. The letters are always very interesting, even educational (it rivals Zot!'s lettercol for intelligence and interest, which are very high). And the Do-It-Yourself Beanworlds are always a hoot to look-see. There's really nothing I could say I like "least" - I like it all!" (13) How do you feel about the infrequency of publication, and do you have any comments on distribution/availability? "It is a major crimp in my enjoyment of the magazine." " I wish it was more frquent, of course, but to Larry my first suggestion is QUALITY BEFORE QUANTITY. Don't rush it too much. Too few stores carry TOTB." "It's a bummer. I'd like to get my fix more often (though the lack has spurred me to create my own Beanworld-fixes for myself, from time to time, it's not quite the same as the Original Thing), and it's easier to hook one's friends on a comic that comes out fairly regularly." " It's certainly not overly visible at the stores I go to. I think this will only be solved by a grass-roots effort; that is, if more people buy it and recommend it and ask their dealers for it, the visibility will increase. (Like the early days of Cerebus. Or the current ones for that matter.)" "Anything worth while is worth waiting for." " 0000 00 0 0 000 0 0 00000 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 00 00 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0000 00 000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00000 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 0000 00 0 0 000 0 0 0 0 0 00000 0 oo" "Larry, do you suppose you could crank this out weekly? No, I didn't think so. Well, of course I'd rather see Beanworld come out more frequently, or at least with some regularity. But I'm willing to accept it whenever I can get it." "It's a damn shame, Larry, that you can't make a living strictly on TOTB, though. You've really gotta mass-market this thing--toys, games, Saturday morning show, cards, eighteen holographic covers for each issue,... Talk to Eastman and Laird, and Tom DeFalco. ;-)" "The lack of a regular schedule is frustrating, and it makes it hard to recommend the book to friends because you can't tell them how often or when they can expect to see new issues." "It's good to know that there are other TOTB fans out there. I've always thought that it's been overlooked too often in most discussions of quality "alternative" (whatever that means) comics. Whereas I'm not always drawn to everything in Raw, Taboo, Eightball, or other such vanguard forums, I've consistently enjoyed TOTB. (But then again, I like Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children and Epicurus Sage so who am I to say?) As for the availability, I'm perfectly willing to pay an increased cover price if that will lead to (at least) a bi-monthly schedule. As it is, I only get a little anxious between issues. :-)" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End, Gunk'l'dunk #05