Beanbags, Part 1

cover art by Ben Brown

 I do enjoy writing about short-lived characters who have long since disappeared into Comic Book Limbo. Travelin' Toughie, Sir Spot the Lion-Hearted Leopard, Tommy the Time Traveling Cat, and Super Rabbit were all fun characters in their own right, enriching (if only by a tiny bit each) the history of graphic storytelling. 

Well, let's momentarily rescue Beanbags from Comic Book Limbo as well. The young kid (I think--he might be a short grown-up) had a series of wacky adventures detailed in two issues of his own comic book published by Ziff-Davis in 1951 & 1952.

When I first glanced at Beanbags #1 (Winter 1951), I had the impression that the characters (though not the art style) might have been inspired by Herge's Tin-Tin. But after reading it, I'm left with more of a Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy vibe. But even Wash Tubbs never had adventures quite this silly. The writer, by the way, is unknown. The art is by Ben Brown.

The story opens with a hideous smell coming from a garbage barge. The smell spreads over New York City, stalling cars and withering leaves on trees. The military dispatches their best pilot to investigate.

The smell causes the plane engine to conk out and the pilot, rescued by Beanbags and Beanbags' pal Bozo, tell him the smell is caused by Zanymulch, a very healthy food dish that Bozo has cooked up. For reasons never explained, Beanbags, Bozo and the lovely Idabella don't notice the smell. Perhaps they are just used to it.

More investigators, this time in gasmasks arrive. They learn that the recipe for Zanymulch can only be found in the country of Zanytopia. The story isn't really clear on how Bozo was able to make some Zanymulch without the recipe, but what the hey.

The government sends the boys to Zanytopia to find the recipe. Idabella, who is soft on Bozo, stows away and comes along. 

Parachuting into Zanytopia, the three meet the king, who lives alone in his castle and is treated with contempt (and occasionally with violence) by his subjects. His only job, it turns out, is making huge batches of Zanymulch. He brings the trio to his castle and demonstrates making the stuff, but something goes awry with his cooking--the castle blows up.

Beanbags talks the king into fleeing the country and coming to the USA. They escape on a leaky ship that is then destroyed by a storm. The issue ends with the group stranded in a land called Disturbia,where they meet a talking bird named Dismal Duck and learn that it rains Zanymulch. 

And that's it--continued next issue, which we'll look at next week. 

A fair number of the gags in this issue are forced, but Brown's art is lively and there are enough sincerely funny moments to carry the story along. It is a parody to adventure comic books and comic strips combined with slapstick humor and, in the end, its fun to read. Beanbags isn't as awesome as Tommy the Time Traveling Cat and Sir Spot, but he still acquits himself well. 

You can read it yourself HERE.