The Bean - Riddles and Shrooms by Travis Hanson
As I was walking along a less crowded aisle, a guy asks me if I want to have a sketch. Dumbfounded, I said "sure" but had no idea what I wanted him to draw. After fumbling around a little, I said "how about a dragon?". After about a minute, he hands me a really cool line drawing of a dragon. wow.
With this marketing strategy, I had to buy his book, the Bean. It's a story about a boy named Bean who has been left as payment to the Silver Dagger Inn as payment by his apparently deadbeat dad. Bean is then made to do all the grunt work by the ogre owner Gort. But the other workers in the inn treat Bean with compassion and look out for his well being. Bean is sent out to get some more shrooms and goldenberries by the cook Groggle (who is also an ogre) and is told not to dawdle.
This book has great potential. It was basically the introduction of all the characters and the action ramps up at the end leaving the reader waiting for the next issue. The art is very clean and the style, while cartoon like, suits the story well. Some of the pages have very detailed backgrounds that sometimes seems a little too much for a black and white comic, but the character designs and facial expressions are strong enough not to get lost. But it is clear that Travis is a very talented cartoonist and artists.
I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see what happens to poor Bean and his workmates at the inn.
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