Beauty & the Yeast
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Beauty & the Yeast |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | P.S. Nim |
| Type: | |
| Date(s): | 1989 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | online here some of the art is here |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Beauty & the Yeast is a short zine in comic form. It contains 30 pages of cartoons, vignettes, and art by P.S. Nim.
Summary
Vincent is shown smoking a cigarette and reading pulp horror fiction in the tunnels. Father finds him and nags him about cleaning his room.
Meanwhile, Catherine is having intense daydreams about Vincent... vacuuming, cooking, and being domestic.
She enrolls in a baking class, thinking to herself,"Won't Vincent be impressed. Who knows, maybe he'll even kiss me. And if this doesn't work I suppose I could learn to knit, press wild flowers, render lard, build an oil derrick, make potash soap, do tinsmithing or skin rabbits or something..."
Father, in silly clothes, scolds Vincent for slacking on his chores. He is going to spank Vincent, but reads him a story instead.
Catherine takes a walk and is mugged. Her dough raises too much and destroys the city. Vincent saves her.
In the end, she and Vincent kiss, and Vincent turns into.... no, not a prince, not a frog, but... Ron Perlman.
Catherine is not happy.
Sample Image Gallery
"Alone in her apartment, Catherine is suffering from unfulfilled dreams..."
Vincent, up to no good...
Father in his duds, threatens to spank Vincent
Vincent warns Catherine about her incessant requests for kissing...
... and this is why
Ron Perlman has some commentary on "millions of ladies"
Reactions and Reviews
Let's just say that this one is about (among other things) Catherine dreaming of a home-sweet-home life with Vincent, and taking bread-baking classes with a teacher whom she finds vaguely familiar (well, she should, it's Paracelsus!). She leaves her dough unattended while she gets mugged going to Vincent, and he gets lost rescuing her. The dough grows and grows and threatens to engulf the whole city. Vincent could "roar it down"... but he's got laryngitis, and...[1]
Hilarious short zine in comic form proves why P.S. really deserves to be called a legend in this fandom as well as in many other fandoms.[2]
All right, something as beautiful, sensitive and lyrical as our B&TB is begging to a prime target for a little elbow-ribbing, because there's so much 'stuff' available! The tunnels, the situation between Catherine and Vincent... heck Vincent's looks alone have given birth to numerous jokes by comedians, including Johnny Carson... A form of this good-natured self-depreciation can be found in the zine 'Beauty and the Yeast by P.S. Nim. In black and white comic book style, these superbly illustrated stories are chock full of little innuendoes, sight gags and ridiculous humor that you can't help by cry tears at them. Full-size, but thin on the page count (hey! it's the ONLY flaw I could find, but drawing is hard work!) but you'll be bowled over by the preciseness of the characters. Linda Hamilton is one tough cookie to capture on paper, but Nim did it!) Yeast is an original incident in the Classic vein... and the best thing this writer has digested since B&B Lite, so park yourself in your favorite La-z-boy, and don't forget the Kleenex... trust me! [3]
If you don't find the 'amateur' fan-produced "graphic parody," "Beauty and the Yeast," well-drawn and brilliantly funny, you've taken this series far too seriously for far too long. Thanks, 'P.S.' for some much needed comic relief. [4]
Beauty and the Yeast and The Absurd Season, by P.S. Nim, are graphic parodies of Beauty and the Beast, executed with a great deal of affection for the series and a healthy dose of pure mischief. The storylines are wonderfully silly, and the comic-book pen and ink illustrations are as hilarious as they are impressive. And they are impressive. P.S. has a marvelous magic to her illustrations—they possess incredible detail and perfect likenesses, a wonderful sense of composition and style, and a quirky feel for the absurd that is absolutely delightful. As an artist, I can say without reservation that P.S. is a pen-and-ink sorceress. Catherine Chandler, the face that crumpled a thousand sheets of Bristol board in the hands of frustrated artists? P.S. can capture her perfectly with a simple line drawing (and undoubtedly an incantation or two). But it's more than just the likenesses, it's the poses, the backgrounds (stacks of Kal Kan on Catherine's kitchen counter, monster movie posters in Vincent's room along with laundry hanging on the line, signs telling a Vincent racing to save his ladylove, "This way to Catherine"). It's utilizing some of the best-known photo references in unique ways. It's poking gentle fun at the show's foibles with visuals that have the perfect feel of the show—the tunnels, Catherine's wardrobe, Father's wardrobe. For the illustrations alone (and these, for the uninitiated, are the reason I used the term "comic-book" above—the illustrations are in a similar style, without the exaggeration, and every page is straining-at-the-seams full of them), these zines are worth the price. The silly plots are the cherry and nuts on the sundae... I highly recofrmend these zines to anyone who has seen even a few B&B episodes—they're worth every penny, and then some.[5]
[Beauty and the Yeast] & [ The Absurd Season ]: Two graphic novel parodies, the first of Classic B&B, the second of S#3. I howled with laughter all through B&tY; every panel was a wealth of humor, some subtle, some more obvious. This is the sort of satire which pokes fun with a gentle elbow to the ribs, and not a punch in the nose. I adored it, but be warned: a certain cheerful irreverence is required to appreciate this humor. TAS, the Third Season parody, was not available as of this writing (May, 1990), but shoud be in June. I, for one, am holding my breath in gleeful anticipation! Price is $5.00 each.[6]
References
- ^ "P.S. Nim". Archived from the original on 2010-10-08.
- ^ from Helpers' Network Quality Fanzine Review -- 1997
- ^ from the August 1990 issue of Tunnel Talk
- ^ from Pipeline v.3 n.3 (March 1990)
- ^ from Psst... Hey Kid, Wanna Buy a Fanzine? #1. The reviewer, Jean Kluge, gives it "5 trees." The reviewers in "Psst... Hey Kid, Wanna Buy a Fanzine?" rated zines on a 1-5 tree/star scale.
- ^ from Destiny #2