Ben

Author's details

Name: Ben Towle
Date registered: 11/30/-0001
URL: http://www.benzilla.com

Latest posts

  1. Smokey Stover, A Christmas Story, Dr. Seuss: The Oneness — 2/14/2019
  2. What I Read in 2018 — 1/3/2019
  3. On the Influence of Steve Ditko — 11/11/2018
  4. My Next Book: Four Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat — 9/9/2018
  5. Exhibition Round-Up: Hugo Pratt in Lyon and Peyo in Paris — 9/1/2018

Most commented posts

  1. The Comics Journal Message Board: A Requiem — 36 comments
  2. Service Review: Ka-Blam Print on Demand — 33 comments
  3. Craft: A Review of the New Koh-i-nor Rapidosketch Pen — 30 comments
  4. Care and Feeding of the Leroy Lettering Set — 25 comments
  5. Ugliest Dog in the World? — 22 comments
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Author's posts listings

Feb
14
2019

Smokey Stover, A Christmas Story, Dr. Seuss: The Oneness

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So, over Christmas I was watching A Christmas Story for the bajillionth time (as one does) and noticed, in the scene were Ralphie is decrypting the message from his Little Orphan Annie Decoder Ring, a Sunday newspaper comic peeking out among the stuff on a table: I took a picture of the strip and quickly …

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Jan
03
2019

What I Read in 2018

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In years past, I’ve regularly done “Faves of 20xx” lists of various things–comics, art supplies, documentaries, etc.–that I’ve enjoyed during the year. This year, though, I managed to keep a list of all the comics and comics-related books I read throughout the year and so instead of a Faves list, I’m just going to do …

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Nov
11
2018

On the Influence of Steve Ditko

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Steve Ditko, the cartoonist best known popularly for his role in the creation of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange for Marvel Comics, died last June at the age of ninety.  His death occasioned obituaries in several high-profile publications such as this one in the New York Times, which among other things reflects on Ditko’s historical importance and creative legacy. …

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Sep
09
2018

My Next Book: Four Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat

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Book Announcement  With the cat now officially out of the bag, here’s the full scoop on my next comics project: It’s called Four Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat and it’s forthcoming (probably in two-ish years or so) from Dead Reckoning, the new graphic novel imprint of  The Naval Institute Press. Here’s a description of the book, …

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Sep
01
2018

Exhibition Round-Up: Hugo Pratt in Lyon and Peyo in Paris

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I was recently had the good fortune to be able to vacation in France while the big Hugo Pratt exhibition was going on in Lyon. I also saw (but nearly didn’t–more on that later) a Peyo show in Paris. By way of making sure I don’t come across as a complete comics-obsessive, I just want …

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Aug
01
2018

Come See Me at Wizard World Winston-Salem 8/3 – 8/5

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That’s right: I’m making a rare when-I-don’t-have-a-new-book-out appearance at a con. What can I say? It’s in my hometown. You can find me in Artists Alley at the space shown on the map below. More info at the Wizard World site. I’ll have my usual fare: Oyster War, various minis, a smattering of original art. …

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Jun
14
2018

Nearly Ten Thoughts on the Bill Sienkiewicz New Mutants Run

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Or, more acurately: the Chris Claremont, Bill Sienkiewicz, Glynis Wein/Oliver, Tom Orzechowski (and L. Louis Buhalis & Joe Rosen) New Mutants run. I recently re-read this run (issues #18 – #31) in the form of this very beautiful IDW reprint edition that I got at SDCC a few years ago. Here’re a few thoughts on …

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May
19
2018

Mike Mignola Exhibit at Society of Illustrators… and Some Other Comics-Centric Stuff in NYC

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  So, I recently had the good fortune to find myself in New York… and by “good fortune,” I mean: I set some travel alerts on Hopper and wound up getting a ridiculously low price on a one day to-and-from flight to NYC. While there, I checked out a few things likely of interest to …

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Mar
19
2018

Character Design: High Eyeline is Now a Thing

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Or, more to the point: high eyeline is now A Thing in character design and we olds need to just get used to it. The Natural Proportions of the Head If you look at a human head, you’ll see the eyeline is halfway down the head–exactly in the center between the top of the head …

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Feb
27
2018

Recent Reads – February 2018

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Here are a few quick thoughts on some comics I’ve recently read: Neonomicon by Alan Moore and  Jacen Burrows If you read this blog and/or follow me on Twitter, you know I’m a big fan of the recent series Providence by this same team. Providence is the last of three works by them that focus on …

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