Ben Towle

Ben Towle

@benzilla.bsky.social

Cartoonist, five-time-time Eisner nominee, programming co-chair Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC), adjunct comics prof @ CCAD, intergalactic trader & general nuisance. Four-Fisted Tales, Oyster War, etc. Columbus, OH (Comics City, USA!)/Palm Springs, CA

3.1K followers1.8K following2K posts

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Throwing in an (anthropomorphic) Soundgarden into this In the Weeds scene. They were a fave of mine back in the halcyon days of the 90's. Badmotorfinger rülz, y'all.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

At last... the Precious is mine!! Last of the Corto books I need to complete the collection. Have passed on several $100+ ebay listings, but finally found one for a (semi-)reasonable price.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

So I finished this a week or so ago. It's a decent overview of his career, but for sure there're some odd choices (IHMO) in what he goes into in-depth vs. what he glosses over. Most notable for me was almost nothing about Year One. And I don't think The Man Without Fear is even mentioned.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

He doesn't go into much nuts and bolts process stuff--but that's OK, I guess since you get a ton of him working on camera in the documentary. (He does go about how he loves using a toothbrush to make blood splatters, which made me think of Clowes's Dan Pussey b.c there's some toothbrush inking gag.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

So I finished this a week or so ago. It's a decent overview of his career, but for sure there're some odd choices (IHMO) in what he goes into in-depth vs. what he glosses over. Most notable for me was almost nothing about Year One. And I don't think The Man Without Fear is even mentioned.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

He does a brief mea culpa for the Holy Terror stuff and mentions alcoholism, but it's pretty scant. He never goes much into his relationship with Varley. Arguably, this is personal stuff/not the subject matter...but notable through its absence.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Finished this today! Lots of great insights—even for someone like me who's been doing this for <sigh> a couple of decades. This one piece of advice in particular is sadly always in need of pointing out. cc @sxbond.bsky.social

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Flipping through an old Simonson Superman comic during World Series commercial breaks. Man, I love this "repeated figure" way of showing movement/time passing.

Ben Towle reposted

Derf Backderf
@derfbackderf.bsky.social

The rising costs detailed here apply mostly to mainstream cons. Indie cons are getting out of hand, too. I only attend either if all my costs are paid. But I'm a prima donna, and I don't need con income. If I was still hitting the road trying to make a name, yeah it would tough.

comicsbeat.comIs Artist Alley even sustainable any more?It's more expensive than ever to set up in artist alley or at a comics show - and here are some of the numbers
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Just finished this--a good read! Especially in light of the ‘Art of Manga’ show now being at the Brooklyn Museum. (Which you should absolutely see BTW. Saw it in SF.)

Matt Alt@mattalt.bsky.social

My latest essay, for Art Basel, takes a look at the recent boom for manga exhibitions at museums and art galleries abroad. It might surprise you to hear that this treatment would have shocked Japanese citizens even just a few decades ago. www.artbasel.com/stories/japa...

artbasel.comIs manga art? That depends on who – and when – you askOnce denounced in postwar Japan as a social threat, manga is having a moment, filling museums from Hong Kong to Brooklyn
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Over at IG I posted some pics from the recent Chris Ware event at the Billy Ireland, along with some notes on his process: www.instagram.com/p/DephtBzm4HE/

instagram.comBen Towle on Instagram: "A few pics of Chris Ware at work at his amazing @cartoonlibrary presentation yesterday. For the process-heads: • He uses Dr. Ph. Martin's Bombay India Ink. It's an ammonia-...117 likes, 8 comments - ben_f_towle on October 18, 2026: "A few pics of Chris Ware at work at his amazing @cartoonlibrary presentation yesterday. For the process-heads: • He uses Dr. Ph. Martin's B...
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Was driving through Lancaster, OH not too long ago and passed by this sign. Had no idea Outcault was from OH. Seems like 90% of early 20th century cartoonists have some kinda OH connection.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

And Eddie Campbell has been working on a follow-up to The Goat-Getters: The History of Mid-Western Cartooning. Can't find any mention of it online, but he's been hand-selling them at shows. I got one at SDCC last year. It's great!

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Was driving through Lancaster, OH not too long ago and passed by this sign. Had no idea Outcault was from OH. Seems like 90% of early 20th century cartoonists have some kinda OH connection.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Just finished reading this--fascinating stuff on the origin and rise in popularity of pantomime comics. Especially interesting to me is stuff towards the end about the influence of photography on cartooning--something I poked around into for the Motion Lines exhibit I co-curated at the Billy.

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Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Going through our flat file of originals as we move out of our house for a big renovation project. Fun to see all of this stuff. Here's easily my fave thing we have in the collection: one of E.C. Segar's sketchbooks--probably late era, '36 maybe?

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Last batch for now--gotta get back to packing 😢. Here's a page by a young Jean-Claude Mézières--his first SF comic. Also a Crumb from an early travel assignment via Kurtzman's HELP magazine. And beautiful Usagi Yojimbo cover.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Going through our flat file of originals as we move out of our house for a big renovation project. Fun to see all of this stuff. Here's easily my fave thing we have in the collection: one of E.C. Segar's sketchbooks--probably late era, '36 maybe?

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Some more random stuff: a Hiroshi Kaizuka baseball manga page, a great Nancy original, and a couple of American Splendor spreads.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Fantastic news! Excited about having an Angoulême festival again. That said, I dunno if I'm gonna necessarily make the trek for the inaugural event. Too many variables--chief among them the near-impossibility of pulling off an Angoulême-scale event w less than a year's planning.

Comicsbeat@comicsbeat.bsky.social

BREAKING: 9e Art+ and Association FIBD rejected by court leaving path open for new Angoulême Festival Original Angoulême Festival festival owner Association FIBD and its controversial operator 9e Art+ have failed in their legal bid to prevent the new incarnation of the festival from happening. The…

comicsbeat.comBREAKING: 9e Art+ and Association FIBD rejected by court leaving path open for new Angoulême FestivalOriginal Angoulême Festival festival owner Association FIBD and its controversial operator 9e Art+ have failed in their legal bid to prevent the new incarnation of the festival from happening. The judge has rejected both organisations claims of unfair competition and reputational parasitism, leaving the path open for the new festival - overseen by the Association for the Development of Comics in Angoulême (ADBDA) and its chosen operator, the Morgane group - to establish a new international comics festival to replace it.
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

So this seems weird. Had always heard that Mobius insisted on lettering Silver Surfer Parable himself. I think there's even a passage in the trade paper back by him stressing how important it is to letter your own work . Yet apparently the French version was handed off to a letterer?

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Nice to see Jermaine in the news! Great guy and great shop. Bonus: at one point one of the store signs was my take on the famed ACME bat!

Comicsbeat@comicsbeat.bsky.social

Interview: Acme Comics' Jermaine Exum on 30 years behind the counter

comicsbeat.comInterview: Acme Comics’ Jermaine Exum on 30 years behind the counter2026 marks Exum's 30th year at Acme Comics, where he's worked his way up from volunteer to employee to manager to owner, leading the store to win the 2025 Image Comics Select Retailer Award. We sat down to talk about his lifetime journey in the comics world
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Saw this show in SF and it was great. But I'm baffled that this writeup from The *Art* Newspaper fails to engage with--or even mention--that a lot of the art on display is digital prints. (From artists who work digitally--not repros of originals, thankfully) www.theartnewspaper.com/2026/10/05/b...

theartnewspaper.comComment | The Brooklyn Museum’s manga exhibition reveals the opportunities and challenges of tackling a global phenomenonThe Japanese art form has a fervent and wide-reaching community around it, which the New York museum has incorporated in its process
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

As more and more cartoonists move to digital drawing tools, the lack of an actual original that can be stuck on a museum wall is something that institutions--museums, art critics, etc.--are gonna need to engage with and figure out.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

I know everyone cites the last C&H and the last Peanuts strips as greatest final strips of all time, but don't sleep on the final Cathy.

Ben Towle reposted

Scott Gray
@scott1gray.bsky.social

I never get tired of looking at Steve Ditko's work on Black Fury. His rendering approach in these strips is so elegant. Black Fury has no texture at all - he's only depicted as streaks of solid black, and resembles an obsidian statue come to life. He looks so powerful!

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

This really should be the next "yes... haha... yes"/sickos

The Onion@theonion.com

This Weeks Editorial Cartoon: Hiding in Plane Sight https://theonion.com/hiding-in-plane-sight/

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

⚾🔥⚾🔥⚾🔥 #GoGuards

Tim Stebbins@timstebbins.bsky.social

10 strikeouts for Gavin Williams. Fourth instance in Cleveland postseason history -Bartolo Colon: Game 1, 2001 ALDS (10) -Bartolo Colon: Game 1, 1999 ALDS (11) -Charles Nagy: Game 4, 1996 ALDS (12)

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Been reading my way through this since it showed up yesterday. Fascinating stuff--looking forward to the whole series! (Well worth a Patreon subscription if, like me, you're a spaceship design nerd!) Had no idea Chris Foss was so involved in Alien initially.

The Spaceshipper 🚀@thespaceshipper.com

Here comes the first part of a new series of articles published on my Patreon: The design and making of ALL the spaceships in the Alien saga, starting with those from the very first movie: the Nostromo, the Narcissus, and the Derelict. This first article is open to everyone. Enjoy!

patreon.comAll the spaceships in the Alien universe #1: Alien (1979) | The SpaceshipperFollowing the modest success of the article on the spaceships in For All Mankind, I spent the week combing through every book in my sci-fi l
Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Wait... is the gag here that the parrot has heard Ian in the throes of ecstasy w Mary Worth? If so: (a) yuck, (b) that's actually a pretty funny gag.

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

Unboxed him! He's surprisingly substantial—weighs a ton. (Although, I suppose if you're running a payroll of $300 million dollars a year you've got no excuse for giving out poorly-made bobbleheads.)

Ben Towle
@benzilla.bsky.social

A while ago I got asked by a newspaper writer to comment on the weirdness of Steve Ditko's artwork. He used pretty much none of my response... but I posted it on my blog. Check it out, Ditko heads! #Ditko #Comics www.benzilla.com/?p=8080

benzilla.comWhy is Steve Ditko’s Art so Weird-Looking?I recently received an inquiry from a writer at the Daily Telegraph, asking me a few questions about Steve Ditko’s art style for an article he was working on–presumably to coincide with…