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Benjamin L. Clark

@benjaminlclark.com

2.6K followers 2.4K following 2.9K posts

Eisner-winning comic museum curator and book writer. PERSONAL acc’t. Big fan of Snoopy and the gang. AKA BenjClark, BLClark 📷 by Chris Eliopoulous @chriseliopoulos.com Nebraska/ Santa Rosa, CA https://benjaminlclark.com

benjaminlclark.com

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · Oct 18

Hey, new folks! INTRO — I'm Benjamin. I write comic history, curate museum exhibitions, and other stuff. I've won some awards, and I'm open to other projects when I'm available. Find me other places:
🌐 benjaminlclark.com
📰 buttondown.com/benjaminlclark
📷 instagram.com/benjaminlclark (if you must)

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 22h

Oh, yes! Maybe that's why it seems science fiction ages at a different rate than other genre fiction.

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 23h

Good article!

Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote on @boingboing.net about a beautiful new book package celebrating the GOAT comic strip, "Peanuts." I think fans of the strip will absolutely love it.
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boingboing.net/2025/10/13/b... @abramscomicarts.bsky.social @evanier.bsky.social

Breathtaking new book package celebrates the GOAT comic strip: Peanuts

Abrams ComicArts has just released a huge new prestige book celebrating the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The Essential Peanuts is 336 pages, and filled with comics, but…

boingboing.net

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 23h

Oh, that first phrase is, "I like spicy" b/c no one will believe you, and some kind granny will try to warn you off. Someone will ask, "Do you know how to eat that?" and you tell them this. The last one is "Thank you." Just say that all the time.

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 1d

Plan for the aftermath accordingly. Don't sue me if you die.

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 1d

Find when the closest Thai temple to you celebrates Loy Krathong (soon). Go. You'll enjoy the festival, but you'll also find "Thai spicy" there that you won't find at any restaurant. Bring the phrase, "Chahn chow pit," and "Khap khun khrap," and a little cash, and you'll have the best time.

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 1d

This looks great!

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 1d

Definitley read this from my dad's childhood collection

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 1d

Love how the overstaying guest breaks the panel border with his face! LOL

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 2d

A couple of cool panels from Garfield in the Sunday funnies today.

Garfield in silhouette kicks Odie off the table. In the panel below the word Snap is drawn to fill the panel.

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 3d

Patrick is the best

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 3d

“Cathy fucks” as someone wise once said.

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 4d

ALT TEXT: A black and white Peanuts Sunday comic strip shows Snoopy imagining himself as a World War I fighter pilot, flying his doghouse and battling the Red Baron. Linus surprises him, and it ends with Snoopy considering a commercial airline job instead.

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 4d

Happy 60th Anniversary, Flying Ace!

Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, originally published October 10, 1965

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 4d

"Ultraviolence" wowsers that sounds dain-jer-US!

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

She's CLIFFORD!! (But not) LOLLL

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

YES. Actually, like a whole Norbit episode where he plays his whole extended family.

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

... it was his dream, his lifelong goal to become a successful newspaper cartoonist. Why would he achieve it only to hand it all over to someone else??

Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

Charles Schulz was asked why he didn't hire assistants to help out on the Peanuts comic strip — some of his contemporaries had staff who thought up gags, wrote story arcs, drew in backgrounds, inked the pencils, etc. etc. Schulz would point out that ...

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

I get that popular outlets will ask creators about AI — too many people in their audiences are curious about it, and have been sold an idea that "AI" is somehow useful and saves effort. But the framing here is really disappointing.

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

I'm sorry, I can't shake this. Does Ari Shapiro think The Wire wasn't very good? Does he wish it were more derivative? That the tropes of the genre were applied less creatively? That everything was more evident and well-worn? Was it *too* clever? Too well made?

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 5d

David Simon has worked incredibly hard and dreamed big dreams to get where he is to write shows like The Wire. WHY IN GOD'S NAME would he work and fight for that only to give it up to a machine that doesn't even do it well?

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 5d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Reposted by Benjamin L. Clark

Maia Kobabe @redgoldsparks.bsky.social · 6d

It's Banned Books Week. If you are an author, please join @authorsabb.bsky.social! If you work in the publishing industry, please join @pubprosabb.bsky.social! Canadian authors, you can now join Canadian Authors & Illustrators Against Book bans: linktr.ee/caiabb. Working together feels good! 📚✍️👏

The black and white cover of a zine titled Do you make books? Yes? I want YOU to join Authors Against Book Bans! By Maia Kobabe. The image shows author Maia Kobabe holding a stack of books and pointing at the reader

WHAT IS AABB?
A coalition of writers, illustrators, editors & other book creators, standing united against the unconstitutional movement to limit the freedom to read. We support the availability of diverse voices in our libraries, in our schools, & in our culture. We pledge to band together against the oppression of literature, to speak when our voices are silenced, to go where our bodies are needed, & to fight to ensure this freedom.

Our concern is not only for the books, but for the children, families, educators,
librarians, & communities who suffer when the freedom to read is challenged and taken away.

WHAT CAN AABB OFFER YOU?
- Regional groups working on legislation to protect authors & the freedom to read state-by-state
- Online trainings on digital security, public speaking, & how to counter book challenges in your community
-Affinity groups for BIPOC authors, queer authors, authors with disabilities, indie, nonfiction, romance writers & more
-Support if your book is challenged or your school visit is canceled!
-A very active discord community

Maia: I’ve been facing intense challenges to my book since 2021. Knowing that I am not alone in the fight against censorship is what keeps my spirits up!

Watching the folks in AABB share information, co-write legislation, show up to library & school board meetings, & speak up to publishers about the need to protect diverse books & minority authors has been amazing!

This is a weird & scary time to be an author, but you are not alone! Join thousands of us fighting for the freedom to read, the freedom to write, the freedom to teach, the freedom to learn, & the freedom to share our stories!
-Maia Kobabe, 2025

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Reposted by Benjamin L. Clark

Unpacking Peanuts Podcast @unpackingpeanuts.bsky.social · 12d

Happy Anniversary Charlie Brown! To celebrate the 75th anniversary of Peanuts, Michael, Harold & Jimmy each pick their top 10 Peanuts strips of all time! Will one character dominate? One Decade? Listen to find out what the best in Peanuts 5-decade run of brilliance. pod.link/unpackingpeanuts

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Reposted by Benjamin L. Clark

Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 7d

A Brief History of Men are Becoming Less Manly

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Benjamin L. Clark @benjaminlclark.com · 7d

And Diamond, which held a near monopoly on distributing comics, has also imploded. It seems like there should be "room in the market," as they say.