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
Columbus, OH (Comics City, USA!)/Palm Springs, CA
I'm rereading Count of Monte Cristo yet again. All the scenes where the Count reveals that he's actually Dantés are awesome... but the one where he reveals himself to Fernand/Morcerf is my absolute fave.
General plot synopsis of the novel in image #2.
General plot synopsis of the novel in image #2.
December 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I'm rereading Count of Monte Cristo yet again. All the scenes where the Count reveals that he's actually Dantés are awesome... but the one where he reveals himself to Fernand/Morcerf is my absolute fave.
General plot synopsis of the novel in image #2.
General plot synopsis of the novel in image #2.
One of my fave discoveries when co-curating that exhibit at the Billy Ireland were some truly unhinged early Fletcher Hanks drawings that turned out to be his homework from the W.L. Evans School of Cartooning and Caricature correspondence course.
December 1, 2025 at 6:54 PM
One of my fave discoveries when co-curating that exhibit at the Billy Ireland were some truly unhinged early Fletcher Hanks drawings that turned out to be his homework from the W.L. Evans School of Cartooning and Caricature correspondence course.
Recommendation seconded!
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Go get all the PAUL graphic novels by Michel Rabagliati!
Drawn & Quarterly's Holiday Flash Sale starts NOW!
What are you waiting for? Head over to drawnandquarterly.com to get up to 50% OFF on your favorite D&Q books til tomorrow night, Monday December 1st at 11:59 PM EST
What are you waiting for? Head over to drawnandquarterly.com to get up to 50% OFF on your favorite D&Q books til tomorrow night, Monday December 1st at 11:59 PM EST
December 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Recommendation seconded!
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Everyone pretty much knew it was inevitable... but still sad to hear. Angoulême 2026 officially cancelled 😥.
www.charentelibre.fr/culture-et-l...
www.charentelibre.fr/culture-et-l...
Le Festival de la BD 2026 officiellement annulé, 9e Art + accuse les pouvoirs publics
Par la voix de ses avocats, la société 9e Art + reconnaît, ce lundi matin, que l’édition 2026 ne pourra matériellement pas se tenir. Elle pointe du doigt « une décision unilatérale prise sans concerta...
www.charentelibre.fr
December 1, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Everyone pretty much knew it was inevitable... but still sad to hear. Angoulême 2026 officially cancelled 😥.
www.charentelibre.fr/culture-et-l...
www.charentelibre.fr/culture-et-l...
Reposted by Ben Towle
Fittingly, it’s a paperbACK!
I’m sorry I’m gonna go hide now.
I’m sorry I’m gonna go hide now.
November 25, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Fittingly, it’s a paperbACK!
I’m sorry I’m gonna go hide now.
I’m sorry I’m gonna go hide now.
Wow this 50th anniversary CATHY box set looks really beautiful... and it's been out since *October*?? I've seen exactly zero press/advertising about it. Crazy.
publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/cathy-5...
publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/cathy-5...
Cathy 50th Anniversary Collection - Andrews McMeel Publishing
Take a trip down memory lane with this celebratory 50th anniversary collection of Cathy Comics, curated from an iconic 34-year run of the beloved comic strip. The Cathy comic strip debuted in 1976, th...
publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Wow this 50th anniversary CATHY box set looks really beautiful... and it's been out since *October*?? I've seen exactly zero press/advertising about it. Crazy.
publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/cathy-5...
publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/cathy-5...
In truth, a mature man who uses hair-oil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere.
November 23, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Here's a few very cool originals Rebecca and I acquired at auction recently. This first lot is a couple of pages from a baseball manga (obviously). It was wrongly attributed to Shinji Mizushima. It's seems pretty clearly to be Hiroshi Kaizuka--from a rental manga called Lucky 9.
November 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Here's a few very cool originals Rebecca and I acquired at auction recently. This first lot is a couple of pages from a baseball manga (obviously). It was wrongly attributed to Shinji Mizushima. It's seems pretty clearly to be Hiroshi Kaizuka--from a rental manga called Lucky 9.
Suitable for framing ™️
November 22, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Suitable for framing ™️
Babe wake up, new Witch Hat Atelier anime trailer just dropped.
(If the whole show looks like this, it's gonna be amazing... but that's a big "if.")
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCd...
(If the whole show looks like this, it's gonna be amazing... but that's a big "if.")
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCd...
Witch Hat Atelier | Official Trailer 2 | Crunchyroll
YouTube video by Crunchyroll
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Babe wake up, new Witch Hat Atelier anime trailer just dropped.
(If the whole show looks like this, it's gonna be amazing... but that's a big "if.")
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCd...
(If the whole show looks like this, it's gonna be amazing... but that's a big "if.")
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCd...
Picked up a Shaun the Sheep pin at the Cartoon Museum in London! Now added to the lot.
November 18, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Picked up a Shaun the Sheep pin at the Cartoon Museum in London! Now added to the lot.
Catching up on Mensuel Charlotte on the plane back from Thought Bubble. LOL'ing at Chris Ware inserting Charles Schulz into this strip as the granddad. (Hilariously, he's describing sneaking over a sand dune as a kid to watch the girls swimming naked at the beach.)
November 17, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Catching up on Mensuel Charlotte on the plane back from Thought Bubble. LOL'ing at Chris Ware inserting Charles Schulz into this strip as the granddad. (Hilariously, he's describing sneaking over a sand dune as a kid to watch the girls swimming naked at the beach.)
Reposted by Ben Towle
Jack Cole incorporating SFX into panel design for maximum storytelling impact. Look at the KABOOM-crackling becaue of impact of explosion
The doorknob breaking through glass and out of panel!
Genius
The doorknob breaking through glass and out of panel!
Genius
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Jack Cole incorporating SFX into panel design for maximum storytelling impact. Look at the KABOOM-crackling becaue of impact of explosion
The doorknob breaking through glass and out of panel!
Genius
The doorknob breaking through glass and out of panel!
Genius
Thought Bubble day one. Paul Gravett interviewing Posy Simmonds!
November 15, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Thought Bubble day one. Paul Gravett interviewing Posy Simmonds!
In case you were wondering to what extent anime is now mainstream media in the US:
November 15, 2025 at 12:17 AM
In case you were wondering to what extent anime is now mainstream media in the US:
Hahaha sad but true, Toth is a "cartoonist's cartoonist" no matter the language.
Also this is literally the first time I've seen someone cite Alex Kotzky of Apartment 3-G as an influence ( and I had no idea "3-G" = "3 girls"?)
Also this is literally the first time I've seen someone cite Alex Kotzky of Apartment 3-G as an influence ( and I had no idea "3-G" = "3 girls"?)
November 13, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Hahaha sad but true, Toth is a "cartoonist's cartoonist" no matter the language.
Also this is literally the first time I've seen someone cite Alex Kotzky of Apartment 3-G as an influence ( and I had no idea "3-G" = "3 girls"?)
Also this is literally the first time I've seen someone cite Alex Kotzky of Apartment 3-G as an influence ( and I had no idea "3-G" = "3 girls"?)
Reposted by Ben Towle
I am reading some Little Orphan Annie comic strips from 1947 and this dude just had his head ripped right off. No blood though. Guess that would have been too gruesome.
November 12, 2025 at 11:48 PM
I am reading some Little Orphan Annie comic strips from 1947 and this dude just had his head ripped right off. No blood though. Guess that would have been too gruesome.
The exhibit I co-curated at The Billy Ireland, Motion Lines: How Cartoonsts draw Movement, closed this past weekend... but if you missed it there's now this great online version--one of the very few they've done this for!
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7b5c...
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7b5c...
Motion Lines
How do you show motion in a medium that doesn’t move?
storymaps.arcgis.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:37 PM
The exhibit I co-curated at The Billy Ireland, Motion Lines: How Cartoonsts draw Movement, closed this past weekend... but if you missed it there's now this great online version--one of the very few they've done this for!
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7b5c...
storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7b5c...
Reposted by Ben Towle
people bitch about woke media but if TOS was on today they would go to a thinly-veiled MAGA planet where the locals worshipped guns and then kirk would hit the orange dictator with a two-fisted karate chop before giving a lecture about how science is real and violence is bad
November 11, 2025 at 11:46 PM
people bitch about woke media but if TOS was on today they would go to a thinly-veiled MAGA planet where the locals worshipped guns and then kirk would hit the orange dictator with a two-fisted karate chop before giving a lecture about how science is real and violence is bad
Got a modern Kindle with a 7" screen mainly for manga reading. (Keeping my ancient 5th gen with 5" screen for prose books). It's... workable, but damn, just make a tankōbon-sized e-reader, you cowards!
November 11, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Got a modern Kindle with a 7" screen mainly for manga reading. (Keeping my ancient 5th gen with 5" screen for prose books). It's... workable, but damn, just make a tankōbon-sized e-reader, you cowards!
Damn... Angoulême is continuing to turn into a complete (largely self-inflicted) disaster. We usually go every year, but decided to boycott this year. Was second-guessing that call earler, but not now. (via @comicsbeat.bsky.social )
www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-20...
www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-20...
ANGOULÊME 2026 in serious doubt as publishers and authors cancel to protest Bondoux's involvement
Creators and publishers are threatening a boycott after controversial 9e Art+ and owner Franck Bondoux are set to resume running Angoulême
www.comicsbeat.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Damn... Angoulême is continuing to turn into a complete (largely self-inflicted) disaster. We usually go every year, but decided to boycott this year. Was second-guessing that call earler, but not now. (via @comicsbeat.bsky.social )
www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-20...
www.comicsbeat.com/angouleme-20...
Why can't it be both??
November 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Why can't it be both??
"im not owned! im not owned!!", i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob
November 10, 2025 at 6:59 PM
"im not owned! im not owned!!", i continue to insist as i slowly shrink and transform into a corn cob
LOLing at the Evite sample spreadsheet for uploading guests to invite.
November 10, 2025 at 2:48 AM
LOLing at the Evite sample spreadsheet for uploading guests to invite.