Ben Crane
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Ben Crane
@bencranewrites.com
840 followers 370 following 450 posts
He/him. Co-created COSMIC CADETS (Book 2 out on 12/9!!). Wrote A MAN OF LIES. Edited SYSTEMIC. Profile pic by @andyalvesart.bsky.social
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Cleopatra in Space is one of my favorite series, so you know I lost it just a little bit when @mikemaihack.com called #CosmicCadets "everything I want in a sci-fi adventure story."

Book 2 is out next month!
art: @andyalvesart.bsky.social
colors: @prips.bsky.social
#comics #kidlit #kidscomics
A graphic showing the cover of Cosmic Cadets: Accused! with a blurb reading: "Brimming with hijinks, mystery, and a ton of heart, Accused flies further and funnier past its predecessor. Cosmic Cadets is everything I want in a 'kids off on their own' sci-fi adventure story." -Mike Maihack, Cleopatra in Space, Spiderman: A Might Marvel Team-Up
November 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
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Comics pros and reviewers, LMK if you want an ARC of my new sci-fi MG adventure, Cosmic Cadets: Accused!

It follows the kids of the crew of a galactic exploration ship as they have their own adventures alongside their parents' www.topshelfcomix.com/catalog/cosm... Coming from Top Shelf/IDW on 12/9.
The cover for Cosmic Cadets: Accused! Five kids (four human and one alien) crouch behind a column, hiding from an angry looking alien yelling in the background. The cover for Cosmic Cadets: Contact! Five kids (four human and one alien) make camp in a strange forest. One is building a fire, two are looking to the stars where a space ship flies overhead, and one is nervously leaning against a tree that the last is climbing.
October 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
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One of the players in the #BloodOnTheClocktower #boardgame I hosted last night asked for a piece of paper to take notes. Today, I found those notes.
A legal pad of paper with the word CONFUSED written in large block text across it.
October 6, 2025 at 6:23 AM
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About 90% of my phone's storage is pictures of this idiot giving herself spinal damage.
A brown and white shepherd mix dog lies awkwardly on a couch. Her hips are flat on the back of the seat with one leg stretching vertically up the backrest. Her spine twists as her shoulders are stacked at the lip of the seat and her head hangs down over it, her long neck bending sharply.
October 5, 2025 at 7:17 PM
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Hey #LongBeach! In two weeks, I'll be at @pulpfictionlbc.bsky.social alongside awesome #indiecomics creators @solissequentials.bsky.social and Joe Ellis. Between the three of us, we should have something to interest just about anyone!

Oct 18, 12-4PM
Pulp Fiction Long Beach
3925 E Anaheim St.
A banner for an indie comic book signing event at Pulp Fiction, 3925 E Anaheim St on Oct 18, 2025, featuring Joe Ellis (Trifecta), Ben Crane (Cosmic Cadets), and Chris Solis (Order of the Nun-Ya).
October 4, 2025 at 9:41 PM
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In today's episode of My Dog Doesn't Understand How to Couch...
A close up on the face of a dog who does not understand how to lie on a couch. A dog lying in a different nonsensical pose on a couch, with her head pressed deeply into the crevasse formed by the couch cushions. Another angle of a dog lying twisted on a couch. Her back legs are straight up, her front legs are pressed into the couch's back, and her head is hanging off the front of the seat. A dog lying on a couch with her spine twisted 90° on two different axes.
September 30, 2025 at 9:56 PM
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and ZERO DAY BUG IN THE CLOUD by @chill.raptureburgers.com, Adam Douglas, and @bansyou.bsky.social. A QA tester wakes up one morning to discover that he is himself literally becoming a bug in the system.
A promo image for the short comic ZERO DAY BUG IN THE CLOUD, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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RESONANCE by @stephwilliams.bsky.social and Kevin Betou. In an authoritarian city-state, a young street musician with the power to free people from the government's control must balance her own safety with the ideals she believes in.
A promo image for the short comic RESONANCE, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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RECLAIM CA by @artebuen.bsky.social, @davelawart.bsky.social, and @ahgcolor.bsky.social. A young woman investigating the death of her parents finds a tragedy of broken promises and people left behind in the rush to a utopian future.
A promo image for the short comic RECLAIM CA, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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PROVENANCE by me and @andyalvesart.bsky.social. A wheelchair-using con artist runs a scam on a society foolish enough to think it can ignore them just because of their disability.
A promo image for the short comic PROVENANCE, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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PROTECTED by @richardfairgray.bsky.social. A woman adrift in space reflects on the choices that brought her there, the promises of safety that were sold to her, and the true price of protection in a dangerous world.
A promo image for the short comic PROTECTED, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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FRIENDLY FIRE by @thatnormdude.bsky.social and @valhal.bsky.social. On the eve of a battle in a seemingly endless war, two veterans and a rookie discuss the invention that almost ended the war a generation ago, and how they hold on to hope in spite of its failure.
A promo image for the short comic FRIENDL, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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CO-N-DO by @simonbirks.com and Nina Pouston. After fifty years, with the planet ready to ignore them and move on, the laborers who spent their lives clearing Earth's orbit of space junk decide they won't be forgotten so easily.
A promo image for the short comic CONDO, with the cover, two interior pages, and some copy text.
September 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
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All of which is a long way of saying: it's not much, but it's what I can offer. Disney doesn't get my $3 a month. They can have water instead. #boycottdisneyabc
A screenshot of a Hulu cancellation email.
September 18, 2025 at 10:20 PM
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With a week left in our #indiecomics #Kickstarter campaign, Systemic is SO CLOSE to our first stretch goal! Will you be the one to push us over the line? www.kickstarter.com/projects/art...
A screenshot of the campaign page for Systemic: A Sci-Fi Anthology showing that the campaign has raised $4978 dollars with 7 days remaining.
September 18, 2025 at 8:49 PM
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The SYSTEMIC #kickstarter has reached it's goal! What a way to start the week!!! Thank you to everyone who backed or shared!

Every penny of profit we make goes straight back to our creators (tagged below). Let's keep it going! #comics @artebuen.bsky.social www.kickstarter.com/projects/art...
A screenshot of the campaign page for SYSTEMIC, showing that it has raised $4507 of its $4500 goal.
September 15, 2025 at 4:21 PM
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And if you want more weird, witchy goodness from Richard, he has an incredible collage-based examination of safety and its costs in Systemic, alongside six other sci-fi comics of people fighting the tidal forces that control them. www.kickstarter.com/projects/art...
A graphic for the short comic PROTECTED by Richard Fairgray. A graphic for the sci-fi comics anthology SYSTEMIC.
September 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
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I've got bad news for you...You don't need to figure out the answer to that.
A screenshot from libgen showing that Rikki is in the database. A screenshot from libgen showing that Haphaven is in the database.
September 9, 2025 at 5:33 AM
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THANK YOU to backer number 100!!!* (and also to backers 1-99!**). A Project We Love badge, 100 backers, and closing in on 80% funded, and we're not a week into the campaign. Let's keep it up! #kickstarter #indiecomics
*excitement, not factorials
**still excitement
www.kickstarter.com/projects/art...
A screenshot of the Systemic Kickstarter page with the Project We Love badge and 100 backers circled poorly in MSPaint. The Kickstarter Project We Love badge
September 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
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Got to read an early copy of Roots of Madness #1. Killer story from @stephwilliams.bsky.social with a new favorite protagonist. Cosmic horror with threats both eldritch and human. Pitch perfect art from Letizia Cadonici and Alessandro Santoro. Can't wait for more! @ignitionpress.bsky.social
The cover for Roots of Madness #1. Cover illustration by Juliet Nneka. A Black woman in early-20th century clothes studies a strange pattern in a petri dish.
September 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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My incredible friends @tillybridges.bsky.social and @susanlbridges.bsky.social WROTE A GOSH DANG STAR TREK and it is SO GOOD! The page 1 splash is perfect, and it only improves from there.

Also, Dear Dr. Star Trek, please hire the Bridges to write more things forever. Thank you.
The cover of the Star Trek Voyager Homecoming #1 comic book. Captain Janeway stands in front of a full-length window looking down at Earth, having finally made it home from the Delta Quadrant. A panel from Star Trek Voyager Homecoming #1. Captain Janeway speaks with the Borg Queen. Captions read: "...Even if it was controversial, I upheld Starfleet ideals to the best of my ability." "Because those ideals mean nothing if we only stick to them when it's easy."
September 4, 2025 at 6:20 PM
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Systemic launches TOMORROW on #kickstarter! This sci-fi anthology from me and @artebuen.bsky.social is already a Project We Love, and we'll have special deals for the first day of the campaign. Black Mirror/Twilight Zone style sci-fi of people caught between societal forces.
A banner for Systemic Volume 1 with the names of the creators listed alongside the title. A Kickstarter Project We Love badge.
September 2, 2025 at 2:10 AM
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Sad girl is home from surgery and very spaced out. It went well. Now we just have to keep the springiest, bounciest dog I've ever known from running or jumping for 6-8 weeks while it heals...
A brown and white dog lies on the ground with an e-collar.
August 26, 2025 at 9:48 PM
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The sad, injured pup in question.
A brown and white husky mix lies on a dog bed with her head resting on the cushioned side, looking at the camera.
August 22, 2025 at 10:50 PM
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Having an alternative to Gemini mailers is nice. Competition keeps prices reasonable.

Having them advertise with an AI ripoff of the comic that Gemini uses for their product photo, though...
The product photo for Gemini's Flash Mailer, featuring a copy of Fathom #1. In the comic, a woman in a bikini reclines into ripples of blue-green water with a streak of light going off to the right. The product photo for Comic Pro Line's Mailer, featuring a copy of something that might be named Fattomi. In the comic, a woman in a bikini reclines into ripples of blue-green water. A streak of light goes off to the right.
August 5, 2025 at 7:12 PM