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
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.
Holy cow... this is insane. No wonder the MLB refused to say anything about these guys post-suspension--they were under federal investigation.
Not in this article, but these idiots were apparently texting w bettors mid-game.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n...
Not in this article, but these idiots were apparently texting w bettors mid-game.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n...
2 Major League Baseball Pitchers Are Charged in Gambling Investigation
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Holy cow... this is insane. No wonder the MLB refused to say anything about these guys post-suspension--they were under federal investigation.
Not in this article, but these idiots were apparently texting w bettors mid-game.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n...
Not in this article, but these idiots were apparently texting w bettors mid-game.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/n...
Revisiting this old book of mine was definitely not on my bingo card. (For a Kickstarter anthology thing that I'll send around once it's announced.)
November 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Revisiting this old book of mine was definitely not on my bingo card. (For a Kickstarter anthology thing that I'll send around once it's announced.)
Just finished reading this! Incredible... as usual. And I'm caught up now, which is fun—otoh I have to wait until March for the next volume 😭
November 8, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Just finished reading this! Incredible... as usual. And I'm caught up now, which is fun—otoh I have to wait until March for the next volume 😭
Reposted by Ben Towle
A cutaway of the flying car belonging to the third Doctor - as played by Jon Pertwee - as depicted by Lee Sullivan, from 1991’s Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special. Call it “The Alien” or “The Whomobile”, it was fun idea for the early 70s Saturday teatime version of the show.
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
A cutaway of the flying car belonging to the third Doctor - as played by Jon Pertwee - as depicted by Lee Sullivan, from 1991’s Doctor Who Magazine Winter Special. Call it “The Alien” or “The Whomobile”, it was fun idea for the early 70s Saturday teatime version of the show.
So SDCC is changing the way Hotelpocalyse is gonna work in 2026. This ought to be... interesting.
sdccblog.com/2025/11/majo...
sdccblog.com/2025/11/majo...
Major Changes to San Diego Comic-Con Hotel Sale for 2026
There are big changes afoot for San Diego Comic-Con attendees. Once you’ve secured a badge (and if you haven’t yet, your final chance will be on Saturday, November 15), every attendee knows the second...
sdccblog.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
So SDCC is changing the way Hotelpocalyse is gonna work in 2026. This ought to be... interesting.
sdccblog.com/2025/11/majo...
sdccblog.com/2025/11/majo...
Reposted by Ben Towle
Reposted by Ben Towle
Reposted by Ben Towle
In class today: actual, physical screen-tone! (Kaoru Mori pages are, sadly, repros I bought at the Kyoto Manga Museum—her show was mind-blowing, needless to say.)
November 3, 2025 at 10:56 PM
In class today: actual, physical screen-tone! (Kaoru Mori pages are, sadly, repros I bought at the Kyoto Manga Museum—her show was mind-blowing, needless to say.)