Madlib Album Covers Covered By Pitchfork

Jeff Jank gets profiled by Pitchfork for his awesome art direction on the monthly series of Madlib albums called Medicine Show. Check out the full write-up here. I provided artwork for one of the volumes.

Ian Burns Reviews Strange Tales II At The Comics Journal

In his review of the recent issues of Marvel's Strange Tales II over on The Comics Journal blog, Ian Burns writes this about my own story from issue #3:

Benjamin Mara’s[sic] “U.S. Agent vs. The Terror-Saur!!” in which U.S. Agent rides a rocket bike to Terrorstan with a scantily clad female reporter to fight a half-human, half- velociraptor with a nuke on its back is … unorthodox … even in relation to its fellow strange tales.

It's funny because I see my story as completely consistent with the superhero orthodoxy. But I often get the response that my drawing is weird, when I see it as being completely normal. See Burns' full review here.

Release Party and Signing!

I'm having a release party and signing over at Bergen Street Comics, the great comic shop in Brooklyn, for BENJAMIN MARRA'S THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (A WORK OF SATIRE AND FICTION) on Saturday, January 22nd, from 8-11. We're also doing an after party down the street at Lucky 13 Saloon, a metal bar. Be there!!

Michel Fiffe And Nathan Fox Name TRADITIONAL COMICS Comics As Favorites Of 2010

MTV Geek had several comic creators list their favorite comic book stories from 2010. Michel Fiffe named BENJAMIN MARRA'S THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (A WORK OF FICTION AND SATIRE) and Nathan Fox named NIGHT BUSINESS, ISSUE 3, and BENJAMIN MARRA'S THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (A WORK OF FICTION AND SATIRE). It means a lot to me coming from two supremely talented comic creators. Check out the list of all the creators' favorites here.

Sean T. Collins Reviews BENJAMIN MARRA'S THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (A WORK OF SATIRE AND FICTION)

One of my favorite comic journalists, Sean T. Collins, gives a very positive review of BENJAMIN MARRA'S THE INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF MAUREEN DOWD (A WORK OF SATIRE AND FICTION) over on his website, Attention Deficit Disorderly.

This is one of the most vicious and effective works of satire I’ve seen in comics in I don’t know how long. I say that as someone who pretty much loathes political and editorial cartooning of all stripes — an endless nightmare of preaching to the choir, taking complex issues and boiling them down to ideas and images with all the subtlety and insight of blowing the raspberry. By contrast, Benjamin Marra’s stroke of genius in The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd lies not just in picking an unusual target, but in the pinpoint accuracy of hitting it ...

Sean also included NIGHT BUSINESS, ISSUE 3, in his list of The 20 Best Comics of 2010, pairing it with Matt Furie's Boys Club #4 at the 20th spot. Glad to have NIGHT BUSINESS snuck in there with an appropriate partner.