Blog Archives
White, Ben – Snakepit #13
Snake Pit #13
You probably got the impression from reading that last review that I’m done with Snake Pit, it’s irredeemable crap and I never want to see it again! Harumph. Well, that’s not entirely true. I hope I made it clear that I WANT to see great things from this guy and I think I will, comics-wise, before all is said and done. The first half or so of this book was giving me hope too. He was on tour, or getting to know a new girl, and there was actually change from day to day and things were interesting. Then the second half was more of the same, to the point that I think even Ben is getting sick of the format, and the conversation I had with some of the YAC people when I got this seemed to indicate that as well. I hope that’s true. I’d love to see a Snake Pit #14 (or #15, or whatever) that was in a completely different format. Even if it didn’t work at all and he just went right back to this format, at least my curiosity would be at least partially satisfied. Yes, I realize this probably comes across as selfish, but I’d be willing to bet that I’m not the only fan of his work who’s a little bit sick of the format. $2
White, Ben – Snakepit #2
Snake Pit #2
This seems at first glance like a really dumb comic. It’s a daily diary in the form of a three panel comic, the problem being that every day seems pretty much the same. Ben goes to a party, he smokes pot, he gets drunk (or gives up alcohol for a little while), his band plays, he goes to work, he watches a movie, and he hangs out with a pretty girl. That’s pretty much every day, and I was almost ready to give up after the first few pages. But then it started getting through to me, or perhaps the sameness of it all hypnotized me, and I started to really like it. After all, how exciting is the average day for anybody? His honesty in telling the story of his daily “adventures” is what makes this book so compelling. It’s mundane, sure, but it gets harder and harder to put down as you go. Go to the website that publishes his comic, he’s not the only artist there, look around and see what you like…
