benjaminlclark

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$6 million shopping spree, part 2 - Winsor McCay

In which I continue my $6M Comics Shopping Spree As you may recall, Action Comics #1 (DC, 1938) sold recently for $6M, breaking all previous records for a comic book sold at auction. The sale got me thinking, playing a fun “What if?” game in my head, like you do when you hear about big lottery winners. We all do that, right? Action Comics Number 1, sold for $6 million, image courtesy Heritage…

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Comics Art Against Project 2025

Hi. We’re a group of comic book writers & artists who are furious about Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s plan to consolidate power under authoritarian rule. So we made a bunch of comics to explain their agenda and move you to vote against it. stopproject2025comic.org

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Bernie Mireault's The Jam: A Superhero Story Rooted in Reality

My copy of The Jam in hand. Photo by author Comic writer and artist Bernie Mireault died this month. He was 63. I was not familiar with him or his work, but my friend and collaborator Nat Gertler,  wearing his About Comics publisher’s hat, worked with Mr. Mireault to get his much-lauded comic, The Jam, back into print. In the remembrances that followed Mireault’s passing, his work was praised…

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$6M Shopping Spree, part 1

In which I go on a $6M Comics Shopping Spree Action Comics #1 (DC, 1938) sold recently for $6M, breaking all previous records for a comic book sold at auction. Action Comics Number 1, sold for $6 million, image courtesy Heritage Auctions $6M for one comic book? That’s *a lot* of money for a comic book. It is nearly double the previous record set only a few years ago in 2021, which I think has…

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Bookshop Memories – Heddrich's, Williston, North Dakota

Heddrich's was probably one of the most out-of-the-way places to find old books, and is now sadly gone. I remember it fondly ... mostly.

Hedderich’s – Williston, ND In 2010, I moved away from a metro filled with bookstores to a small town in northeast Montana. Oklahoma City, though not a mecca of bibliophiles, at least had some nice bookshops and was close enough to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area to go see great authors if they stopped there. Big-name authors almost never came to Oklahoma City, with Dallas being closer. Authors that…

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Bookshop Memories – Archives Books, Edmond, Oklahoma

Another entry in my irregular series, Bookshop Memories. I hope you enjoy it.

Archives Books – Edmond, Oklahoma Archives Books in Edmond, Oklahoma in 2009. Photo by Benjamin L. Clark When I first visited Archives Books, it was very small, in the end unit of a nondescript commercial strip not far from the interstate in Oklahoma City’s northern suburb of Edmond. Apparently, the owner, Wayne, had a bookshop earlier and had a giant reset as things moved online. My first…

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Maud the Mirthful Mule - F. Opper

I made a free mini-zine for the Santa Rosa Zine Fest this past weekend at the Northwest branch in Santa Rosa, California. This post basically includes all the contents of the zine for you. I gave them away when anyone asked about swaps, or if we just visited, or I bought a zine from them. The selection of comic panels are what I used for interior pages, and if you unfolded the whole thing, you’d…

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RIP Trina Robbins

Trina Robbins speaking at the 2023 WonderCon in Anaheim, California. Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia I did not know Trina Robbins very well, but she has impacted my thinking and my work. She was the kind of person that, after hearing her stories and reading her work, I have a deep appreciation for what she accomplished, and I wish I could have gotten to know her more and talked with her…

[benjaminlclark]

What does Montaigne mean?

“We set our stupidities in dignity when we set them in print.” —Montaigne, 1592 I like Michel de Montaigne — I’ve written about him before. For a guy whose life is pretty drastically different from mine, he made observations from his life that I find eerily applicable to my own. And I’m not the only one. His Essays have been in print more or less since they were first published in…

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Bookshop Memories - 30 Penn Books, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

30 Penn Books – Oklahoma City, OK Photo by the author, ca. 2008 This was a nice used bookshop. Good books, a nice selection that was well organized. A little higher priced than some of the other used bookshops in town, but still good stuff. I specifically remember being on the lookout for good niche local, state, and regional history books here. This shop was close to a place I liked to get BBQ…

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Bookshop Memories - Michael's Old Books, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

It's been a while! Another of my Bookshop Memories entries.

Michael’s Old Books – Oklahoma City, OK Michael’s Old Books, February 2009, photo by author This is how I remember it: A sagging roof, peeling paint, cracked windows, maybe a missing pane replaced with a bit of cardboard. But there’s a sign that reads simply: BOOKSTORE. The hardened bibliophile will recognize the urge, this compulsion, to dive into what you are sure is a rodent-infested…

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Eisner Award Nomination

The book I wrote with Peanuts fan extraordinaire Nat Gertler has been nominated for a Will Eisner Award by the people who bring you Comic-Con International in San Diego each year! Voting has closed for the comics publishing industry award, but it’s been a thrill just to be nominated. I’ve never won an award and tended to roll my eyes at the idea of being grateful for a nomination, but I get it…

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Celebrate the Art of Newspaper Comics and Support a Great Cause at the North Bay Letterpress Arts -- Saturday, April 22

If you’re a fan of newspaper comics and letterpress printing and live in the North Bay Area, you won’t want to miss a special event hosted by the North Bay Letterpress Arts organization on Saturday, April 22nd. The “Sunday Funnies” event will feature a conversation with Benjamin L. Clark (me), Maia Kobabe, and Andrew Mecum, the Executive Director of NBLA, about the relationship between printing,…

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Bookshop Memories — Half Price Books, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Bookshop Memories — Half Price Books, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Half Price Books – Oklahoma City, OK Half Price Books with the new sign going up in OKC, March 2009. Photo by the author This Texas chain was known to me, but I had never lived in a city to have one. I must have first visited one of these clean, bright stores with the big red signs in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area at some point when I lived in Lubbock and got to the big city for a visit. I was…

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I have a new book out! The Art and Life of Charles M. Schulz in 100 Objects

I have a new book out! The Art and Life of Charles M. Schulz in 100 Objects

Charles M. Schulz: The Art and Life of the Peanuts Creator in 100 Objects It’s hard to believe, but I had a book come out on November 1st! You can get it anywhere good books are sold, but if you buy it from the Charles M. Schulz Museum, it will be signed by none other than Jean Schulz! Working with Jeannie on the book was a very special experience. I get to work with her quite a bit developing…

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