Ben Passmore Explained

Ben Passmore (born 1983)^[1] is an American comics artist and political cartoonist.

Early life

Born and raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts,^[2] Passmore attended art school at Savannah College of Art and Design where he majored in comics with a minor in illustration.^[3]

Career

Passmore's works, ranging from the fantastical to the autobiographical, contain social commentary on politics, activism, white supremacy, the United States, sports, and the experience of black Americans. He is a frequent contributor to the comics publication The Nib.^[4] His book, Your Black Friend, was originally self-published in 2016 and then reissued by Silver Sprocket in 2018. The book is a collection of short vignettes offering the experiences of a black man in a world of white people. Your Black Friend was Inspired by Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon's 1952 book about the impacts of racism.^[5] The book has been compared to the Jimbo comic strip by Gary Panter.^[6] Passmore's book won the 2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic,^[7] received an Eisner Award nomination that year for Best Single-Issue,^[8] and was featured on NPR's list of 100 favorite comics and graphic novels.^[9] The work has been adapted into a short animated film.^[10]

Publications

• Sports is Hell, published by Koyama Press in February 2020. The book is a satire about the breakout of a violent revolution during the Super Bowl,^[11] using football to explore themes of racism, resistance, white supremacy, allyship, identity, and alienation.^[12] It won the Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One Shot in 2021.^[13] The book appears on The 100 Best Comics of the Decade List created by The Beat.^[14]
• BTTM FDRS, published with Ezra Claytan Daniels in February 2019 by Fantagraphics Books. The publisher describes the book as an "Afrofuturist horror-comedy about gentrification, hip hop, and cultural appropriation."^[15]
• DAYGLOAYHOLE was written while Passmore lived in New Orleans. It is a quarterly web-comic series published in 2017 and 2018 by Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club. It follows two characters, including Passmore as himself, wandering around a post-apocalyptic New Orleans. It was nominated for an Ignatz Outstanding Series Award in 2019.^[16]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cartoonists Database. 2020-11-26. cartoonistsofcolor.com.
2. Web site: adastracomix. 2018-02-05. From 'It's All Over' to 'Your Black Friend': the anarcho-comix of Ben Passmore. 2020-11-24. en.
3. Web site: Passmore. Ben. Ben Passmore - LinkedIn Profile.
4. Web site: Ben Passmore. 2020-12-07. The Nib. en-US.
5. Web site: 'Your Black Friend' Is Back, With Plenty To Say. 2020-12-04. NPR.org. en.
6. News: Chute. Hillary. 2018-07-27. Cartoonists Who Draw in Order to Be Heard (Published 2018). en-US. The New York Times. 2020-12-04. 0362-4331.
7. Web site: Johanna. 2017-09-17. 2017 Ignatz Award Winners. 2021-01-10. Comics Worth Reading. en-US.
8. Web site: Eisner Award Nominations 2017 Announced. 2021-01-10. Comics. en.
9. Web site: Let's Get Graphic: 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels. 2020-12-04. NPR.org. en.
10. Web site: "Your Black Friend" animated short film by Ben Passmore, Alex Krokus & Krystal Downs - YouTube. 2020-12-04. www.youtube.com.
11. Web site: Leblanc. Philippe. 2020-02-28. Syndicated Comics. 2020-12-07. The Beat. en-US.
12. Web site: 2020-05-12. Jazz great's graphic biography barely needs a word. 2020-12-07. thestar.com. en.
13. Web site: SDCC 2021's Eisner Award Winners: Klan Smashing, Rabbit Samurai, & More. 2021-07-24. Gizmodo. en-us.
14. Web site: The 100 Best Comics of the Decade. The Beat.
15. Web site: BTTM FDRS. 2020-12-07. Fantagraphics. en.
16. Web site: SPX 2019 Ignatz Nominees SPX: The Small Press Expo. 2020-12-08. en-US. 2020-10-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20201024174611/https://www.smallpressexpo.com/spx-2019-ignatz-nominees. dead.