Ben #6

Posted: Tuesday, June 13, 2000
By: Darren Schroeder

Creator: Ben Ridder with two pages by Joi Heald
Publisher: Self published
Address: GPO Box 1735, Hobartt Tas 7001, Australia.

The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, that could be the subtitle for this curious little 12 page comic dating from 1998. Plot isn't a focus here as Ben lets his mind wander through a landscape full of sheepskin car seat covers, HQ Holdens and a visit from his soul mate, the deceased ex-prime minister of Australia, Gough Whitlam.

Ben starts with a person taking a taxi to the airport then takes us off to the surreal conversation of himself and Gough. In amongst all this Ben sticks in isolated photocopies of personal ads, slogans, pictures of holdens and computer printouts. Joi contributes a pub conversation about girls who want "bad boys" and a page of random sketches.

This won't shatter your world or anything. It does have a whimsical quality that makes it a fun read and stops it from dissappearing up its own behind.

In a word: Dreamy

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