"No revolution, as spectacular as it might appear to the masses that it arouses, ever brings a single new thing into the world. It is limited to proclaiming what has not only already been conceived, but what has already been achieved. It reveals what existed under the old institutions. It shows the new clothes that humanity has put on under its old, ragged ones, torn by time. In order to triumph, anarchy must already be a concrete reality before the great days of the future arrive. Our projects must be functioning. Everywhere, in our newspapers, in our groups, in our schools, no one should give orders, and no companion should be the servant of others. All must be authentic equals and comrades, guided and controlled solely by self-respect and respect for others, for without strong solidarity between companions, there is no way that anyone can be free!" Elisée Reclus, "To my companions, the editors," Political and Literary Interviews (July, 1892), p. 6.

Been drawling more comics for other writers to supplement my income a little. It's nice to do work for other guys, who've got a real talent for writing comics. This is the first page of a three page short I did for Rory McConville.

You can see more work at: http://benpassmore.blogspot.com/

Cooking along on a big Tug zine for prospect 1.5 that's going to be going on in September here in NOLA. It's great that despite the scarcity of a lively art scene in many southern cities New Orleans maintains large events and tons of galleries.

The image up top is the cover page for the new zine, it's based off of Norman Rockwell's painting Freedom From Want. Of course the plates and food have been changed to the town, Whitworth's mansion, the hooverville, and the factories. The drawing also depicts the social and economic hierarchy, with the bosses and police at the top and the workers at the bottom. It's the most conceptual drawing I've done in a while. I know going to say, "But Ben, Freedom From Want was painted in forty three, that's ten years after your story. Rockwell started painting professionally well before the 20's and his subjects have always depicted romanticizations of american life, so it still seems appropriate to spin of his visual themes.

Something I'd always wished I touched on was the disparity between the depiction of america in entertainment and the harsh reality during that time. Maybe it's not too late.

Why, given 20 years since the Exxon Valdez oil spill, did BP not put more time and money in to preparing for another leak? If the people of the Gulf Coast ask, I'm sure the Yup'ik would remind them of Tony Hayward's words in 2009 when he said BP's "primary purpose was to generate profit for our shareholders" and that "our primary purpose in life was not to save the world."

work work work.

Anyone in New Orleans driving up to Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC. I'm looking to get going around 5:30 or 6:30 pm on Thursday?

Started playing the ukulele. I look like a circus bear playing it, but the brittle little thing makes me smile.Some people are saying you can smell the crude oil from the river side here in the Bywater. Fortunately, I've had chronic nasal congestion since I was ten brought on my yellow waves of pollen every spring. So I can't smell as thing. Sometimes my blocked nose comes in handy. Like when I'm sitting on the back porch strumming out a ear-wrenching version of In The Pines I'm not at all bothered by our neighbor's dog crapping all over our thin backyard. Kate tells me it could peel paint.

Out of the whole country the BP mess seems to bother the citizens of New Orleans the least. Did you watch the Daily Show last night when that director man was talking about his cab driver's indifference to the many road deaths he saw daily. Nola folks are the same way about biblically sized disasters. But there's a split between the people that outlasted the storm and those of us who've come after Katrina. They good give a shit if the city burned to the ground. They wouldn't flinch, they'd just rebuild. The rest of us just mime the countenance of the old-timers. I'm just saying this so you don't get the wrong idea about me. I'm a baseline copy cat, a follower to the core. But I'm not ashamed, followings how we killed mammoth and got across the land bridge. Well, my people did anyway.

I'm planning to go to Heroes con in June, hope to see any of you there.

tugospel.com

Just got a new Tom Waits album, very exciting. Nothing scrapping vocals to back my late nights drawing clan members. Also I've just gotten into the Carolina Chocolate Drops, and all black jug band, I would suggest them.

I'm tearing through chapter 4 so you all can read it in a timely fashion. It's my favorite one so far mainly because it's economy. I'm not trying to juggle multiple stories at once. Also you get to see some characters as they were before Tug got to town. There's a twist on the last page that I'm especially proud of.

Chapter 5 is going to a lot of fun too. I won't say much only that I'm going to change gears a little. I'll be showing you how to "black cat" the boss and it will include the new character in page one and two of chapter 4.

Well that's all for now friends. I've got to strip some layers and get back to work. These days I'm down to a pair of drawers
the comic

gots some more oh that depression era
goodness.

sketching all sorts of stuff for a new project.