Al Benbow

UPDATE: This is available on my etsy as a zine and as a digital download! I presented this comic about going outside with @coyotesnout at the 2025 Lesbian Lives Conference in NYC this past weekend :,) I’m honored to have been able to speak alongside hundreds of other lesbian academics, artists, and speakers. Let’s go lesbians!!!!!!!! IMAGE ID Six page comic with black linear and blue watercolor wash that’s split up into 20 slides. Slide 1 depicts a rural road that goes past a field and a mountain. The title of the comic sits in the sky and reads, “Rural butch brotherhood” (Al Benbow). Slide 2 contains 3 panels of a hand with long, painted nails turning a key in a lock. The person holding the key says, “The lock on the men’s is broken, so you’ll have to use the ladies. Sorry.” Panel 4 is split over the next two slides, and contains a long shot of three people standing inside of a sub restaurant. The person unlocking the restroom door has light skin and long, mid-toned hair. She is wearing a black t-shirt and pants. Two other people wait for the restroom. They both have light skin and short, dark hair. Lane is wearing glasses, a ball cap, a fleece, and pants, and is holding two wrapped sandwiches. Al is wearing a ball cap, hoodie, and pants. They say, “Oh, um –“ Slide 5 contains two panels. Al and Lane both stand with neutral expressions. Al says, “That’s okay.” The caption reads, “I do not look at lane, because I already know we’re thinking the same thing.” Slide 6. Al enters the bathroom and says, “thank you.” The caption reads, “This moment is familiar to both of us;” The caption continues in the two panels on slide 7: “the moment when a stranger unconsciously reveals how they’ve been perceiving you for the past two, ten, sometimes thirty or more minutes.” Behind the caption, Lane sits down at a table and sets down two wrapped subs. Slide 8. Al and Lane leave the restaurant. Lane waves and says, “Thank you!” The caption reads, “I do not say that if both bathrooms had been unlocked, and I had been alone in the building,” Slides 9 and 10. A pickup truck drives down a country road beneath the caption, “I would have chosen the women’s.” (Continued in comments)

Frog life cycles are one of my favorite examples of radical transformation in nature… I like to think I’m like one of those weird little froglets who has a foot in both worlds : ) 🐸⚧️ Stickers / t-shirts of this design are up on my etsy / bonfire! ID Three color variations of a drawing of a frog life cycle surrounding a star that contains the text “Magic is real!”. The first slide has a green background, the second has an orange one, and the third has a blue one. The final slide is a photo of the green version of the design on a circular sticker.

A very happy lesbian visibility week to all 😎 🩷🤍🧡 I’m often saying the my gender is best described as “butch” so I thought I’d make a zine about it. Physical copies are up on my Etsy in a bunch of different colors if you want one! ID (1/2) Page 1 of a 15 page zine illustrated with black linear and light shading on an orange background. The title “Things That Give Me Butch Gender Euphoria” is centered and surrounded by various items, such as boots, snakes, bugs, hair clippers, a lighter, a leaf, scissors, and a carabiner. Page 2. Text “Starting a campfire on the first go” next to a hand lighting a fire. Page 3. Text “Catching frogs and snakes” next to a hand holding a froglet. Page 4. Text “Carrying heavy things” next to hands carrying a large moving box with an “up” arrow on the side. Page 5. Text :Repairing my clothes” next to a hand darning a sock. Page 6. Text “Helping old ladies with their bags” next to hands pulling a suitcase down from an overhead bin on an airplane. A shaken speech bubble coming from an old lady off-panel says “What a nice young man…” Page 7. Text “My femme calling me handsome” next to a hand with long, painted nails resting on the chest of a butch who is wearing a button-up shirt and jacket. “Handsome” is in a speech bubble coming from a femme off-panel, and is written in a script style font.

Artwork from a zine I’ll be selling at @lunamothzinefest in Manchester, NH on Saturday!!!! Come check it out if you’re in the area : ) Swipe to the end to see the foldout poster on the back 😼 ID Artwork from an 8 page zine consisting of black line art on a yellow background. Slide 1 contains the text “To all the cats I’ve loved before” around a curled up cat. Slide 2 is titled “Orange”. Bullet points below read, “Originally neighbor’s farm cat (they said we could have him because he “didn’t like” them”, and “we thought he was a girl for a while”. Below the text is an illustration of a sleeping cat curled into a loose ball. An arrow next to it points to a doodle of an orange (the fruit). Slide 3 is titled “Izzy”. Bullet points below read, “Meowed at the front door until let in”, “probs from a box of kittens dumped nearby”, and “viper bites when he’s irritated”. Below, a cat with black and white markings and big, cute eyes meows. A caption next to him reads “deceptively cute…”. Slide 4 is titled “Miss Baby”. Bullet points below read, “Has Knowing Eyes”, “easily annoyed”, and “surprisingly sweet if you earn her trust”. Below, a black cat sits up straight, looking at the viewer with Knowing Eyes. A caption next to her points to the next slide and reads, “Also, bullies Grill”. Slide 5 is titled “Grill(ed) (Cheese)”. Bullet points below read “Head empty, no thoughts”, “Extremely interested in Mirror Cat”, “Barfs when nervous”, and “Looks like she’s been toasted”. Below, a torti cat presses her paws up against a mirror, looking at her reflection. Slide 6 is titled “MILLIE!”. Bullet points below read “first cat who’s been mine (rather than family / roommate’s)”, “was a teen mom before we adopted her”, “EXTREMELY friendly, greets strangers at the door”, “turns evil when she gets wet food”, and “snugglebug”. Below, a tabby lounges on her back, looking at the viewer. Slide 7 just contains a drawing of Millie sitting up and looking down upon the viewer with an evil glint in her eye. Two thought bubbles of hers read, “I know you have more wet food… and I demand you give it to me…”

This is an excerpt from my comic in Power and Magic Press’s new anthology HOW TO TOUCH GRASS! If you want to read the rest, head over to @powerandmagicpress ’s and click the link in their bio to help fund the kickstarter. It recently relaunched with a bunch of new perks, including a (cheaper) digital version of the collection, grass-themed merch, access to creator Q&As, and a bunch of other stuff. Help make this thing happen!! ID (1/3) Excerpt of an 8 page comic titled “You Get What You Need”. Slide 1 contains two panels. In panel one, a person with short, dark hair looks at a laptop. The caption reads, “In March of 2024, I got laid off.” Someone in the laptop says, “Hey, Al.” Panel 2 shows the laptop screen. Two people (aside from Al) are on the call. One of asks shakily, “How’s your day going?” An arrow next to a caption that reads “(HR rep)” points to the other. Slide 2. Al looks down at the laptop and answers, “I have a feeling it’s about to get worse”. The person in the computer replies, “Yep.” The caption reads, “I’d been working full-time as a graphic designer for an advertising agency for a little under two years.” Slide 3. The caption reads, “The advertising world tends to move fast. My days went from being so busy that I often didn’t have time to eat lunch…” Below, Al frantically works on a laptop as countless notifications put out of it. Slide 4 contains 3 panels. In panel 1, Al kisses their partner goodbye. They say, “Have a good day at work, my honey.” Panel 2. Al shuts the door and waves while saying, “Bye.” Panel 3. The caption continues, “…to suddenly being completely empty.” Al stands alone in their living room with a blank expression. They think, “Now what?”. Slide 5. Al walks past a budding tree while thinking, “Feels weird to be outside at 2pm”. The caption reads, “In my first two weeks of unemployment, I probably took more walks”. Slide 6. The caption continues under a shot of Al cooking food over the stove: “and spent more time cooking real food for myself”. Slide 7-8. Al sits at the kitchen table and eats lunch while thinking, “Feels nice not to eat at my desk”. The caption concludes, “than I had in the previous two months”.

#hourlycomicday part 3 (featuring an artist talk with @_leelai hosted by @crucialcomix )

#hourlycomicday part 2!

#hourlycomicday part 1

Now is a great time to take action if you haven’t already (better late than never). I created this comic as part of the #iceoutcomics campaign started by Minneapolis cartoonists. #iceoutmpls #iceoutboston ID Four panel comic shaded with light and dark blues. Panel 1 contains a crowd of protestors holding signs that say “Stop ICE terror now”, “We protect us”, and “Abolish ICE!”. The caption reads, “I think about ICE every day. I think about my friend who was deported months ago.” Panel 2 contains a close-up of a sign that says “ICE KILLS GOOD”. The caption reads, “I hate that he was removed from the only country he’s ever known. But I’m grateful that at least I know he’s alive and safe.” Panel 3 contains a close-up of people in the crowd, all of whom are wearing face masks. A person with light skin and short, dark hair looks up and studies the sky. The caption reads, “I think about the people I know who remain silent, in the face of everything. Who are still so sure, when they watch a movie set in 1940s Germany or the 1960s American South, that they would be the good guys.” Panel 4 contains a helicopter up in the sky, circling the protestors. The caption reads, “I stave off feelings of despair by reminding myself: that is what they want us to feel.”

Not pictured: almost 200 pages of sketches for my graphic novel about top surgery (‼️) and a bunch of short comics that will be coming out with smaller presses. I’VE BEEN BUSY! ID Collage of a photo of Al surrounded by various comics and artworks they made (and posted) throughout the year.

I wrote this comic almost a year ago now, and unfortunately, it continues to be relevant. ID Comic made of four square panels. Panel 1 opens with the caption, “At 11pm on Christmas Eve, I was in church with my parents and siblings”. Below it, a preacher stands at a pulpit. He says, “And when Jesus does return, we’ll be ready”. Panel 2 contains a shot of three people sitting next to each other in a pew. They all have light skin and dark hair, and are wearing formal clothes. Above them is the caption, “All I could think of was Gaza, which went unmentioned”. The person sitting in the center of the pew, who has short hair, freckles, and is wearing a button-up, thinks, “If He was born today, He would be bombed, or starved, or shot in the street with guns supplied by the U.S.”. Panel 3 contains a tapestry that depicts a stylized dove holding an olive branch. The caption reads, “All I could feel was grief, and anger”. Panel 4 shows a cross centered on the wall above the pulpit. The caption reads, “Tight in my chest, and hot in my throat.” Off panel, the preacher says, “Let us pray…”

New stickers that I brought to @massmice with me this past weekend : ) they’re now up on my etsy and shirts are on bonfire! Using @florence audio because I’m obsessed with her most recent album ID Drawing of a monarch butterfly and caterpillar on either side of a green chrysalis. Around them is the text, “it’s never too late to change”.