Passion – That’s what defined the experience of crafting Benjamin for two well-known creators, Ben H. Winters and Leomac.
This is the commitment and emotional resonance that defines and shapes this rather unique story, making its debut on June 18th from ONI Press. Most of Benjamin follows the surreal revival of fictional science fiction writer Benjamin J. Koi, who woke up in 2025 despite his death in 1982.
Over the course of the Issue 3 series, Benjamin J. Koi navigates futuristic Los Angeles, searching for answers as he forms friendships that may be the only hope of salvation.
Clearly, Metatinge, Winter and Leomac filled the book with deep humanity in the madness of metaphysics. But we’ll let the duo tell you everything about Benjamin’s really strange magic.
Provided by Oni Press.
The influence of Philip K. Dick
As Winters explains it, Benjamin is deeply influenced by the works of Philip K. Dick and other science fiction greats.
“Dick is clearly a fascinating character, but his delusions, his addiction, and especially the treatment of women, make him a hard guy to really admire him,” Winters said.
“I am most interested in his obsessive interest in the nature of human consciousness. What does it mean to be conscious, what is the relationship between memory, self-knowledge and “objective” reality? The basic core of this idea is that such writers are very interested in living, who died, and why did they live, and why?
It combines mystery, violence and friendship
Of course, balancing the various elements of the story – mystery, burgeoning friendships, even violent deaths, were not easy feats.
“I don’t know if balance tone is what you’re actually trying to do. You just tell the story, and the characters, their attitudes and their qualities blend into the tone,” Winters said. “Reomax’s extraordinary, loving, radially warm illustrations do a lot of tone work here.”
For Winters, one of the most enjoyable aspects of writing Benjamin was the evolving relationship between the man and Marcus who helps him navigate this strange new world.
“I’m extremely proud of that,” he said. “It’s difficult to write mystery. It’s difficult to write “impossible friendships.” ”
Provided by Oni Press.
Provided by Oni Press.
The joy of writing manga
This is Winters’ first full-length comic book project despite a wide range of prose and television backgrounds. He discovered that he was deeply satisfied with the transition to comics.
“God, I love it. I absolutely love it,” Winters said. “This is what happens in TV scripts that imagine a visual setup and put it on the page. And if you’re lucky, the studio promises to make things, commits to spending months or years, spending millions of dollars. Better than you could have imagined, and the boom is there.”
Leomac brings Benjamin to life
Leomax was drawn to the project on his side due to its rich emotional core. In a press release, Benjamin described it as hilarious and tragic, and the artist embraced the challenge of balancing them to an extreme extent.
“I really enjoy making character acts, and when you get a script that can show characters that different emotions, it’s a really fun process to write a story in all of that wild situations,” Leomax said.
He said, “My approach was to create characters that could carry this range. They have eyes and a habit. I think comic book characters can develop human emotions in a way that can have a big impact, both when they’re entertaining but tragically working on life.”
The story takes Koi across Los Angeles from Studio City to Venice Beach. Leomax captured its essence through a unique lens, despite having never visited the city in person.
“Ironically, I don’t think I’d ever visited LA,” he said. “You understand what LA is like from the sets of countless films and TV series there, but movies and TV always have filters, so you lock your settings into places that are widely known to everyone.
Loneliness and Connection Search
One of Benjamin’s main themes is loneliness, and winter is what is considered an increasingly related issue.
“Sadly, I don’t think there are many questions about people being more lonely than they used to,” he said. “The strangeness of the prolonged pandemic, political and cultural polarization, social media obsessions – it has atomized us, made us a questionable, batting down society. It’s sad. Now, my man Benjamin is lonely for a certain reason. Will one friend save him?”
Benjamin J. Koi of Benjamin
Ultimately, if Benjamin J. Koi himself reads Benjamin, Winters believes he is pleased with his own revival.
“He’s a towering narcissist, among other things, so I tickle pink to tell you what he’s being said,” Winters said. “I don’t know if he loves the ending or not, but we’ll have to watch it when we get there.”
An indie comic that will bending the mind you are watching
With a mix of heart-bending sci-fi, heartfelt character work and a keen investigation into modern segregation, Benjamin promises to become one of the more interesting indie comics of the year.
Winters and Leomacs have created stories that will make you think in the same way as visually surprising. And as Benjamin J. Koi’s mystery unfolds, readers are convinced that together with him they question their reality. We can only hope for.
