Time, I think, to blow the trumpet for the man behind a lot of Black Tower comic strips but also the man behind Come On! Comic published by his Penguin Flight Osaka.
Ben R. Dilworth is a vastly under-rated comics genius and here is why.
Now the man inked over my pencils "in the day" (which is what we call the period 1986-1990) on strips such as Liz & Jen: Coming Out and D-Gruppe: Revenge of the Ice Queen.
He was also self-publishing Small Press comics under his Penguinflight banner and seemed to be contributing to every small press comic going -Bum Comic, Creepy Crawlies, Zine Ager, Hardware -it is a bloody long list and the legendary Picasso Cafe must never be forgotten!
Neither do I forget Dilworth stapling Black Tower Adventure issues across his knee at the old Bath marts. Nor the experimental acetate, spray-painted covers for Previews Comic or a dozen other mad things.
We ought to, really, forget the most famous and now nearly lost legendary visit of Dilworth and Andrew Hope (who recently worked for Marvel Comics) to Bristol.
The drunken outrages committed -including throwing up over the window of comic shop, Forever People, or the very long discussion between the two on the movie A Company of Wolves which kind of resulted in the 0300 hours incident of me wielding a bread-knife......yeah, let's forget that.
Anyhow, The Tall Man wrote and drew for comics such as Spider Baby Grafix's Taboo, Eternity Comics Killing Stroke and Trident Comics (PLEASE no one mention Trident to Paul Ashley Brown!!) The Shadowmen written by some Scots bloke...uh, Mark Millar.
He can also claim to be, as the artist, co-creator of Pete Wisdom, initially created by Warren Ellis and drawn by Ben , in a pitch for "Electric Angel" for publisher Trident Comics.
Didn't know all that did you?
Here are some of his credits from a data base I just stumbled across athttp://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID=8028
Writer:
Killing Stroke (1991)
Penciller: Killing Stroke (1991) The Shadowmen (1990) Taboo (1988) Inker: Gore Shriek (1986) Gore Shriek (1990) Killing Stroke (1991) The Shadowmen (1990) Shriek (1989) Taboo (1988) Trident (1989) Letterer: Gore Shriek (1990) Killing Stroke (1991)
And over recent years The Tall One has had work published by Black Tower -including his Award winning Haiku (in English), Aesop's Fables, Purple Hood, Runestone, Chronos:The Watchman -and much, much more that has ensured Black Tower titles such as Adventure were able to carry on after a rough patch.
The man is a fecking comic book genius. WFT is he not working full time in comics and getting paid??!
Calming down a bit....deep breath. Seriously, check out the Black Tower lulu.com store front and you'll find Dilworth work. Maybe one day he'll get a creator byline for Pete Wisdom, hmm?
You wait, I'll make him famous yet. Poor but famous!
And I went and forgot Loaded number 1 from 1991 in which I wrote and pencilled Graveyard and Dilworth inked and lettered!
Then we have Dilworth's solo work which looks a lot better than when he inks my turgid pencils (and that is NOT false modesty).
The Collected Ben R. Dilworth:
A4
Illustrated prose/Haiku
84 pages
paperback
Price: £6.00
Ships in 3–5 business days
Collecting together the best selling illustrated prose of Ben R. Dilworth.
In Osaka Brutal, the Haiku Gold Belt holder presents his own personal Haiku beating the ear drums like a Taiko ensemble!
In Aesop's Fables the childhood favourites become rather darker and threatening. Originally intended for his own daughter, Dilworth had second thoughts because of the darker stories. You never heard these fables at Sunday School!
In Western Yokai and Japanese Yokai, Dilworth looks at a mixture of strange, sinister and deadly demons and spirits both friendly, hostile and indifferent -each story is illustrated by Dilworth and, boy, are there some eye-poppers!
The Yokai books are amongst my favourites and I still think are full of material for ghost/horror comics -it's a pity the Japanese are such isolationists with comics ("It ain't Manga it ain't worth a kuso!") but what can you do about it?
With Osaka Brutal -one read and I was making up what I like to call "Bristol Haiku" (about 99% of it unprintable)..
And can you go wrong with a dark version of Aesop's Fables? Scare the crap out of the little 'uns!
He may well be a recognised comic book genius but Ben, R. Dilworth has a softer (yeah, right) prose side.
Money from every sale goes towards the Ben R. Dilworth anti-hay fever treatment fund. A worthy cause.
-Silvermaigne:Knight Ghoul Hunter
Paperback,
A4
Black & White
42 Pages
Price: £7.00
Ships in 3–5 business days
The Silvermaigne line is said to go back to the time of the Ancient Britons.
Silvermaignes ancestors were part of a druidic clan based in the great forest that is today known as Leigh Woods, overlooking the River Severn entering (today) Bristol. All the members of the tribe had white hair from birth and they were known as the mwng arian (Silver Manes).
Even the druids bowed to their knowledge of demons, spirits and things of the darkness.
But at a point several centuries ago the family split and took two paths -one embraced magik for its own fight against evil. The other renounced the use of personal magik so as not to become tainted and seduced by it.
For the first time Ben Dilworth looks at the latter branch of the Silvermaigne family and what one of them endures to keep the fight Holy!
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So, one day Ben R. Dilworth will be recognised for his work, From myself I'd like to offer him a big THANK YOU.
__________________________________________________________
So, one day Ben R. Dilworth will be recognised for his work, From myself I'd like to offer him a big THANK YOU.
Thanks for the shout out. I needed a cheer up as 2 banks said 'No' because I need (and can't get ) a sponsor. Back to talking to Kisako. I live in hope. Oh - I just slapped together a small comic. I'll send it on next week. Take care and have fun - don't let the buggers grind you down.
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