Wendy Whitesell

Benjamin Marra

Benjamin Marra

Hometown: Nyack, N.Y.

Occupation: Artist

How would you describe your look? Cool as Ice After Labor Day, or Hessian Headbanger (But You Probably Wouldn’t Know It).

Your Indie Rock Universe illustration recently ran alongside a Camel cigarettes ad in Rolling Stone, which ruffled some feathers. Do you get hate mail in lyrical form now? No comment.

Which prepared you more for your work as an artist: your former job as a Toys“R”Us cashier, or your former job as a park ranger’s assistant? Toys“R”Us cashier. It taught me Buddhist-monk-level patience. That in turn taught me to patiently deflect whatever doubt might creep into my mind when I’m working on making pictures.

What’s the subject of your upcoming comic book? Sex and violence exploitation, tough-guy urban street justice with a Reagan-‘80s aesthetic, hot exotic dancer girls with big hair-sprayed hair, underworld crime, narcotics abuse, fast cars, gruesome slasher horror, and general badassery. It’s called Night Business.

Three major artistic influences: Heavy Metal, ‘70s comic book artists, movie posters from Ghana.

Favorite object in your workspace: My table.

biopic

Rosecrans Baldwin co-founded TMN with publisher Andrew Womack in 1999. His latest book is Everything Now: Lessons From the City-State of Los Angeles. More information can be found at rosecransbaldwin.com. More by Rosecrans Baldwin

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