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Snake Pit Gets Old: Daily Diary Comics 2010-2012
Ben Snakepit returns with an all-new book of daily diary comics, continuing to draw years of his life, day-by-day in three panel comic format. Not knowing what the future will hold and no matter how mundane each appears at the time, an apparent narrative always begins to emerge in Ben's life as characters re-appear and interact with him at "Some Shitty Job," at the local tacqueria, or at home. As the title implies, Ben transitions from the pants-pooping idiocy of youth to the dark, sobering responsibilites of adulthood. Read along in amazement as he quits his bands, gets a real job, has a kidney stone removed and much much more. A truly existential text that can be 18+ fun for the whole family!
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
288 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2013
3 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Ben Snakepit
27 books24 followersBen is best known as the creator of Snakepit zine. Snakepit is a comic zine that features a three panel comic about each day of Ben's life. In interviews Ben has cited Jim's Journal by Scott Dikkers, a comic that appeared in The Onion, as his initial inspiration, although Dikker's comic was fictional, while Ben's is factual. Some issues of Snakepit have appeared as a split with zines such as Clutch, Tight Pants, Amazing Adult Fantasy and Gullible. Contributors to Snakepit have included Janelle Hessig of Tales Of Blarg. The zine was published quarterly until 2006.
In addition, Ben released the zine in one-year anthologies from 2001 to 2004. Snakepit was first published in book form by Gorsky Press in 2004. Entitled The Snake Pit Book, it featuring three years of Ben Snakepit's comic life, with a foreword by Aaron Cometbus. A second book of Snakepit comics, My Life In A Jugular Vein, published by Young American Comics, appeared in 2007. After the release of this book, Ben decided to return to the one-year anthology format with the release of Snakepit 2007 in spring of 2008, and subsequently Snakepit 2008 is anticipated in 2009.
Ben has released two one shot zines, Pills and Going To California.
Ben's work has also appeared in zines such as Capitol City 'Zine Compilation and Twenty-Four Hours and he has been interviewed in zines such as Comixville. As well, he writes a regular column for Razorcake zine.
Ben Snakepit is also a musician and has played with a number of bands including J Church. In 2006, J Church released a split single with the band Off With Their Heads, of which zinester Nate Gangelhoff is a member.
In addition, Ben released the zine in one-year anthologies from 2001 to 2004. Snakepit was first published in book form by Gorsky Press in 2004. Entitled The Snake Pit Book, it featuring three years of Ben Snakepit's comic life, with a foreword by Aaron Cometbus. A second book of Snakepit comics, My Life In A Jugular Vein, published by Young American Comics, appeared in 2007. After the release of this book, Ben decided to return to the one-year anthology format with the release of Snakepit 2007 in spring of 2008, and subsequently Snakepit 2008 is anticipated in 2009.
Ben has released two one shot zines, Pills and Going To California.
Ben's work has also appeared in zines such as Capitol City 'Zine Compilation and Twenty-Four Hours and he has been interviewed in zines such as Comixville. As well, he writes a regular column for Razorcake zine.
Ben Snakepit is also a musician and has played with a number of bands including J Church. In 2006, J Church released a split single with the band Off With Their Heads, of which zinester Nate Gangelhoff is a member.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 24, 2013
I love it! My 12-year-old son loves it! My much more critical of the scene husband is on the verge of loving it.
His drawings of himself at work never fail to crack me up.
His wife, Karen is a lucky lady to have a husband so tender and appreciative in his depictions of her.
What an achievement this is - to set down some of the minutae of daily living, punctuated now and then with a big newsday, sometimes personal, sometimes global. Go back to the beginning of this long running project. It's mesmerizing.
Ben is also a poster child for how to be funny and self-effacing in the realm of autobiography. He's turns out to be a really reliable everyman. You'll want to eat where he eats. You'll be glad his hangovers aren't yours (unless they are, in which case, my condolences.)
I'm so glad he decided to NOT pull the plug on this project as he was threatening to for a while there. I can't wait to see where the story goes, even if it doesn't go much of anywhere.
His drawings of himself at work never fail to crack me up.
His wife, Karen is a lucky lady to have a husband so tender and appreciative in his depictions of her.
What an achievement this is - to set down some of the minutae of daily living, punctuated now and then with a big newsday, sometimes personal, sometimes global. Go back to the beginning of this long running project. It's mesmerizing.
Ben is also a poster child for how to be funny and self-effacing in the realm of autobiography. He's turns out to be a really reliable everyman. You'll want to eat where he eats. You'll be glad his hangovers aren't yours (unless they are, in which case, my condolences.)
I'm so glad he decided to NOT pull the plug on this project as he was threatening to for a while there. I can't wait to see where the story goes, even if it doesn't go much of anywhere.
April 18, 2013
Ben Snakepit has been drawing daily diary comics since the year 2000. He attempted to quit drawing them in 2010, but was unable. Old habits die hard, and in this case I'm glad that's true.
It's fascinating (to me, anyway) to observe a person's life unfold in three panels a day. Reading just one day's diary would, for the most part, not be particularly compelling, but when you delve into years and years worth a rhythm emerges punctuated by the occasional "big event".
When I lived in the same cities (first Richmond, VA, then Austin, TX) as Ben, I would read to see if I made it into the comic. Now that I live across the country, I use his diaries to check in and catch up with my old pal.
It's fascinating (to me, anyway) to observe a person's life unfold in three panels a day. Reading just one day's diary would, for the most part, not be particularly compelling, but when you delve into years and years worth a rhythm emerges punctuated by the occasional "big event".
When I lived in the same cities (first Richmond, VA, then Austin, TX) as Ben, I would read to see if I made it into the comic. Now that I live across the country, I use his diaries to check in and catch up with my old pal.
Read
October 30, 2017always good and worth the read.
March 19, 2014
Augh I fucking love you Snakepit. Not you, personally, as a human being, although I like you a lot. But I love this comic because of a lot of things. First of all, I just like the flow of it -- work, video games, movies, pizzas, dog-walking, girlfriend-hugging, band practice. Life is what it is. Frustrating and great and stupid and then great again, both utterly predictable and completely important and unpredictable in the day to day movement of it. Secondly, of course, I'm thrilled that I read it, and I was kind of putting off reading it, because it's a slice of life in Austin. WHERE I LIVE NOW. When I realized he was going to a bar that's like two blocks from my house all the time I was all aw hell, I gotta get to that bar. And I did, and it was great, and they have good trivia, and cheapish fancy beer, and a lot of hamburgers I want to taste. Also, I was reading it during SXSW and enjoying his complaints about SXSW that I was also kind of having. Finally, of course, it makes me want to get back to drawing my comic, and reminding me that whatever I do is gonna be good enough and probably a little bit hilarious and amusing because life is those things for most people at some point! Which I haven't done in like 8 months! What's up with that? DRAW, ME. Draw.
And also P.S. I like the growing-up-ness of this, especially the SPOILER ALERT marriage thing. And dog-walking. And going to HEB. Aww, adulthood.
And also P.S. I like the growing-up-ness of this, especially the SPOILER ALERT marriage thing. And dog-walking. And going to HEB. Aww, adulthood.
July 26, 2023
My first Snakepit experience! I’m not a huge comic person, and reading daily diary comics can be a bit tedious, but after awhile it starts to feel validating. I’m a similar age to the author when he drew these, and I found it pretty relatable. Life can be wonderful, unpredictable, and incredibly boring. We’re all just trying to get by.
June 2, 2020
I have enjoyed the strange sensation of flying through a person's life when I read these journal comics. This one was great. I love how a life is little pieces, some times mentioned, sometimes glossed over.
September 1, 2013
While I did find this entertaining, it also served to highlight how difficult it is for people to change. Ben's refrains seem to be that he's getting fat and tired, and yet he continues to drink constantly and eat a bunch of crappy food. And don't even get me started on the hangovers!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews