Benjamin #1

by Ben H. Winters, Leomacs (Artist)

IN ONE L.A. MOTEL ROOM, A COSMIC QUEST IS ABOUT BEGIN. . . . Edgar Award nominee and Philip K. Dick Award–winner Ben H. Winters (EC’s Cruel Universe, The Last Policeman Trilogy) and rising star Leomacs (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss, Refrigerator Full of Heads) unravel a three-part, prestige format series exploring the hallucinatory second life of a brilliant author who imagined our desperate future but never imagined he’d become part of it . . . More than just a writer, more than just a science-fiction icon, Benjamin J. Carp was a cultural revolutionary. Across 44 novels and hundreds of short stories—including the counterculture classic The Man They Couldn’t Erase—Carp pushed the boundaries of literary respectability for the sci-fi genre and his readers’ perception of reality itself . . . until decades of amphetamine abuse and Southern California excess finally ended a mind-bending career that always just escaped mainstream success. He died in 1982. Until 2025 . . . when Benjamin J. Carp awakens, alive, in a burned-out motel on the fringes of Los Angeles. He remembers dying. He knows he shouldn’t exist. Is he a dream? A robot? A ghost? A clone? A simulation? In his own time, Carp pondered all of these scenarios intensely through his fiction—and, now, as he treks from Studio City to Venice Beach and onward into the paranoid sprawl of 21st-century Los Angeles, he will be called to investigate his greatest mystery himself. In the tradition of Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly and Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice comes a uniquely fascinating and hilariously deranged excursion into the metatextual nexus where existence and oblivion, past and future, genius and madness, and glitter and grim reality all meet just beyond Hollywood Boulevard . . .

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 18, 2025

About the author

Ben H. Winters is the author most recently of the novel The Quiet Boy (Mulholland/Little, Brown, 2021). He is also the author of the novel Golden State; the New York Times bestselling Underground Airlines; The Last Policeman and its two sequels; the horror novel Bedbugs; and several works for young readers. His first novel, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, was also a Times bestseller. Ben has won the Edgar Award for mystery writing, the Philip K. Dick award in science fiction, the Sidewise Award for alternate history, and France’s Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire.

Ben also writes for film and television. He is the creator and co-showrunner of Tracker, forthcoming on CBS. Previously he was a producer on the FX show Legion, and on the upcoming Apple TV+ drama Manhunt.

He has contributed short stories to many anthologies, as well as in magazines such as Lightspeed. He is the author of four “Audible Originals”– Stranger, Inside Jobs, Q&A, and Self Help — and several plays and musicals. His reviews appear frequently in the New York Times Book Review. Ben was born in Washington, D.C., grew up in Maryland, educated in St. Louis, and then grew up a bunch more, in various ways, in places like Chicago, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Indianapolis, IN. These days he lives in LA with his wife, three kids, and one large dog.

Reviews

[Suwitcha Chandhorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin follows the story of a renowned science fiction author who, long after his death, mysteriously wakes up in a hotel. As he embarks on a quest to uncover the meaning behind his resurrection with the help of a hotel staff member named Marcus, the story unfolds into something truly unique. I won't delve too deep into the plot because the concept is so mind-bending and surreal that it’s best experienced firsthand.

What hooked me immediately was the originality of the premise. It kept me constantly guessing where the story was headed. Beyond the writing, the artwork is absolutely stunning. The colors are vibrant and bold, with surrealist visuals that are a feast for the eyes. I honestly found myself getting lost in the illustrations alone.

I originally picked this up because I’m a fan of The Last Policeman, but I walked away completely captivated by the graphic storytelling and art style. A highly recommended read for anyone looking for something out of the ordinary!

Special thanks to #NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Alberto Martín de Hijas · Rating 4 out of 5]

El escritor de ciencia ficción que da título al tebeo (Un trasunto de Philip K. Dick) aparece de repente en 2025, años después de su muerte y tiene que resolver el misterio de su situación. La idea es muy buena y tiene el punto de irrealidad que tenían las obras de Dick. A ver como evoluciona en las siguientes partes.

[Opal Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cult Sci-Fi writer wakes in a motel room, years after having died... and off we go trying to figure out why this is happening inside his own half-forgotten books.

I'm not sure if this is a one-shot or the beginning of a series. Truthfully, it could be both.
I mean, there is a proper ending to the story, which is a pretty neat one, but it just stopped a little too abruptly after that twist, giving us too little view into what it could roll into, feeling unsatisfying.
And if it is a series... it lacks a little bit of a "why". While there is some good ideas, there isn't much urgency in the book at all, so you kind of wonder what's to keep them going? And why should you care to follow?
I wouldn't pick up a second volume. Even if I really liked Marcus, the insta-friend of our dead writer. But I have a feeling like I'm not the right audience for this comic, a bit like when I watched "Everything Everywhere All at Once". I just didn't get what was so revolutionary and mind bending, I just see glamed-up-retro with a gloss of 101 philosophy...

That said, it's a smooth, fast read, that reminded me a little of Frogcatchers by Jeff Lemire but happier feels.
Very pretty colours and a fantastic movement in the illustrations: you could just see the dog jumping happily around the pages.

[Christian · Rating 1 out of 5]

An autistic writer, that thinks he is funny, wakes up in a motel. He doesn’t know where he is or why he is there.

The art is well made but the subject matter is surprisingly boring given the premise. It’s mostly people talking, while walking or sitting.
The characters are boring and cringe, and nothing at all happens. They spend the time talking. Trying to establish the main character as quirky and funny seems to be the main objective. When that fails there is nothing left