It's A Vibe: The Comics Of Benji Nate

The key to understanding Benji Nate's intentions as a cartoonist can be found in the introduction to her minicomic Cold Soda #1 (the older one, published by Milk Money Books). It said "Cold Soda is where I dump everything I've been working on including the adventures of a group of friends who do stuff, another group of friends who also do stuff, and of course, Spacedog." Most of her comics can be reduced to "a group of friends who do stuff" with the optional proviso of "and sometimes in a horror setting." Her friend group comics tend to be gag-oriented and highly episodic, with only the occasional strands of a larger narrative. This is especially true of her most popular comic, Girl Juice (Drawn & Quarterly), which was a big success on Instagram and isn't the first time D&Q has published this sort of comic (Aminder Dhaliwal comes to mind). With plot usually being an important part of horror, those comics are more narrative-oriented, even if the vibe of the characters remains exactly the same. 

Indeed, the vibe is exactly what Nate is going for here. The vibe is not a naturalistic one, though Nate is skilled at delivering meaningful dialogue. Instead, everything about Nate's comics is highly stylized and leans heavily into shoujo-style character design and energy. Even in quiet moments, they have a frenetic quality, as every moment tends to be invested with drama (real or imaginary). Cute horror is a mainstay of Silver Sprocket, which is why her books like Hell Phone and Lorna are such a snug fit there. However, a running theme of Nate's work is that they talk about horrific acts or being big sluts, but Nate tends to only want to talk about and around without actually digging into anything. Not that the comics specifically need grisly violence or tons of sex and nudity, but in thinking about a comparable work like Elizabeth Pich's Fungirl, Nate's overuse of restraint adds up to a lot of telling and not enough showing in the storytelling. Taking things a little further (especially in Girl Juice) would have made these comics funnier and/or scarier. 

At the same time, this use of restraint could have been perfectly effective if Nate went a little deeper into her characters. Bunny in Girl Juice is such an overwhelming presence that she borders on caricature, and her roommates feel underwritten at times as a result. The relationship between Sadie and Tula begs for more air time, and Nana's bizarre arc (a cartoonist who is sexually attracted to clowns) is more interesting than Bunny's self-involvement. Of course, Bunny's narcissism is a feature, not a bug, and her ridiculous excesses are the whole point of the appeal. It's just that without some kind of narrative tether, the act gets repetitive. 

Speaking of a narrative tether, Hell Phone (Book One) might be Nate's most effective comic. It introduces us to two best friends (Mona and Sissy) who go on a supernatural odyssey when Sissy discovers a ringing flip phone. The voice on the phone instructs them to go to a particular address, where they discover a dead body killed in some kind of ritual. When they call the cops, they don't find a body and the phone they have isn't activated. That leads them on an increasingly bizarre series of tasks as Nate slowly reveals details about her protagonists. When all of this connects to their friend Trent, the questions that are answered only lead to more questions. The story is contrasted by the ultra-cute character design and bright use of color. 

Lorna is another collection of comics from Webtoon, about a comically murderous young girl. Once again, the contrast of super-cute character design and hints at grisly murder is the attraction, but this is another comic where the gags get repetitive. Halfway through, one could sense Nate getting restless with the premise and crafted a story called "Lorna's First Date," which established her friend group and had a story with an actual plot. The only problem is that Lorna was such a one-note joke character that it felt a little dissonant to attempt to add depth to her. 

The same was true in Girl Juice, where after over a hundred pages of Bunny demanding attention for herself and/or her dog Britney, it suddenly transitions into a sixty-page story called "Tallulah's Demon." It involves youtuber Tula (Tallulah) being haunted by a demonic presence while streaming. It goes to some pretty ridiculous if predictable places, as she becomes possessed by a demon and a priest is called in. Here, Bunny's ridiculous self-absorption has a real target to play against, like referring to the hot priest as "Father Daddy." It doesn't quite come together, but it has the same kind of page-turning quality that made Hell Phone such an enjoyable read. It is funny that Lorna, the horror comic, drifted toward a relationship story at the end, while Girl Juice, a "Sex And The City"-coded comic, drifted toward horror. It reflects how Nate is betwixt and between at this point in her career, but it seems like the eventual answer will be combining the two in a coherent narrative that doesn't lose her sense of humor, charm, and keen understanding of character dynamics, especially for her characters who are women.