If legendary sci-fi author Philip K. Dick were brought back to life in the 21st century, it would feel something like the premise of Benjamin, a gripping new mystery series from Oni Press. This three-issue prestige-format comic follows the story of Benjamin J. Carp, a writer who dies in 1982 but mysteriously reawakens in 2025 with no memory of how he returned.
IGN is proud to bring you an exclusive preview of Benjamin #1. Take a closer look in the image gallery below, but keep in mind—there’s some NSFW language ahead.
Benjamin #1: Exclusive Comic Book Preview Gallery
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Benjamin marks the full-length comic writing debut of Ben H. Winters, acclaimed author of the Last Policeman Trilogy and creator of the CBS series Tracker. The series features artwork by Leomacs (EC’s Epitaphs from the Abyss, Basketful of Heads), with cover art by Leomacs, Christian Ward, and Malachi Ward.
Here’s how Oni Press describes Benjamin:
More than just a writer, more than just a science-fiction icon, Benjamin J. Carp was a cultural revolutionary. Over the course of 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 challenged readers' perceptions 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 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 yet: himself.
"So, first of all, just because Benjamin is about a guy named Benjamin and it's written by a guy named Benjamin, does not mean it's autobiographical! Just because the hero is a cranky middle-aged science-fiction writer trying desperately to figure out life's purpose while he wanders around Los Angeles, and I'm—oh, wait. S\*\*\*," Winters tells IGN. "The joy of writing Benjamin was in finding ways to take the most serious possible subject—you know, death and the fact that we all die and all that fun stuff—and make it into a joyous, goofy adventure, about a middle-aged dude who died and now is back, and is trying to figure out why. And how. And what to do now."Winters continues, "I've always loved stories that have a bit of a wink to them, a bit of top spin. So a story about a sci-fi writer who may or may not be trapped inside one of his own stories—and by the way written by ANOTHER sci-fi writer—and trying to figure out how to get out...it's a very fun and crafty story that at the same time is pushing at the big questions that define our lives. Also there's a dog in it! A cute, loving dog named Strawman. Honestly, I don't know what else you could want."
Benjamin #1 will hit shelves on June 18, 2025. You can also check out the animated trailer for Benjamin.
In other comic book news, DC Comics and Ghost Machine are set for their first crossover (sort of), and the 2025 Eisner Award nominees have been announced.
