Ben Passmore
Ben Passmore (born 1983) is an American comics artist and political cartoonist.
Ben Passmore
Small Press Expo · Small Press Expo (SPX): 2019 Panel - Image, Activism and Autobiography · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1983
- Birthplace
- Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Awards
- Ignatz Award, 2017 Eisner Award, 2021
- Occupation
- comics artist · illustrator · cartoonist
- Education
- Savannah College of Art and Design
- Honours
- Ignatz Award
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Ben Passmore (born 1983) is an American comics artist and political cartoonist.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Ben Passmore. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q67203165 · wikipedia · Ben Passmore
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 1983 • Birthplace — Great Barrington, Massachusetts, U.S. • Art — y • Cartoonist — y • Notable Works — Your Black Friend • Awards — Ignatz Award, 2017 Eisner Award, 2021
Early life
Early life
Born and raised in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Passmore attended art school at Savannah College of Art and Design where he majored in comics with a minor in illustration.
Career
Career
Passmore's works, ranging from the fantastical to the autobiographical, contain social commentary on politics, activism, white supremacy, the United States, sports, and the experience of black Americans. He was a frequent contributor to the comics publication The Nib. His book Your Black Friend was originally self-published in 2016 and then reissued by Silver Sprocket in 2018. The book is a collection of short vignettes offering the experiences of a black man in a world of white people. Your Black Friend was inspired by Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon's 1952 book about the impacts of racism. The book has been compared to the Jimbo comic strip by Gary Panter. Passmore's book won the 2017 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic, received an Eisner Award nomination that year for Best Single-Issue, and was featured on NPR's list of 100 favorite comics and graphic novels. The work has been adapted into a short animated film.
Identity
Identity
Ben Passmore is recorded with the occupation comics artist. Recorded with the occupation illustrator. Recorded with the occupation cartoonist. Recorded as comics artist, illustrator and cartoonist.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1983
Ben Passmore was born on 1 January 1983.
Publications
• Your Black Friend (self-published, 2016; reissued by Silver Sprocket, 2018) • DAYGLOAYHOLE was written while Passmore lived in New Orleans. It is a quarterly webcomics series published in 2017 and 2018 by Silver Sprocket Bicycle Club. It follows two characters, including Passmore as himself, wandering around a post-apocalyptic New Orleans. It was nominated for an Ignatz Award for Outstanding Series in 2019. • BTTM FDRS, published with Ezra Claytan Daniels in February 2019 by Fantagraphics Books. The publisher describes the book as an "Afrofuturist horror-comedy about gentrification, hip hop, and cultural appropriation." It was named one of the best books of 2019 by Hyperallergic magazine, the Chicago Public Library, and the New York Public Library, and was nominated for both Eisner and Harvey awards. It's currently in development as a feature film. • Sports is Hell, published by Koyama Press in February 2020. The book is a satire about the breakout of a violent revolution during the Super Bowl, using football to explore themes of racism, resistance, white supremacy, allyship, identity, and alienation. It won the Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/One Shot in 2021. The book appears on The 100 Best Comics of the Decade List created by The Beat. • Black Arms to Hold You Up, published by Pantheon Books on October 7, 2025. A fictionalized version of Passmore and an invented revolutionary father traverse a history of black armed struggle. This heavily-researched and citational work draws on figures and movements including Robert Charles, The UNIA, Robert F. Williams, The Republic of New Afrika, Assata Shakur, MOVE, Sanyika Shakur, and Micah Xavier Johnson. It won a 2026 Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Cartoonists Database. cartoonistsofcolor.com.
- 2.adastracomix. From 'It's All Over' to 'Your Black Friend': the anarcho-comix of Ben Passmore. 2018-02-05.
- 3.Passmore, Ben. Ben Passmore - LinkedIn Profile.
- 4.Ben Passmore. The Nib.
- 5.'Your Black Friend' Is Back, With Plenty To Say. NPR.org.
- 6.Chute, Hillary. Cartoonists Who Draw in Order to Be Heard (Published 2018). The New York Times. 2018-07-27. 0362-4331.
- 7.Johanna. 2017 Ignatz Award Winners. Comics Worth Reading. 2017-09-17.
- 8.Eisner Award Nominations 2017 Announced. Comics.
- 9.Let's Get Graphic: 100 Favorite Comics And Graphic Novels. NPR.org.
- 10."Your Black Friend" animated short film by Ben Passmore, Alex Krokus & Krystal Downs - YouTube. www.youtube.com.
- 11.SPX 2019 Ignatz Nominees SPX: The Small Press Expo.
- 12.BTTM FDRS. Fantagraphics.
- 13.Cowen, Dave. UPGRADE SOUL - SerioComics 72 + Q&A with Author Ezra Claytan Daniels. SerioComics. Substack. June 27, 2025.
- 14.Leblanc, Philippe. Syndicated Comics. The Beat. 2020-02-28.
- 15.Jazz great's graphic biography barely needs a word. thestar.com. 2020-05-12.
- 16.SDCC 2021's Eisner Award Winners: Klan Smashing, Rabbit Samurai, & More. Gizmodo.
- 17.The 100 Best Comics of the Decade. The Beat.
- 18.Nominees Announced for 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. ComicCon.
- 19.Eisner Awards. Comic-Con International. 2026-08-03.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q67203165: Ben PassmoreWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Ben CaldwellArtist
- Ben DunnArtist
- Ben HatkeArtist
- Ben KatchorArtist
- Ben SargentArtist
- Ben TemplesmithArtist
- Ben TempletonArtist
- Ben WicksArtist
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Ben Passmore?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.