Snake Pit: My Life in a Jugular Vein

Description

In a sense, despite turning the big 3-0, Ben Snakepit captures the same spirit in the comics he draws to summarise each and every day of nearly the last decade of his life. In his second collection condensing the last three years we see our hero move to and from Canada, tour the world with J Church, hang out with the Sainte Catherines, meet Mike Watt, get caught in the throes of whirlwind romances and we're there to watch helplessly as he gets his heart broken. There's also more pants-shitting, Adderall tripping and days of doing absolutely nothing to keep the old school fans happy. Also keeping with tradition there's a song allocated to each day and this collection comes with a mix cd of some of those songs for the maximum Snakepit life experience. Voted Best Minicomic - Wizard March 2006! Voted Best local comic - Austin Statesman 2006!

Ben Snakepit is a freelance artist and author of the zinesGoing to California, Pills, and Snakepit. He lives in Austin, Texas.

..".new book out, "My Life in a Jugular Vein." It's three more years of daily DIY punk life, three comic panels for every day of the year. It comes with a CD, too. We didn't put this book out, (we put out the first) I know Ben really well, and we decided just to talk instead of writing a review that'd make us both feel real uncomfortable and weird." --"Razorcake" ."..new book out, "My Life in a Jugular Vein". It's three more years of daily DIY punk life, three comic panels for every day of the year. It comes with a CD, too. We didn't put this book out, (we put out the first) I know Ben really well, and we decided just to talk instead of writing a review that'd make us both feel real uncomfortable and weird." --"Razorcake" "Also paving his path in the autobiographical comic genre is local punk rocker/comic artist/ramblin' man Ben Snakepit who documents every day of his life -- warts and all -- in his comic book, Snakepit. While many of his three-panel-per-day strips are of the typical went to work, got drunk and/or stoned, and passed out variety, the majority chronicles life on the road with his bands (including J Church), his many video- and record-store jobs, the anxieties and thrills associated with the life of a modern-day punk rock vagabond, and his escapades with the ladies (falling in and out of love with a Suicide Girl, getting engaged and then breaking up with a girl from Canada he met online, etc.). "My Life in a Jugular Vein" spans Ben's life from 2004 to 2007 and features his crude yet capable scribble-style, hastily rendered artwork. Comparisons to the artistry of Dave Cooper, Adrian Tomine, and Chris Ware are a long way off, but like the raw, DIY music he loves and champions in his comics, the art conveys his message effectively." --"Austin Chronicle" "Daily life can be pretty dull. Think about what you accomplished today. You got dressed, ate something and are most likely surfing the web on company time. While most people's daily lives might not be especially exciting, these moments added up can be oddly fascinating and revealing. --"Ink 19" "For five years now, Ben Snakepit has chronicled each day of his life in a three-panel comic strip. A typical day involves working, watching movies and getting drunk or stoned with friends. However, there are also heartbreaks, parties, travels across the globe and band practices. Watching the stories unfold in real time makes them addictive; Ben's efforts at self-improvement after years of drinking and eating like Henry VIII at 3 in the morning will seem familiar to those of us of a certain age, and his relationship problems are heartbreaking. Overall the book is extremely compelling, adding up to a fairly complete picture of a man obsessed with music and happy with simple things in life like friendship, bike rides and the occasional show or zombie movie." --"Ink 19" "Never before in my life have I read 288 pages faster than this book. The reader cannot help but become involved in Ben's world through his words and drawings." --"Askew Reviews" "There's something refreshing about a guy who's willing to put every part of his life onto the page, whether the stories are mundane or hilarious." --"The Stranger " "What I like about Snakepit is the voyeuristic look that you get looking into someone elses life, the problem of course is while Ben is a pretty interesting guy, playing in bands like J Church and others and an endless string of girlfriends and tours, he has boring days just like everyone else and you have to forge through those to get back to the good stuff. --"401 Media"