Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Ben Wright-Heuman of New Albany

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Ben Wright-Heuman. Check out our conversation below.

Ben, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
While it’s not entirely outside of work, I have been getting back into reading for pleasure. You’d be surprised how many cartoonists stop reading comics. It’s kind of like bringing your work home at the end of the day. I’ve been on a big manga reading kick lately, though, and it’s really helped me reconnect with why I love the medium. Blue Period by Tsubasa Yamaguchi, Don’t Call It Mystery by Yumi Tamura, and Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui have been my biggest obsessions.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Didn’t we cover this in the previous interview? Oh well, doesn’t hurt to repeat things.

Hi, I’m Ben! I’m a full-time freelance cartoonist, illustrator, and caricaturist. I originally was studying to be a screenwriter at Kenyon College, but I graduated in 2008 amidst a recession and a WGA strike, so my plans were put on hold. I’m grateful for this roadblock, however, because it gave me time to realize my real passion lay in comics.

I received my MFA from the Center for Cartoon Studies in 2016 and started my freelance career right after graduation. I’ve self-published two mystery graphic novels, produced a successful comedy webcomic for over eight years so far, and have formed my own micropress alongside cartoonist Rainer Kannenstine called CanonWrite Productions, which we have used to produce three highly lauded comic anthologies.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I’m not sure how many people will relate to this, but I had a major wakeup call a few months after graduating college. At the time, I wasn’t planning on going to grad school, and I was just back home with my parents operating on autopilot while waiting for whatever was going to happen next. In other words, I wasn’t doing anything.

I was talking on AIM (yes, I’m old) with a friend that was a few years behind me in college. It was August, and she was talking about preparing to go back to school. That’s when it hit me: for the first time in my life, I wasn’t going back to school. In fact, at that point, it looked like I was NEVER going back to school. Somehow, it hadn’t clicked with me that I was no longer a student and had to be an adult until that moment. Maybe it would be more accurate to say it was the first time that fact felt real.

I started my job hunt very shortly after that. I had a few customer service jobs, which taught me a lot of things about working for a living that other people had figured out years ago. Doing all this helped me rediscover my love of comics, and six years after that wakeup call, I found myself going back to school to pursue my passion. This time, though, I wasn’t a kid going from school program to school program; I was an adult ready to work towards my dream.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I am terrified of failure. I can think of multiple instances where I refused to take a risk because I couldn’t stand the idea of things not working out. There have been things I never started or never said because the consequences of failure seemed worse than inaction. There have also been times when I have failed in life, and I usually take that failure to heart. Because of this, sometimes I’ve been afraid to change a course of action that isn’t working because it feels like giving up on the ultimate goal.

On an intellectual level, I know that the path to success is paved with failures you learned from. I definitely regret the things I didn’t do more than the things I did. I would encourage anyone reading this interview to do that thing you’ve been putting off because you’re afraid it won’t work out. Start drawing that comic you wanted to make, or pick up that hobby you’ve always wanted to try, or ask out that person you’ve had a crush on. If you fail, learn from it, and be grateful for the learning opportunity. If you can follow that advice, maybe I can stop being a hypocrite and follow it myself.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Is the public version of you the real you?
My public persona is part of me, but not all of me. When you get right down to it, I’m an entertainer; nothing makes me happier than making people happy. To that end, when I’m interacting with people as an artist, whether it be at conventions or on a livestream, I’m much more outgoing than I am in private. That doesn’t mean that this version of me is just an act, but rather that it’s the part of me that I put forward in those situations.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What false labels are you still carrying?
It’s not so much that it’s false, but lately I’ve been wondering if the label of “Cartoonist” is truly accurate for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a cartoonist. I make comics, so I am a cartoonist. My issue comes from the fact that I make more than comics. I draw caricatures, I do video game livestreams, I have a podcast in the works, I paint, I even animate sometimes, On top of that, I’ve known cartoonists that are obsessed with and excited about comics as a medium, and I’ve increasingly found that my interest in media is less focused than that.

I’m not ready to shed the “Cartoonist” label yet, but I’m exploring the space to see if something is more accurate, or more all-encompassing. “Entertainer” is one of the frontrunners. Also “Clown”.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://BWHComics.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/BWHComics
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/BWHComics
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@BWHComics
• Other: Twitch: https://twitch.tv/BWHComics
  BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bwhcomics.bsky.social