Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1474575
1 8 P E R S P E C T I V E | J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 2 Benton Jew Benton Jew is a professional Illustrator/storyboard artist/comic artist living in Los Angeles, CA. He began working professionally as an Illustrator by the time he was 16; and had a multi-award winning run as an editorial cartoonist for his junior college paper. He then went to The Academy of Art/USF in San Francisco; and in 1988, started working at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) where he became a Visual Effects Art Director. Benton stayed at ILM for 13 years, providing art and design for commercials, attractions and feature films, including Ghostbusters 2, The Mask, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Men in Black 1 & "THE HAMMER" Over the years I'd contributed a couple of pieces for Patrick Rodriguez, who created this space in our annual Comic-Con Issue to showcase the work of ADG members who do comics. Last year Patrick called because he was a few pages short, asking if I could quickly come up with some pages to help him fill the space. I told him I'd try my best. I've always been a fan of dinosaurs and Chinese wuxia films, so I thought it would be fun to create a story featuring Qin Dynasty soldiers and a woolly mammoth. I got started on the story and had fun working on it. As it expanded into a longer piece, I lost track of time, missing the deadline completely. Patrick ended up having to find another piece to fill the slot, but I was happy that I'd started the piece. I was sad when Patrick passed away, and unfortunately, I never showed him the finished story. I hope Patrick would have liked it, as it was made only because he requested it. That Patrick gave ADG artists this platform to show their comics work is part of his legacy. Thanks, Patrick, for giving us that opportunity. 2. After joining the ADG, Benton worked on such high profile films as Terminator 3, The Incredible Hulk, Logan and Wonder Woman. In his spare time, he has created his own self-published comics; as well as having worked on comics for independent publishers, including Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, Komikswerks: Chills & Thrills, The Adventures of Unemployed Man and Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave #3. He has also done work for Marvel Comics contributing comic art on both the Agents of Atlas and the She-Hulk series.