5 out of 5

A 30+ page mini-comic presenting sketchbook drawings from Sears from 2020 – 2023. “Sketchbook” collections from artists I love always make me laugh, because their sketches are fully finished pieces to my eyes – accepting that I’m sure there are iterations and margins-doodles we’re not seeing. But still: you could pass this off as an art book and I wouldn’t blink.

Presented in blue ink on off-white paper, we stick within Sears’ world of squares bolted onto circles bolted onto squares; where characters dress in comfortable sandals and tattered jeans and always wear goggles, and the animals are degrees of anthropomorphic. One thing I love about Ben’s work, that holds true even here, is how much curiosity his images generate: you can build up your own stories about what necessitated that jetsuit, or why these birds are having a staredown, or what’s brought this robot farmer to buy produce from this stall… It’s rare you get an image that doesn’t at least get some stray thoughts / questions of this nature.

Most of the images are chock full of details (again, betraying a “sketch” vibe), and towards the end we get a couple that are full-on gradient shaded as well. A wholly worthwhile pickup for Sears fans, but also easily translatable to his narrative works if you flip through a friend’s copy and like what you see.