There are a lot of reasons to be a Benji Nate fan. Her bright, candy-colored art and eye for fashion give her work a unique and appealing look that perfectly suits her beloved bimbo characters. Nate’s comics are often laugh-out-loud funny, walking the line between absurd and cuttingly relatable. Bunny, the protagonist of Girl Juice, is a perfect example. Cute, horny, and entrepreneurial, Bunny isn’t particularly wise but she has the confidence and scrappiness to get through all kinds of trials. Like Bunny, Nate contains multitudes – she’s also a fantastic horror writer, and shows off her horror chops in her new comic Hell Phone.
Hell Phone
Benji Nate
Silver Sprocket
March 16, 2022
Hell Phone is Nate’s newest comic with indie publisher Silver Sprocket. Originally released serially online, book one of Hell Phone introduces us to Sissy and Lola. Neighbors living in a small town, Lola is a townie with depression, a fantastic wardrobe and a nonchalant attitude that initially feels like a typical Benji Nate character trait, but alludes to the town’s willingness to ignore awful events and red flags. Sissy is newer to the town, also has a fantastic wardrobe, and is more in control of her adult life.
It’s perhaps Sissy’s outsider perspective that lands her in a strange and harrowing position. When Hell Phone opens, Sissy is just stepping outside her house. She finds an old school flip phone in the bushes and answers it when it rings, assuming it’s the owner calling and trying to retrieve their phone. However, the caller provides no name or any information beyond “42nd and Laurel.” Frightened and confused, Sissy asks Lola to accompany her, and the pair make their way to the old, run-down house. What they find there sets them on the trail of a decades-old murder mystery, one that the mysterious caller seems determined to see resolved.
Like Girl Juice or Catboy, Hell Phone is brightly colored, with primary colors like red and yellow popping off the page. Red in particular – a color of blood, warning and danger – feels prominent. Both girls wear a lot of it, and Sissy’s house is bright red and yellow. This palette is initially misleading, implying that the comic will have a bright tone that matches these colors. However, their true meaning is closer to what red and yellow traffic or danger signs warn – something terrible is coming.
I will note here that Hell Phone is not Nate’s first foray into horror. Prior to catching Hell Phone updates on her Instagram, I read the two chapters of Bloodroot which are still available on Nate’s Gumroad. Bloodroot has a very different style from her current work, with finer line work, no color and a shading style that maintains an ominous atmosphere throughout the comic. By sticking to her now typical bright colors and thicker, rounder and thus more welcoming line work, Nate creates a sense of familiarity and comfort at the beginning of Hell Phone. A Girl Juice reader who picks up the book without much preamble will feel safe, until Sissy and Lola walk into that house on 42nd and Laurel.
The cute, appealing visuals and humorous dialogue serve a second purpose in Hell Phone: they help create the small town horror atmosphere. Sissy and Lola initially seem like two peas in a pod. Visually, they fit perfectly together as both have a love for fashion that makes them stand out on the page, especially in contrast with the more mellow townies. However, differences between the characters surface over time and tie into the horror setting.
Hell Phone takes place in a small, nameless town. It seems like the kind of place that most natives don’t leave, and that doesn’t see many new faces. As the chosen recipient of the phone, Sissy finds herself asking question after question about the town’s strange history. Lola, however, is a townie who has always been immersed in this place’s dismissive culture, and finds herself divulging that history while also struggling to see why Sissy finds it bizarre. To quote a Shakespeare play not referenced in the comic (it took me three reads to notice the actual Shakespeare reference, and I challenge you to find it as well!) something is rotten in the state of Hell Phone.
If you like small town and slow burn horror or if you’re a Benji Nate fan interested in seeing her play with a different genre, this comic is perfect for you. Book one collects all the comics Nate posted online, which means book two will be an all new continuation of the story. I cannot wait to see where this goes, even as I worry for Sissy and Lola’s safety – and I can’t wait to see all their new outfits! Hell Phone is out now at Silver Sprocket.
