You have to love Bellen, the wit, the characters you grow to love, the art which just always gets better and better, and of course, that pinch that always wants you to come back for more! I've read every Bellen now, and I must say that the quality of it never goes down, if anything it goes up. The origanal art of Bellen is fantastic, and one I would really reccommend. With the quality as it is. No wonder it is the 9th most popular webcomic here.

 I love the fact that their characters personality's never change, Ben is this whiny,  sort of pseudointellectual character, but cares very deeply for Ellen, and is rather shy and insecure. Meanwhile Ellen is a fun, full of life character, very sure of herself, but nevertheless adores Ben. So really, they are oppisites, but very good oppisites! They match each-other perfectly and it makes you go "aah" after each story.

 Good quality fun, Bellen

 

Tim Patten 

... read it now!

I didn't like Box Brown's Bellen the first time I saw it. The drawing is fairly static, and the humor is very dry. But since I'm subscribed to the all of WCN RSS feed, I kept seeing it every day. At some point, I started loving it. Don't get me wrong: the strip itself hasn't changed. The art is still static. The humor is still dry. Maybe I have changed? Or maybe it just takes a while to work its gentle vibe. I dunno. Today's strip is a particular favorite. ... read it now!

Bellen is a sweet story about the love and loss of a couple that is very cleverly told. The dept that builds with each stip takes the characters' emotions to a new level. The light humor and sad moments of any realtionship are perfectly depicted in Browns's work. If you want a good read that will open your eyes to how much you really have then Bellen! is a must. ... read it now!

Bellen! began as a daily strip exploring the sweet moments between a loving couple. After the first hundred strips, Ben and Ellen's relationship hit a rough spot, and Ellen decided to leave. Since then, cartoonist Brian Brown has opened up the strip to exploring every aspect of the relationship between his cartoon heroes: loss, love, anger, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Abandoning the daily "gag" format of his first episodes, Brian has moved into longer stories with Ben and Ellen as they attempt to overcome the difficulties that Ellen's leaving caused them.

In each strip, Ben and Ellen appear almost as talking heads before a nearly featureless background. But unlike most talking heads comics, Bellen! is not merely a cut and paste affair. Although the story is driven by Brown's careful and witty writing, the story is amplified by the care he gives his characters' faces. Brown's deceptively simple rendering of Ben and Ellen can easily obscure his expertise at conveying emotion through his characters faces, and the crosshatched backgrounds bring the focus of the story—the characters—to the forefront.

If you enjoy writing that both comes from and touches the heart, then Bellen! is a comic you should read.

... read it now!

"Bellen," by Box Brown, is a charming strip about the warmer sides of relationships. Always smile-inducing, never cloying, "Bellen," the story of Ben and Ellen, helps remind us what it's like to both totally share and totally know another person. There are good days and bad (mostly good) but what "Bellen" shows most is hope. No matter what comes their way, we know Ben and Ellen will face it together, even when they're facing themselves. "Bellen's" a strip to help ward away some of the day's angst and pressure. It's a warm moment to start the day. ... read it now!