Benno's who?

Why a Pseudonym...

One day we were able to launch our own products alongside the work that secured our livelihood. These were illustrated stories, in other words: comics. For my brother as the illustrator it wasn't a poblem. It was for me, because I was the one who acquired and processed the orders and some customers (especial the bigger ones) only wanted to deal with someone who understood both, the commercial language and contractual backgrounds. But a CEO who is also an author of comic stories - no way! To understand this, you must know all about the German "Schmutz-und-Schund-Aktion" right after WWII (smut and trash campaign, see: Paul P. Malone, University of Waterloo, CA). In short: Serious business as a "Schmutz und Schund" author wasn't possible, another man had to step in and "Benno Samuel" was born. Years later, after all the publications there was no reason to drop the name, but many to keep it.

The long way...

...I mention on the homepage began with a non-existent family and battlegrounds as home in 1960. My parents were not married and (unlike my elder brother) I was not a child my mother wanted. It's hard to imagine today, but in the 1960s it was a bit of a crime to be an illegitimate child. My parents probably tried to state a family at some points, but Hitler had twisted their brains in opposite directions. Here the conscripted front-line soldier for four years and there Adolf's selection for the future. Thanks to adrenaline of fear I have images in my head of my parents beating each other bloodily - often due to lack of money. Later on, with the help of my uncle, it was possible to date the first memories to 1962. The ideal pair of lovers separated several times (six apartments in nine years) and in 1970 forever, marking for me two things - the next step down in German society being now an illegitimate child of a wife without a man and I never saw my American girlfriend Cathy again.

Early sixties

The Seventies...

...started and it got even worse, because of the German tripartite school system. Simply put: high-class (grammar), middle and basic school - only high-class leads directly to university. My mother came from an old Prussian family and schooling was free. To get the best education, my brother and I had to go to an all-boys grammar school with teachers of "good old spirit" and mostly children from very wealthy or at least "better" civil servant families. Get that: yes, I had fitting pants and a jacket, e.g. for visitors or when the city youth care came, but at school, among those "better" children, I mostly wore second-hand clothes, the new fashion from three years ago, which never fit properly and my mother cut my hair in the style of the 1930s. Once again life blessed me with unforgettable experiences till today. In 1972 it was high time to take over my life.

Grammar school
Music, justice, earning money and not being at home were my interests. Ginger Baker fascinated me - washing powder buckets in the attic and a drum kit at school made it possible to practice. Efforts for justice led to my election as speaker of all pupils of my school and I began negotiating with politicians on behalf of higher pupil councils. Starting a medicine delivery service for sick old people and doing business with some American soldiers wasn't also particularly difficult. In 1973 I had my first drum kit, was already playing in a band and LouLou Tielman gave me drum lessons for free when he was in the city. Above all that I made highly insightful acquaintances at the political level in Wiesbaden and Mainz. From this environment emerged a state government and the federal government led by Helmut Kohl.

At the age of 15
The teachers at my school didn't want a fighter for justice and they gifted me the worst grades in all final exams, which is why I had to leave the so-called highest form of school in 1976. This masterpiece was followed by a 6-month training course in the photography trade. It was fortunate that the first McDonald's store in our area was about to open at exactly that time. Working there was a real challenge for the first time and after training in London and Munich, I entered the management career on my 17th birthday. In 1978 I met my first wife and was drafted into military service in early 1979. It was interesting that being elected as a speaker again, this time for enlisted men, resulted in something completely different than what happened at school. After a successful probationary period, I joined the Military Intelligence Service. 1980 saw the completion of all professional exams, the formation as a supervisor and the promotion to a non-commissioned officer. I signed for eight years to do my duty where it was necessary.

My brother Mike...

...is 3,5 years older than me and he was the child my mother wanted. He read a lot, played guitar and was extremely talented at expressing his thoughts through drawings from a very early age. It was our father who noticed this and enrolled him in an American drawing school with fantastic teachers like Syd Mead and Norman Rockwell. No German school offered anything similar. Following the separation in 1970, my mother continued to pay for his classical drawing education until he graduated and after passing the university entrance exams at grammar school, he had a short interlude in an higher career in a government agency as well as in military (mandatory). In the seventies, unlike me, he spent most of his time at home reading and drawing.
The top-level education and the extensive practice certainly makes him one of the best and most versatile artists in Germany.


Mike in the eighties


Knowing in addition that before I joined military intelligence, music critics called me the German Gene Krupa because of my drumming skills in live performances. Now, one could think that my brother and me must have been of interest to some company. But being a young outstanding artist in Germany means less than nothing, when you have neither connections nor money from your family or otherwise. In other words, in the late 70s we were completely screwed in what we were best at and had to start from the very scratch to achieve something as artists, which we did - without any ass-kissing.
(Back to "Preface to the production")

The Eighties...

...were busy years and really bumpy towards the end. Actually, my brother and I didn't know each other.. But when my promotion to NCO and his resignation from the authority coincided in 1980, we discussed our options and founded a company for narrative art in image and sound, which firstly had to be in his name because of my military duties. However, the company needed a solid economic knowhow, which I studied for many years at night school as part of adult education. This was paid for from funds that I was entitled to through my military service. Thinking about these years today, it's really astonishing how military service, the company and adult education could run simultaneously for so many years, especially since those were particularly demanding years in service since the world was on the brink of war twice in 1983. But, from 1986 onwards there were definitely signs of changes in NATO-WarsawPact relations.

After ten years on the way, I experienced the other side of the coin, since the restless drive to move forwards and upwards, undoubtedly born of poverty (not only but mostly), was also one of the reasons for the decline of my first marriage. In any case, there was a new start in my private life in 1989. From 1990 my later second wife became a full member of the company, and under a new flag we became way more successful as contractors than ever before - just like a Chinese proverb say:
"When three people agree, even clay turns into gold."

Rest of the story

It is not my style to boast about achievements, but it is important in the spirit of the new task, which is also revealed with this website, to create trust and to make it clear that everything we do has been and will be done correctly.



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