When it comes to fashion, there’s a fine line between classy and crazy and Benny just crossed it. For this strip, I wanted to do a play on the whole, “[Insert Celebrity Name] just called, he wants his wardrobe back” punchline, but I wanted to keep it relevant to mobsters. It just so happened that Esquire magazine had an article on the best dressed mobsters, which featured 10 criminals with excellent taste in clothing and had large enough egos to pull off the eccentric styles without looking completely crazy. Benny’s outfit is styled after Charles ‘Lucky’ Luciano’s luxurious smoking jackets and ties that he’d wear until his deathbed. Also, Clay Knight (referenced in panel 2) is the bat whose been appearing with Mickie Potatoes in recent strips.

Luciano--smoking-jacket-mobsters