Beneficial Shock! 10
Delivered to Stack subscribers in Dec 2025

by Steve Watson in January 2026

The illustration magazine that loves movies, Beneficial Shock! brings illustrators to the fore and asks them to write about the movies they love, as well as creating art about them. Not all the writers in this magazine are illustrators – there are plenty of journalists too – but everyone focuses on telling stories about the movies that have shaped their lives and their work.

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Name
Gabriel Solomons

Job title
Editor and art director

What is Beneficial Shock!?
I’d liken it to a trip through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory if the chocolate were movies. The Golden (cinema) Ticket grants entry to treats and surprises at every turn… some familiar and others less so. It’s an annual peek behind the curtain – providing a plethora of visual stimulation to both illuminate and inspire.

What makes it different to the rest?
I’ve always considered film to be universal in its appeal and a good lift-off point for creative expression, so I imagined that Alfred Hitchcock himself (whose wisdom inspired the magazine’s title) handed me a sacred scroll containing the code for unconventional cinematic storytelling.

As I wasn’t able to decipher the text due to Hitch’s appalling handwriting, an idea emerged for a magazine that would use illustration, visual documentation and design in humorous and irreverent ways to expressively interpret film-related content. Film writing often sticks to the usual formula of describing what someone saw, so I wanted to throw the doors open and allow writers to go on flights of fantasy while not straying too far away from the source material, i.e. the films they are talking about. This makes it fun for the writers and gives illustrators lots to play with when they create work as a response to the written content. Or, as is sometimes the case, the illustrators are also the writers.

Who makes Beneficial Shock!?
Well, the magazine wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the many writers, illustrators and other creatives who contribute to each issue (plus our fantastic printers and distributors). But if we’re talking about the production side, I’m the editor, art-director and designer.

Who reads it?
While I’d like to imagine Beneficial Shock! proudly displayed on the coffee tables of movie-doms great and glamorous, I’m pretty sure the majority of copies are gobbled up by film lovers and illustration enthusiasts hankering after something a little bit different. Since the first issue, way back in 2017, the magazine has looked to provide a platform for individual expression outside ‘normal’ editorial constraints, which often results in content that you wouldn’t find in any other film title. Our readership seems to respond well to this and it’s always great to receive feedback from people who are inspired by what they read/see in the magazine. When compared to most other magazine genres, film is fairly small, so I think it’s important to create something that resonates but also something that doesn’t just tow the line.

Why do you work in magazines?
I’d fire back, why does Scorsese, Campion, Anderson or Rohrwacher work in film? It’s a love of the page… a love of this enduring platform for expressing ideas and connecting people to/with a shared passion.

My personal love of print started as a kid with comic books, developed with DIY zines as a teenager, wobbled a tad when I joined the newspaper publishing biz in my early twenties, and was fully realised 25 years ago after launching a small arts and culture magazine. Since then I can’t think of a day which hasn’t involved looking at, talking about, or making magazines. Twenty-five years well spent I’d say – and long may it last!

Aside from the magazine, what else do you do?
I’m a full-time university graphic design lecturer and have been since 2016. The job provides financial stability, but also allows for time to develop my own side-projects, which includes Beneficial Shock!

Surrounding yourself with students who are constantly throwing themselves creatively into all sorts of interesting subjects is inspirational, but also creates a nagging itch, which – as a creative myself – has to be scratched. Alongside Beneficial Shock! I produce and co-host a podcast called ‘Gut-Punch’ with a film buddy of mine (Tom Puhr) and oversee the World Film Locations book series for Intellect – a Bristol based academic publisher.

What would you change about Beneficial Shock! if you could?
Less things I would change and more things to expand on. It’s no doubt a familiar story to anyone else running an indy magazine of limited resources and even less time to do everything you’d like. What I’d like is to do more collaborative community-based projects, such as the ones we recently did with the BFI Southwest and Campus Skatepark, where we ran film screenings and workshops to raise awareness, spark conversation and inspire change around mental health issues for young people. This culminated in an exhibition of illustrated skateboards, which were auctioned off to raise money for local initiatives. This way of merging film, art, and culture with social issues has so much potential and is the direction I’d like Beneficial Shock! to move towards, so we’ll see!

Where do you see Beneficial Shock! in five years?
See above, but as far as the magazine goes… hopefully still on the shelves!