Ben said, "I see. I noticed that he also draws himself slimmer though. Could comic artists have a phobia or self consciousness about there weight? This must be investigated."
(i would have answered this in the comments, but i wanted the visual presented below)

I have two theories. #1 does not apply to me, but here it is nevertheless...
1) artists aren't nearly the public figures that say actors, politions, or bank tellers are, therefore, they may as well draw themselves in a more impressive light. I mean, let's say comedian John Pinette (below) was an artist... he'd probably look a lot more like the first picture of bendis (the drawing in case that is somehow unclear)... why not? no one will ever know...


2) we starting drawing ourselves (or some may pick this time) at a time in our lives when we did look much like we do in the picture, so then, as time goes on and our appearance changes, it does not, then, reflect in the pictures. we get used to drawing ourselves a certain way and did it for long enough that it's just habit.. also, some of us could very likely return to that state, so need to change things up... art is timeless, they say....

so there you have it... that's why i look the way i do... (yeesh... shave off a few pounds and people think you're trying to be batman or something....)