comics
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
Byrne's first published comics were the self-published series ''MBLEH!'', which ran to 3 issues and was the first Irish comic to be distributed by Diamond. He has also produced the majority of the content for ''The Shiznit'', a free pocket-sized comic funded by adverts and released in various cities around Ireland. Other works include ''Robots Don't Cry'' (a children's illustrated book), a one-shot Freakshow special written by Rob Curley, and a series of silent strips in ''2000AD'' under the banner "Bob Byrne's Twisted Tales". His works include the original
graphic novel
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
'' Mr. Amperduke'', a story told entirely in pictures without words, which Byrne published himself (trading as Clamnut Comix) in 2008. This character first appeared in a short story in ''MBLEH!'' in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
.
The first ''Mr. Amperduke'' story was reprinted in the
small press
A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably.
Independent press is general ...
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
. This led to Byrne being commissioned to produce original stories for the ''Megazines parent publication '' 2000 AD'', using the same text-free storytelling technique. Another short ''Mr. Amperduke'' story appeared in ''Megazine'' #291 in 2009, when the graphic novel went into its second printing.
In 2012 he released ''Spazzmoid'', a collection of mostly autobiographical comics focused on growing up in Dublin in the 1980s.
Byrne is also the creator of Dr Moku learning system, used in teaching Japanese
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''.
It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...
and
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...
mnemonics. In 2010, with a bid to make his learning system more accessible to users, he launched respective mobile apps, viz., Dr Moku's Hiragana Mnemonics and Dr Moku's Katakana Mnemonics, compatible with Android (4.0 and up) as well as iOS (5.1 or later) devices. The app has been downloaded by over 250,000 users.
Awards
*
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
nominated for the Favourite Comics Writer/Artist Eagle Award