Robert Kirby (; born 1962) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, known for his long-running syndicated comic ''Curbside'' – which ran in the gay and alternative presses from 1991 to 2008 – and other works focusing on

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

characters and community, including ''Strange Looking Exile'', ''Boy Trouble'', ''THREE'', and ''QU33R.'' He has worked alongside critically acclaimed queer artists including

Diane DiMassa Diane DiMassa (born 1959) is an American feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorpora ...

and Alison Bechdel.

Background

Robert Kirby was born in Detroit, Michigan in September 1962. He lived in Manhattan, New York City, New York for a while, during which he worked on ''Curbside Boys: The New York Years.'' He attended the University of Minnesota. Kirby began publishing comics with ''Strange Looking Exile,'' a zine published in the early 1990s, and grew popular through his long-running comic ''Curbside Boys.'' Kirby was married in October 2013, after same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota in May of that same year. He and his spouse John live in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...

Career

Robert had his first venture into producing comics with the comic zine ''Strange Looking Exile'', which also featured work by

Roberta Gregory Roberta Gregory (born May 7, 1953)
at the

Joan Hilty Joan Hilty (born December 27, 1966) is an American cartoonist, educator, and comic book editor. She was a Senior Editor for mainstream publisher DC Comics and currently works for Nickelodeon as Editorial Director for graphic novels, comics, and l ...

, Nick Leonard,

Leanne Franson Leanne Franson (born 1963 in Regina, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian illustrator and cartoonist. She illustrates picture books, children's novels, educational texts, pamphlets, and magazines. She currently lives in Martensville, Saskatchewan, near Sas ...

, Michelle Rau, Terry Sapp, and Alison Bechdel. The zine ran from 1991 until 1994. Following that, Kirby began producing a new comic zine called ''Boy Trouble'' with co-editor David Kelly, a comics anthology that was published four issues as a zine, followed by a book in 2004. ''Boy Trouble'' features contributions and collaborations from the editors as well as a number of other artists and writers including Anonymous Boy, C. Bard Cole,

Michael Fahy Michael Fahy (1951 – 2 April 2019) was an Irish farmer, and a Fianna Fáil and sometime Independent member of Galway County Council. From Ardrahan and first elected to the council in 1979, he resigned from Fianna Fáil in 2004 when under inves ...

Andy Hartzell Andy Hartzell is a cartoonist who lives in Oakland, California. In 1995, he was awarded a Xeric Grant to publish his book ''Bread & Circuses''. In 2007, Hartzell published '' Fox Bunny Funny'', which was reviewed favorably by ''The New York Times ...

, Steve Matuszak, Sina Shamsavari, and others. In 2002, State Representative

Nancy Sheltra Nancy may refer to: Places France * Nancy, France, a city in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle and formerly the capital of the duchy of Lorraine ** Arrondissement of Nancy, surrounding and including the city of Nancy ...

(R-Derby) protested the presence of the publication ''Out In The Mountains'' in the Vermont Statehouse due to its inclusion of Kirby's strip featuring two bare-chested male cartoon characters kissing, which she deemed "pornographic". In 2006, an anthology of the best of ''Boy Trouble '' was released, entitled ''The Book of Boy Trouble'', which also included new work and work in color. Besides the editors, Kirby and Kelly, the book featured sequential art by Anonymous Boy, Craig Bostick, C. Bard Cole,

Jaime Cortez Jaime Cortez is a Chicano-American graphic novelist, visual artist, writer, teacher, and performer. Cortez is also known for his role as an LGBT rights activist, and HIV/AIDS prevention work. Early years Cortez was born in the agricultural town ...

, Michael Fahy, Justin Hall, Andy Hartzell,

Victor Hodge The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

Brett Hopkins Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name. People with the surname * Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...

, Nick Leonard,

Steve MacIsaac Steve MacIsaac is a Canadian comics artist and creator living in Long Beach, California. He is known for his comics series ''Shirtlifter'' (2006-2019) and the graphic novel, ''Unpacking'' (2018). His comics focus on the lives and relationships of ...

Josue Menjivar Josue is a name, a variant of the name Joshua. It may refer to: Given name * Josué Dubois Berthelot de Beaucours (1662-1750), French military officer * Athanase Josué Coquerel (1820-1875), French Protestant theologian * Josue Dupon (1864-1935), ...

, Sina Shamsavari, D. Travers Scott, and

Russ Turk Russ is a masculine given name, often a short form of Russell, and also a surname. People Given name or nickname * Russ Abbot (born 1947), British musician, comedian and actor * Russ Adams (born 1980), American retired baseball player * Russ B ...

. This work had comics that focused on topics including love, sex, and punk rock, among other things. In 2008, ''The Book of Boy Trouble Volume 2: Born to Trouble'' was published, featured work by many of the artists from the first volume as well as work by Jennifer Camper,

Derek Charm Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name are ...

, Howard Cruse, Abby Denson, Tim Fish,

, G.B. Jones, Nick Leonard,

Ed Luce Ed Luce is an American cartoonist, best known for his indie comics series '' Wuvable Oaf''. The series focuses on Oaf Jadwiga, a bearish gay ex-wrestler looking for love. Originally funded by a grant from Prism Comics, it was self-published in f ...

, Jon Macy,

, Dave Ortega, Bill Roundy, and Robert Triptow. Kirby was also a regular contributor to the ongoing queer comics anthology '' Juicy Mother'', edited by Jennifer Camper, and released in 2005 and 2007. In 2010 Robert Kirby began his ongoing LGBT comics anthology, ''THREE,'' and in 2014 his 33-person anthology ''QU33R'' was published by

Northwest Press Northwest Press is an American publisher specializing in LGBT-themed comic books and graphic novels. It was founded in 2010 by Charles "Zan" Christensen. The company publishes in print, as well as through digital channels such as ComiXology and A ...

''Curbside Boys''

''Curbside'' is the story of two young men: Drew, an aspiring writer, and Nathan, an aspiring musician, who meet and eventually form a tumultuous relationship. The

comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

was syndicated in several periodicals, including '' Chicago Nightlines'', '' Out In The Mountains'', ''

Lavender Magazine ''Lavender'' is a biweekly award-winning print and online magazine, part of Lavender Media, Inc., published in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for the LGBTQ+ community. Since 1995, Lavender Media, Inc. has been producing an award-winning glossy magazine ...

'' and others, as well as on the internet. The series has also been collected into two books. The first book published with the aid of a

Xeric Foundation The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fou ...

grant. A translation into Spanish has also been published.

''Boy Trouble''

''Boy Trouble'' is a zine by Robert Kirby and David Kelly that was made in order to highlight some queer comics. Four issues were published since 1994. A fifth issue was published in 2004. ''The Book of Boy Trouble,'' an anthology of these zines, was published in 2006, followed by ''The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble'' in 2008.

Current Works

Robert Kirby recently completed a graphic memoir called ''Marry Me a Little'', which explores marriage as a middle aged gay man. It also discusses the legalization of gay marriage in Minnesota (where Kirby and his husband live) in May 2013. An excerpt of ''Marry Me a Little'' was originally published on ''PEN America'' in June 2018. The excerpt also appears on his personal website. The book will be published in 2023 by Graphic Mundi, the graphic imprint of Penn State University Press. He also reviews comics for ''The Comics Journal,'' and has done several of them, including one of the anthology ''Drawing Power,'' edited by Diane Noomin. He has also been published in ''Panel Patter'', ''Rain Taxi'', and other publications for his reviews and comics.

Awards and Recognition

In 1997, Kirby was awarded a Xeric Grant, given by the Xeric Foundation to comics artists for self-publishing their work. Kirby used this grant in publishing his first book, ''Curbside.'' In 2006, Kirby's ''The Book of Boy Trouble'' was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in the "Arts and Culture" section. His anthology ''THREE'' was nominated for two Ignatz awards and received a Prism Comics Queer Press Grant in 2011. In 2014, his anthology ''QU33R'' was published and won the Ignatz Award for Outstanding Anthology or Collection.

Publications

Anthologies

* ''Boy Trouble'', edited by Robert Kirby and David Kelly, Boy Trouble Books, 2004, * ''The Book Of Boy Trouble'', edited by Robert Kirby and David Kelly, Green Candy Press, 2006 *''The Book of Boy Trouble 2: Born to Trouble'', edited by Robert Kirby and David Kelly, Green Candy Press, 2008 *''THREE'', edited by Robert Kirby. three issues published from 2010 to 2012. *''QU33R, edited by Robert Kirby, 2014, from Northwest Press'' *''What's Your Sign, Girl? Cartoonists Talk About Their Sun Signs, edited by Robert Kirby, 2015 from Ninth Art Press'' *''The Shirley Jackson Project: Comics Inspired by Her Life and Work'', edited by Robert Kirby, 2016, from Ninth Art Press

Books

* ''Los Chicos De la Acera De Enfrente'', Ediciones La Cúpula, Colección Novela Gráfica, 2005 * ''Curbside Boys: The New York Years'', Cleis Press, 2002, * ''Curbside'', Hobnob Press, NY, 1989,

Contributions

* ''Gay Comix #17,'' Bob Ross, 1993 * ''Gay Comix #20,'' Bob Ross, 1993 * ''The Question of Equality: Lesbian and Gay Politics in America Since Stonewall,''

Scribner Scribner may refer to: Media * Charles Scribner's Sons, also known as Scribner or Scribner's, New York City publisher * ''Scribner's Magazine'', pictorial published from 1887–1939 by Charles Scribner's Sons, then merged with the ''Commentator ...

, 1995 * ''The Factsheet Five Zine Reader: The Best Writing from the Underground World of Zines,''

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints ...

, 1997 * ''Gay Comix #25,'' Bob Ross, 1998 * ''Spice Capades,'' Fantagraphics, 1999 * ''What’s Wrong? Explicit Graphic Interpretations Against Censorship,'' Arsenal Pulp, 2001 * ''Juicy Mother: Celebration'', edited by Jennifer Camper, Soft Skull Press, 2005, * ''Juicy Mother 2: How They Met'', edited by Jennifer Camper, Manic D Press, 2007 * ''Young Bottoms In Love'', edited by

Tim Fish Tim Fish (born 1970) is a comic book author and artist, known for the comics '' Cavalcade of Boys'' and its spin-off graphic novels, short stories for various anthologies and the original graphic novel '' Liebestrasse'', which was nominated for b ...

, Poison Press, 2007 * ''Glamazonia,''

, 2010 * '' No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics'', edited by Justin Hall, Fantagraphics, 2012 * ''Subcultures,'' Ninth Art Press, 2015 * ''Not My Small Diary #18: The Pet Issue,'' Delaine Derry Green, 2015 * ''Egoscopic'' #’s 9-14, Studio FGH, 2016-2018 * ''Alphabet'', edited by Tara Madison Avery & Jon Macy, Stacked Deck Press, 2016 * ''Not My Small Diary #19: True Unexplained Events,'' Delaine Derry Green, 2017 * ''The Shirley Jackson Project: Comics Inspired by Her Life and Work'', edited by Robert Kirby, 2016, from Ninth Art Press * ''Rainbow Reflections: Body Image Comics for Queer Men'', edited by Stephanie Gauvin, Phillip Joy & Matthew Lee, 2019, Ad Astra * ''Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology'', edited by Kendra Boileau and Rich Johnson, 2021, Graphic Mundi

References

External links

Official WebsiteRobert Kirby Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirby, Robert 1962 births American comics artists American comics writers American comic strip cartoonists Gay artists LGBT comics creators LGBT artists from the United States Living people Underground cartoonists Queer literature