Robert Kirby

Robert Kirby (; born 1962) is an American cartoonist, 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 characters and community, including Strange Looking Exile, Boy Trouble, THREE, and QU33R. He has worked alongside critically acclaimed queer artists including Diane DiMassa and Alison Bechdel.

Early life Robert Kirby was born in Detroit, Michigan in September 1962. He attended the University of Minnesota. He lived in Manhattan, New York City, New York for a while, during which he worked on Curbside Boys: The New York Years.

Career 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 had his first venture into producing comics with the comic zine Strange Looking Exile, which also featured work by Diane DiMassa, Roberta Gregory, Joan Hilty, Nick Leonard, Leanne Franson, 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, Andy Hartzell, Steve Matuszak, Sina Shamsavari, and others.

In 2002, State Representative Nancy Sheltra (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, Michael Fahy, Justin Hall, Andy Hartzell, Victor Hodge, Brett Hopkins, Nick Leonard, Steve MacIsaac, Josue Menjivar, Sina Shamsavari, D. Travers Scott, and Russ Turk. 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, Howard Cruse, Abby Denson, Tim Fish, Joan Hilty, G.B. Jones, Nick Leonard, Ed Luce, Jon Macy, Steve MacIsaac, 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.

He also reviews comics for The Comics Journal, among them 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.

Personal life Kirby was married in October 2013, after same-sex marriage was legalized in Minnesota in May of that same year. The book was published in Feb 2023 by Graphic Mundi, the graphic imprint of Penn State University Press.

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.

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 Curbside, Hobnob Press, NY, 1989, Curbside Boys: The New York Years, Cleis Press, 2002, Los Chicos De la Acera De Enfrente, Ediciones La Cúpula, Colección Novela Gráfica, 2005 Marry Me a Little, Graphic Mundi, 2023,

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, 1995 The Factsheet Five Zine Reader: The Best Writing from the Underground World of Zines, Three Rivers Press, 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, Poison Press, 2007 Glamazonia, Northwest Press, 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,