Robert, aka Rob Kirby, is a Detroit native, now living in Minneapolis with another boy and a dog. He began his cartooning career in the very early 90s contributing to dozens of queer zine titles like Holy Titclamps, as well as to his own zine, the queer comics anthology Strange-Looking Exile, which ran for five highly-regarded issues from 1991-1994. His comic strip, "Curbside," first appeared in the gay and alternative presses in autumn of 1991 and Robert self-syndicated it to dozens of weekly, biweekly and monthly publications in the following years.
The first book collection, Curbside, was published by Hobnob Press in 1998 with the aid of a grant from the Xeric Foundation. The comics within were largely autobiographical in nature, focusing on the cartoonist’s life with his then-partner Tony, sometimes in a sharply satirical manner. The book is now an out-of-print collector’s item, selling used for outrageous prices on Amazon and other booksellers. So hold to your copy - it's like gold, man.
The second collection, the graphic novel Curbside Boys, was published in October 2002 by Cleis Press, and there is a Spanish edition available from Ediciones La Cupula in Barcelona. Curbside Boys depicts the tumultuous, bittersweet love affair between Drew, an aspiring writer, and Nathan, an irresistible-but-probably-unobtainable aspiring musician, set against the backdrop of late 1990s New York City. The sequel Curbside Boys in Love and in Trouble, focusing on Nathan in the 2000’s, remains unpublished and Robert hopes to begin work on revising it soon for eventual publication. After a seventeen-year run, Robert ended the biweekly “Curbside” in 2008 to concentrate on new projects.
Robert is the founder of the gay boy comics anthology Boy Trouble which he co-edited with fellow cartoonist, the talented and effervescent David Kelly, who published issues two through five. The fifth issue, an 80-page trade paperback, was released in 2004 to glowing reviews in the mainstream gay and alternative medias. In the fall of 2006, Green Candy Press of San Francisco published The Book of Boy Trouble, a book collection reprinting highlights from the first four issues, alongside brand new work by both veteran Boy Trouble contributors and newcomers.
In September 2008, the sequel, The Book of Boy Trouble, Volume 2: Born to Trouble (again from Green Candy Press), greeted the world with all-new, all-color comics from most Boy Trouble favorites, as well as a couple of fresh new faces. This second edition was labeled by one critic as "a who's who of contemporary alternative queer comics."
Contact Rob at curbside2@earthlink.net
Rob’s new series anthology, THREE, is available now!
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