Queer and Trans Comics by Dylan Edwards
There’s an interview with me in the most recent issue of Outlook Columbus (the March 2013 ish, it so happens). If you click on the “Current Issue” box and go to page 38, you ought be able to read it just fine.
Meanwhile, I am in the process of moving, so it’s going to be quiet here for a bit. Fear not, I shall return with frabjuous new art once the dust and the boxes have settled.
Cheers,
Dylan
Crazy busy this week getting ready for STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo, which is now upon us. I have to leave in, like, 20 minutes to go set up. So if you’re in Austin and want to grab a copy of Transposes, or check out some art for my upcoming TransTransformers story for QU33R, or you need some feeps, head on down.
Cheers,
Dylan
A quick cellphone shot of some in-progress inks for my TransTransformers story for QU33R. I’m nearly done with ’em, just a page and a third left to go. Then it’s time to color this thang!
Meanwhile, I have a whole passel of events coming up in March. First up is STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo in Austin, TX. Once again, I expect it shall be a fine extravaganza of indie media from Austin and beyond. Want some TransTransformers prints? I’ll have them at the show for your gender-bending robot needs. I will also have copies of Transposes, of course, as well as original art and feeps.
After that I’m off to California for a pair of back-to-back events in the San Francisco area. First up, on March 18, is the Noe Valley WordWeek LGBT panel. I’ll be doing a reading from Transposes, alongside other LGBT authors reading from their books. It’s being held at a brew pub, so really you have no excuse not to go.
Then, on March 19, I’ll be in the Mission District of SF for a reading/art event at Alley Cat Books, also in conjunction with several other creators. I’ll read something different from what I read the previous night, and the other panelists will be different each night, so come to both! It’s a different show each night.
For more specifics on the where and the when for each of these things, hit up my Appearances Page.
See you soon!
Dylan
I’m always amused by the search strings that folks type into the Google machine to find this place. Today’s winner was “Jazz/Prowl.” I really had not figured on Transformers slash, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, what with Rule 34 and all. Still, people. What the heck is wrong with you.
Nevertheless, I have a little gem for you sick perverts who are into that sort of thing. In the course of my research into G1 Transformers for my QU33R anthology piece, I watched the first several episodes of season 1, and somehow accidentally wound up with screen shots of a particularly suggestive moment of tenderness between Hound and Spike (and yes, these are unaltered stills direct from the show).
Again, somehow by accident, these images became randomly assembled into the strip you see here. I’m sure it’s just a bizarre coincidence that they should seem to suggest something salacious, but you know what they say about monkeys and typewriters and Shakespeare!
ANYWAY. I am inking away on the comic this was all in aid of, and hope to have more progress photos to show you soon.
Now, let us never speak of Transformers slash again.
I’ll be heading up to Dallas this weekend for the Sci-Fi Expo. I’ll mostly be bringing my Feeping Creatures stuff, but I’ll also have some preview art and prints for the new comic I’m working on, a short story for QU33R (the new anthology from Robert Kirby) about kids who gender-swap their toys (you know, just in case you missed any of the several previous posts).
If you’re going to be in Dallas this weekend, swing by and check it out!
I’ve created a landing page for material related to my QU33R anthology story. It now includes the current version of page 1 (pencils, as of this posting), as well as my character designs for the female versions of Prowl, Jazz, and Bluestreak. While these specific images are not technically part of the story that’s going to be published in QU33R, they are are finished art pieces in their own right and I wanted to show ’em off to ya. I used these designs for the actual drawings of the three lady bots that show up in the story.
If you want to learn more about how I created these designs, click through to their individual pages and read the mass of text below the image. Oh, and you may have noticed there are little “Buy Now” buttons on there as well, just in case you are so smitten by the girl incarnations of Prowl, Jazz, and Bluestreak, you feel yourself needing to own a print of them.
Next week I’ll be tabling at the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo with my Feeping Creatures menagerie, but I’ll also have the TransTransformers prints with me. So if you are going to be in Dallas, you might stop by and peep them in person.
Cheers,
Dylan
A couple more media mentions of Transposes have come in:
Lambda Literary has a review of the book up now in their comics section, from Cathy Camper – “A major step to breaking down closet doors is to provide venues for trans* people to see themselves. Edward’s graphic novel does just that …. Edwards’ black and white comics are open and inviting, making it easy for readers to get a quick overview of many different queer FTM lives. This accessibility also makes Transposes a good resource for gender workshops or other situations where it’s helpful to easily compare different people’s life stories.”
Sequential Tart features Transposes in an article about broader trans* representation in comics, by Katie Frank – “Transposes uses different presentations for each story — a staged speech, flashbacks, a museum exhibit — to take the reader through important moments in the interviewees’ lives. This technique makes the stories both personal and relatable, and also highlights, in a lighthearted way, the weirdness of the exercise of interrogating people about the intimate details of their lives.”
Meanwhile, I’m still working away on my TransTransformers comic for QU33R. I’m thinkin’ maybe I post a preview page on Thursday, so check back in a mere couple of days!
Cheers,
Dylan
I’m working away on pencils for my story for Robert Kirby’s QU33R anthology, due out this fall from Northwest Press. As you can see, I have contrived to tell a story about playing with Transformers as a kid, which means I get to draw quite a few of the ol’ robots for this comic. It’s actually a little difficult to find the photo references I need, believe it or not. I’ve had to resort to watching the cartoon (which was really just not very good at all, thought I still kind of love it in that important-part-of-my-childhood way) and grabbing the occasional frame. I want to use the cartoon character designs specifically (as opposed to the comic book Transformers, or the box art for the toys) because that’s what most informed my impression of what the characters were supposed to look like. Also, the art style fits well with my own cartooning style.
I do all of the penciling by hand, even though I’m pretty sure that proves I’m insane. So, for example, I need to repeat that drawing of Prowl on the left, so I copy him onto vellum, position the copy where I want it, then transfer it using erasable, non-photo blue carbon paper. Why do I do this instead of just making a duplicate layer in Photoshop like a normal person? Because I want each page to be a finished work of art in its own right, and that means keeping digital manipulations to a minimum.
Tune in next week for a glimpse at a (readable) sample page, and after that I have some character design work to show off. In other words, I’m talkin’ about regular posting for awhile. Cue dramatic music!
Cheers,
Dylan
Yes, I’m finally uploading some new content to the site. There were some, eh, technical difficulties preventing me from doing so, but I think they’ve been sorted out now. (Oh, technology, you are such a fickle helper.) If you’re subscribed to the RSS feed, I apologize for any spamming that may have occurred as I edited and deleted and futzed and posted again. Anyway, on to the new goods. Just click the images to embiggen.
First of all, the new Politically InQueerect comic that made its debut in Rocksalt Magazine:
Next up, an illustration I did for Bent-Con‘s 2012 art show. This is my interpretation of one of their Bentling mascots:
I will have even more new art for you soon. To wit, some previews of the work I’m doing for Robert Kirby’s QU33R anthology. Please do try to contain yourself in the interim.
Cheers,
Dylan
I just handed Book People a bunch of consignment copies of Transposes, so you should now be able to roll on into the store and buy yourself a copy (if you’re in Austin, that is). You’ll find it shelved with graphic novels, and possibly also LGBT studies, but probably graphic novels is your best bet. So, if you have a hankerin’ to support indie bookstores and indie authors, go throw some money at them!