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David Kelly
Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics
by: David KellyFrom 1995 to 1998, David Kelly’s “Steven’s Comics” ran in LGBT and alternative newspapers around the country. This comic strip explored the world of a sensitive boy coming of age in the seventies, with all its joys, quirks, and heartbreaks. Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics collects the entire Xeric-Award-winning series in one volume suitable for young adult and adult readers, with additional material created specially for this collection.
$6.99 – $19.99
From 1995 to 1998, David Kelly’s “Steven’s Comics” ran in LGBT and alternative newspapers around the country. This comic strip explored the world of a sensitive boy coming of age in the seventies, with all its joys, quirks, and heartbreaks. Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics collects the entire Xeric-Award-winning series in one volume suitable for young adult and adult readers, with additional material created specially for this collection.
The book also includes a foreword by advice columnist and It Gets Better Project founder Dan Savage; Northwest Press will be making a donation to the It Gets Better Project with every copy sold.
Includes a foreword by It Gets Better founder Dan Savage.
PREVIEWS:
You can read a preview of Rainy Day Recess: The Complete Steven’s Comics right here on the site.
ISBN: 9780984594023
Publisher: Northwest Press
Publish Date: 2011
Page Count: 120
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The Power Within $2.99 – $4.99
A comic book tackling the subject of teen bullying and suicide, written by Charles “Zan” Christensen and drawn by Mark Brill.
Shannon gets picked on a lot; his dad and teachers think he should just “fit in” more, but that doesn’t help. So Shannon escapes into a super-powered alter-ego whenever he’s in a bad situation. But will the power within be enough to save him?
In addition to the main story, the book contains bonus pages by a collection of comics industry heavyweights, including Gail Simone (Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey), Phil Jimenez (New X-Men, Wonder Woman), Greg Rucka (Detective Comics, Gotham Central), Matthew Clark (Outsiders, Wonder Woman), Stephen Sadowski (JSA, Warlord of Mars), Dan Parent (Archie, Kevin Keller), Donna Barr (The Desert Peach), Andy Mangels (Gay Comics, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor) and Carla Speed McNeil (FINDER).
Copies of The Power Within are available free of charge to youth services organizations and teachers’ groups. Please contact us by email to request copies. The book contains discussion questions so that the book can be used as a tool to start a conversation about issues of bullying and harassment.
PREVIEW:
Read the first part of the story right now!
INTERVIEWS:
Review at Gay.com by Jase Peeples — “Moved by the rash of suicides committed by bullied LGBT teens last year, Christensen and Brill took it upon themselves to create a story they hope will reach others in a way only comics can.”
Interview on Tacoma KOMO — “Imagine a world in which bullied teens are protected by muscled superheroes. It sounds fantastic, but this is exactly the world Zan Christensen and Mark Brill have created in a new comic intended to help teens cope with bullying and harassment in school.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCXzxJ-qDA4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCGaSZfBpqM
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Cartoonist Tom Bouden (Max and Sven, The Importance of Being Earnest) invites you to meet Sarah, a young woman whose life is about to be turned inside out when she discovers that’s she’s HIV positive.
Join Sarah and her partner, Tim, as they take the journey together through shock and uncertainty, pre-dawn pill schedules, side-effects, well-meaning friends, tasteless jokes, medical missteps, and ultimately, hope.
“Positive is a story with the universal message of how to live life without being afraid,” writes GayLeague.com‘s Joe Palmer in the introduction. “This is the story I wish I’d been able to read after my diagnosis years ago. It is the story I hope everyone regardless of his or her sero-status will have the opportunity to read and by which to be inspired.”
P.D. Houston –
“Steven’s life isn’t all hardship, he’s not growing up in a family that’s super poor or he doesn’t have to tell with any serious tragedy on a day to day basis, but still the fact that you can’t be who you really are with the people you are closest to has to be about the hardest thing a person could do. Fortunately for us rather than dwelling sourly on the whole thing, David puts a lot of humor into his life story. It’s not the laugh out loud kind of humor, but the kind that keeps a smile on your face the entire time you read the book.” Read the review on renderwrx.
Joe Palmer –
“That’s why I like Steven. I know he’s only a make believe kid in a book made up by somebody named David Kelly. He’s probably a big person too because adults don’t let kids make comics unless you draw it yourself. Steven makes me feel good because now I know it’s okay if a boy likes another boy!” Read the review on GayLeague.com.
Brian Cronin –
“Kelly captures the ups and downs of Steven’s life beautifully. A simple, yet important, facet of this collection is the fact that while Steven goes through a whole pile of garbage for being who he is, he also has simple enjoyments the same way that pretty much every kid has simple enjoyments in life. So the balance between feeling sorry for Steven and feeling happy for his enjoyments is crucial to the power of Kelly’s work, and it makes for an excellent series of comics.” Read the review on Comics Should Be Good.
Andrea Speed –
“I hope the explanatory blurb didn’t sound too depressing, because really this collection isn’t depressing at all. There’s something life affirming in thinking that Steven survived such a turbulent childhood so well. I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Lynda Barry while reading this, which is a good thing.” Read the review on cxPulp.
Robert Kirby –
“Thrilled that David Kelly’s mid-90’s comic strip has finally been collected and bound in this long overdue book. Such a treat to revisit the charming, poignant tale of Steven, a sensitive young boy growing up in the 70’s who likes playing with dolls, has a crush on his best friend Christopher and prefers reading to sports (do I need to draw you a picture about where this is going?)” Read the review on GoodReads.
François Peneaud –
“Rainy Day Recess is a collection that will reward multiple readings, for its author’s attention to details, both in his characters and in their surroundings. It is as engaging as it is heartfelt, but more than that, it stands as a realistic but ultimately optimistic portrait of a gay kid. We can only believe that Steven grew up to be a good guy who made another man, or maybe other men, feel happy and loved.” Read the review on Gay Comics List.
Chip Babbin –
“We have been enthusiastically welcomed into the charming world of Steven, a gay adolescent boy coming of age during the ’70s.” Read the review on OutSmart.
Snow Wildsmith –
“Though Kelly’s Xeric grant winning work was originally aimed at gay readers, his story is universal enough to appeal to a wider audience, all of whom will be left wanting to see what he’s working on these days.” Read the review on ICV2.
Eric Henrickson –
“Steven isn’t quite Everykid, but he’s a great kid. And I wish there were the comics to make a second volume because I didn’t want to leave his world.” Read the review on Detroit News.
Stumptown Trade Review –
“Overall, Rainy Day Recess is a fun book that explores a quirky and confusing time in a boy’s life. In an entertaining and effective way it reassures the reader that they are not alone in the strange times that were growing up. And, for those readers who are gay and who are struggling with the confusion of it all, it offers the reassurance that things do get better.” Read the review on Detroit News.
No Flying No Tights –
“While the stories are all self contained, you do follow Steven’s life. And because of that, it leaves you wanting more. You see Stephen struggling to figure out who he is and also what is going on in his very dysfunctional family. And then, the comic stops. This is a short collection that leaves you wanting more.” Read the review on No Flying No Tights.
A.V. Club –
“Over the course of four years of strips, Kelly’s art certainly improves, but it’s the rough edges that give the strips their charm. Steven’s Comics could easily wallow in sadness as they document the difficulties of a boy coming to terms with his developing homosexuality in the ’70s, but instead, they have an upbeat, childlike wonder. Steven deals with sadness and uncertainty, but he also has amazing moments of joy, and Kelly does a wonderful job of relaying the thoughts and feelings of a child with incredible emotional resilience.” Read Matt D. Wilson’s review on A.V. Club.