Pride Guide 1996 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

C-7

Comic strip captures gay pre-teen growing pains

We Are Family

We got up and watched American Bandstand, they were having a dance contest. It was fun to watch it with Christopher. He's my best friend.

They're the best couple!

Yeah, I like his hair, too,

never had a best friend until I met him. We like a lot of the same things-things that other boys don't usually like.

I wish that we were brothers and then we could be with each other all of the time. Being with him makes me feel like we have our own special family.

He never makes fun of me for stupid things like not being good at sports like other kids do.

C'mon, Steven!

Hold on, I want to play a record for you.

always feel like I don't fit in with other kids. With Christopher I don't have to pretend anything. WEARE FAMILY

WE-ARE-FAM-I-LY

For the first time I feel like I belong. If I had a choice, I think this is the family I'd stay with, forever and ever.

PEVERYBODY SING!

GET-UP

GET DOWN!

FOXY LADY

GOT ALL MY

SISTERS WITH ME!

by Daniel R. Mullen "Alternative weekly publications is as mainstream as [my strip] will go," said comic strip writer David Kelly.

He creates nothing obscene, doesn't deal with adult subject matter, or experiences we all haven't encountered.

In Steven's Comics Kelly draws the life of a nine-year-old boy in the seventies, a boy from a broken home who feels different from other kids, one who, if he were a few years older, would realize he is gay.

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"The strips aren't autobiographical,” said Kelly, "but a lot of the feelings Steven has are based on how I felt as a kid, somewhat isolated from the world. My comic isn't just about growing up gay; it's about growing up period. Growing up with uncertainty is something that many children face, gay and straight," said Kelly, who was influenced by Linda Barry, writer of Ernie Pook's Comeek.

Kelly, who recently relocated to Chicago from Seattle, began drawing Steven's Comics in 1992. The bi-weekly strip is selfsyndicated to gay and alternative publica-

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tions nationwide. The strip has been featured in the Washington Blade, Chicago's Nightlines, Phoenix's Western Express and Just Out of Seattle.

"In mainstream papers there's nothing too cutting edge," said Kelly, remembering the scare over Lynn Johnston's For Better or Worse storyline where young Michael's male friend confided he might be gay.

As for bringing gay sexuality to Steven's Comics, Kelly said, "Steven has an aunt who I'm thinking about involving in a lesbian relationship. Right now it's subtle. Maybe

I'll bring it out more.

Kelly, who is enjoying the release of the third collection of his strip, also co-edits and publishes the annual comic anthology Boy Trouble with Curbside creator Robert Kirby. Boy Trouble is an uncensored venue for adult gay male humor.

Kirby and Alison Bechdel, creator of Dykes to Watch Out For, are his mentors.

Kelly said it's difficult to create something original for the comic strip market. "Hopefully there's room for more strips like mine."

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