The Book of Boy Trouble: Gay Boy Comics with a New Attitude

The Book of Boy Trouble

by Robert Kirby (Editor), David Kelly, Anonymous Boy (contributor)

From its first photocopied edition in 1994, Boy Trouble: Gay Boy Comics with a New Attitude emphasized personal stories and viewpoints outside the mainstream, with subject matter that ranged from sex, love, and longing to porn, drugs, and punk rock. The Book of Boy Trouble compiles the greatest hits from the zine’s first ten years, including favorites like Michael Fahy’s "Valentine’s Day Love Poem," Andy Hartzell’s "Dinner at Achmed’s," and Anonymous Boy’s "The Non-adventures of Wayne," plus 24 pages of spanking new work from both regular contributors and up-and-coming talents.

Genres: Comics, Queer, LGBT, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor

120 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2006

About the author

Rob Kirby's solo books include Curbside and Curbside Boys. His anthologies include two volumes of The Book of Boy Trouble; 3 issues of the Ignatz-nominated series THREE; the Ignatz Award-winning QU33R; What's Your Sign, Girl?, & The Shirley Jackson Project. His graphic memoir, Marry Me a Little, is now available from Graphic Mundi/PSU Press.

Reviews

[Meepelous · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content notes for age gap, nudity, sex, needles, drug use, racism and orientalism.

Obviously anthologies can be a mixed bag, and while it feels a bit odd to criticize what largely appear to be personal narratives I would say that several of the stories felt like they hadn't aged well - if they were in fact ever really good. Namely, Aquella Noche by Jaime Cortez and Dinner at Achmed's by Andy Hartzell. Although the former might have been written deliberately to make your skin crawl. But there was also a lot of pretty fun and delightful moments as well that I certainly had more mental space to enjoy.

[Ian! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool collection of stories about Gay life in the 2000s. It’s an interesting time capsule now, almost 20 years later.

There are a number of standouts for me:

Curious Behavior by Robert Kirby & Rhino is a disturbingly detailed firsthand account of someone’s first time freebasing crack.

Aquella Noche by Jaime Cortez was hauntingly heartbreaking on several levels

Pink Dolphins by Justin Hall was one of my favorites and features a wild ride through the Amazon on a boat where the protagonist faces a surprisingly different kind of danger.

Flight to Mars by David Kelly was endearingly sweet.

Country Home by Brett Hopkins captured the dynamic of coming home for the holidays and finding unexpected kinship in a childhood friend.

Dinner at Achmed’s by Andy Hartzell was probably my fav of the bunch - a stunning fantastical story with humor and heart woven throughout.

Crush by Steven Macisac told the tale of a sexy, clandestine encounter on a packed Tokyo subway train.

[zora · Rating 3 out of 5]

every comic anthology i’ve read has been equally bad & good (with the exception of Good Boy) and this one is no different. some of the low points were quite low & clearly did not age well. butt the high points were so much fun & i got it from a delightful bookstore in london!! (Gays the Word)

[Paul Kaefer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of funny, emotional, and interesting comics about gay men. I really enjoyed reading them, and hope to read the next collection.

Warning: some comics contain nudity and sex.

[Damien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mediocre, with a few moments of cuteness.

[Jonas H · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mixed bag. Some comics felt very dated, some were just odd. Most of them weren't my cup of tea.

[Liz Yerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these were very sweet and others pretty silly

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my book so I gotta give it the LOVE! Seriously, it's good stuff. Recommended to gay boys who call themselves "alternative" (you know who you are). Look for Volume 2 in Fall 2008, all new and all-color this time (ooh, neat).

[Matthew Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend Rebecca gave me this book, and it was fun to flip through because it's so different from what I usually read. All the comics were edgy and interesting. I also appreciate it for its cultural and historical value.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the other anthologies, there is some quality disparities between the various strips, but I think the overall quality is higher. There's a lot of great material here, alternating between one page strips and mutli-page strips.

[Melody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of comics from various artists. Mixed bag, some quite entertaining, a few rather banal. I'm glad I read it.

[Lobeck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute and funny but the stories are really, really short and I'd like more development rather than 20 second clips of what could be a really good story.

[Shannon Oleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andy Hartzell is in this book. 'Nuff said.

[Jeff]

I liked it