Customer Reviews

Curbside Boys: The New York Years

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this book. It helped me to feel that I wasn't so alone in feeling sometimes like I am on the outside, looking in. I really enjoyed the humor and the detail in the drawings, but mostly it was the honesty with which it was written that I was so taken with. It was wonderful to read and experience the Drew character's struggles to just be in the world, and to love someone and try to connect with him. I tried to savor the book, make it last, but alas, I was only able to wait less than 24 hours before I devoured it.

Robert Kirby's "Curbside Boys" is an enjoyable romantic melodrama largely following the life of Nathan, a handsome 20-something guy in New York City.

Nathan, introduced in Kirby's previous collection, "Curbside", has just moved from Minneapolis to Manhattan. Nathan finds work in a coffee shop and shares an apartment with two new characters, Kevin and Drew. Kevin has an on-and-off relationship with boyfriend Rain. Drew is a young, inhibited writer-wannabe who keeps a nervous eye on Nathan. Bob, an important character in "Curbside" makes an appearance as a confidante to Nathan. While Nathan and the others cruise about, stirring up action, the real drama is the growth of emotional bonds between the main characters.

While it isn't necessary to read "Curbside" first, people who like "Curbside Boys" will want to check it out.

Kirby captures the relationship-based hopes and fears of the young, urban, gay community.

I look forward to the sequel!

I really enjoyed Curbside Boys. Besides all the awesome music references ("I wish I'd taken pictures..."), the story was truly heartfelt. I loved Drew's progression. He still had a lot of insecurities, but he still grew so much by the end. I particularly loved the panel where Drew decided to work out. I have friends who like to joke that any gym membership is supporting "body facism." But Drew didn't become a muscle queen, he just decided to take concrete steps at addressing his low self-esteem.

On a personal note, I really appreciated the fact that Curbside Boys had people of color as main characters AND as random love interests. It was clear they weren't just tokens. Kevin was just uptight, pragmatic, stable Kevin. Not "the black roommate." Curbside Boys was definitely money well spent!

I've been a Curbside fan for years. The strip has a sweet worldliness and wry, askance view of gay city life that has always been a refreshing counterpoint to the bad puns and pseudoporn of other gay comics. It's a warm, funny, realistic, perspective I've always admired. It's funny, realistic, and grown-up; If you find that "depressing," well I guess there are other happy endings out there you could read.

A great story about a handful of young men living in NYC, and the complicated relationships between them. This book really captures that moment in your late twenties when you realize you've got to get off your butt and do something (and maybe stop having roommates). It also did a great job capturing of the loneliness of relocating and being the odd man out. The characters were complex, hilarious and infuriating, and the story was utterly addictive. This book made getting my work done yesterday a real chore, as I just couldn't put it down.

Way too much text per frame, so much that the artwork is overwhelmed. Which is probably a good thing, since the artwork is horrible, amateurish, the kind of doodling you would see from a young boy with an interest in art but no training. The most important problem is that the strip is not in the least funny. Most of the strips are depressing; the "gags" evoke sadness, even despair. I can't tell if the author is trying to depress his readers for some crazy reason, or if he thinks he's being funny. Either way, he should take a look at some of the best gay comics.