An Interview With Edward Sylvan
One of the first people to read my graphic novel told me that they had been thinking about and questioning their identity for a while. They said that the book made them know for sure who they were and thanked me for it. I remember crying as I told my partner what they said and am tearing up now because that’s all I wanted from this project. All the hard work, late nights, and wrist cramps were worth it. Even if the book somehow never went to print, at least one person fell in love with queer history, and it helped to reaffirm them just as it has for me.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shelby Criswell.
Shelby Criswell is a queer comics creator living in San Antonio, TX. They studied studio arts at the Santa Fe Institute of Art and Design as well as illustration at Academy of Arts University. Shelby is an author of the TERMINAL PUNKS comic series and has also illustrated comics for THE NIB.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
It’s a pleasure! Most of my family, on both sides, are crafters, artists, designers, and tinkerers. We all have hobbies and jobs that require us to focus and constantly use our hands. Every single one of us is a creator in our own right, and I’ve fit right in since I could hold a crayon.
The community I grew up in right outside of San Antonio, Texas, was and still is full of traditional and conservative values. Being a visibly queer kid who wore boy’s clothes, I instantly became a target for bullying and harassment. While I endured hell for my individuality, I’m thankful that my parents taught me to be kind and to continue to wholly be myself despite what the other kids thought. Even as an adult, I remember those values and put them into practice when I am faced with the ignorance of others.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
The Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) were some of the first books that I felt I couldn’t put down; I had to finish them in one or two sittings. The plot of the series was great, but I looked forward to flipping the page to another Brett Helquist illustration. The beauty of the thin grey pencil lines and hatchwork was obvious to me, even as a fourth-grader. I had never seen illustration work quite like that. The drawings being juxtaposed alongside the writing showed me that not only is it amazing to tell a great story, but illustration can make it even greater.
The classmate that turned me onto this series had the same thought. He wanted to write stories and I wanted to draw, so we teamed up and became a comic-making duo. As we waited for our bus at the end of the day, we’d work on our comic series about a sheriff shark who patrolled the ocean. This was the first comic I ever completed, and it was the first of many creative collaborations.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or takeaway did you learn from that?
In addition to doing comics, I am also a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. When I quit my retail job to focus solely on design and illustration, I signed up for a few websites that promote freelancers. You’re not supposed to share your personal contact info on these sites because they stay in business by taking a percentage of what you earn, so they want you to continue to work on their site. I didn’t read that rule and shared my email with a client who wanted to move away from the platform and pay me directly.
The website immediately locked my account and banned me forever. It was one of my biggest sources of income at the time, and I desperately needed it. This taught me the lesson of not putting all of your eggs in one basket. I needed to spread out my sources of income, and fast! I furiously sent emails to whomever I could asking for work, posted on my social media about art commissions, signed up for other websites, and eventually found work. Today, my income is diversified so that when one is lacking or falls short, other jobs pick up the slack.
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
With my graphic novel, Queer As All Get Out, I’d like people to see themselves. I think representation is so important, maybe now more than ever. The world is full of so many different types of people, and everyone deserves to see their life reflected back to them. Since the beginning of modern media over a century ago, it has been filled with the same faces over and over. I think that artists should be empowered to change that and to go into the darkness to report back on how to heal and handle life. In my book, I have recorded some dark and heavy places from my own life, and I hope that others can either relate to my story or learn something if they haven’t experienced something similar.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
There is one person in the book that I think about the most and am constantly researching, Magnus Hirschfeld. When I first heard about him, my understanding of the history of gender theory changed. Magnus’ whole life was committed to his sexual institute in early 20th century Germany, where he treated queer and transgender patients, performed some of the world’s first recorded gender-affirming surgeries, provided the public with STD treatment and education, and researched sexuality and gender. Magnus had explored gender theories surrounding nonbinary identities even before my grandparents were born.
Because Magnus was gay, and Jewish, and was working to help LGBTQ+ folk, Hitler made him a target, calling him “the world’s most dangerous Jew.” I remember in school seeing pictures of Nazis and Hitler Youth burning books they deemed unfit for society, but I never knew that more than 20,000 of those books belonged to Magnus Hirschfeld and his institute’s archives. So much of LGBTQ+ history was lost instantly, and progress was severely set back.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I’ve always been fascinated by history, and I love doing research, so sharing stories that I’ve collected over time of LGBTQ+ people made sense. After the Trump Administration was looking to redefine gender as a biological condition based on your genitalia at birth, I did a short comic piece about Magnus Hirschfeld for The Nib back in 2018, giving an overview of his life’s work.
After that comic came out, I was approached by my agent, Peter Ryan, who helped me form the idea that eventually became Queer As All Get Out. While I was compiling my list of people I wanted to talk about in the graphic novel, I researched Sister Rosetta Tharpe and fell in love with her life in the same way I did with Magnus Hirschfeld. After watching a performance of her song “Didn’t It Rain?” in 1964 on YouTube, I knew that this comic project was going to be special and needed to come to fruition.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
One of the first people to read my graphic novel told me that they had been thinking about and questioning their identity for a while. They said that the book made them know for sure who they were and thanked me for it.
I remember crying as I told my partner what they said and am tearing up now because that’s all I wanted from this project. All the hard work, late nights, and wrist cramps were worth it. Even if the book somehow never went to print, at least one person fell in love with queer history, and it helped to reaffirm them just as it has for me.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I think we should all be educating ourselves about what LGBTQ+ folks face daily, even if we are within that community because each one of us is impacted differently by societal norms and religious standards. And it is vital that we understand the history of queer and transgender people; how can we move forward if we don’t even know where we came from?
If people are able to, they should put their money where their mouth is. Tragically, there are plenty of transgender people, and youth especially, that have been kicked out of their homes for being who they are. Some of them aren’t even accepted into shelters because they are trans. A simple Google search yields plenty of organizations, like Bridges 4 Life, and personal GoFundMe campaigns that can help people find safer living situations. And if we aren’t able to give monetarily, giving a shoutout on social media can do a lot of good.
Lastly, we should each strive to welcome all people with open arms and be willing to listen and learn from them. We can’t know how to enact true positive change for all people if we aren’t looking past our own noses.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I find that real leadership comes when someone uses their life experience to benefit those around them, not just for themself. A leader has a kind spirit, more than good intentions, and is a better listener than they are a speaker. The leaders that I like are those who, when faced with the impact of their actions being negative, despite their having a positive intent, stop to listen to those affected and immediately take action to make the situation right.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Make time for yourself. Despite how the world works these days, we are not content-creating machines, we are human. Everyone deserves time to sit and do the things that they want to do. When I first started, I would constantly work myself to a pulp and it took away from the relationships in my life. I spent more time working than I did with myself and with those that I love.
2. Be organized. When I first started, I didn’t label any of my folders properly, and when I went back into my hard drive to get an old file, it was really hard to find. Set a format of organization that works for you and be thorough. You might remember where something is now, but it doesn’t mean you’ll remember how you organized things later on.
3. Practice getting over your fear of talking on the phone. Maybe this is specific to just me, but I used to be so bad at talking on the phone and over video chats. I would always clam up and stumble over my words, even when on the phone with my family. With the way that my business works, sometimes phone calls and zoom chats are necessary. With practice over time, I’ve become better at it.
4. Take care of your body. I know, I know, we all hear the self-care stuff, but for a long time, I had not been providing myself with just basic care. I drank too much alcohol and didn’t eat well, and because I wasn’t feeling strong, my confidence took a hit for it. Maybe that’s why I was so bad at talking on the phone, haha.
5. Learn to diversify. This goes along with my “don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” lesson. I’ve learned to diversify not only my income but also the skills that I offer, especially with graphic design. It never hurts to know how to do a little more than just the basic skills of your trade.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I always think about my dad when I’m asked this question. He died of stage four metastatic colon cancer in 2010, and I think about how he spoke a lot. My dad had his own language, where he’d use weird words and phrases in his own unique way. The most normal of them was “Keep on keepin’ on.” He’d say that when I would show him something I was working on as a way of saying it looked good and to encourage me to continue on. I repeat this phrase when I’m stuck and don’t see the end in sight on a project or when I’m facing hard times in life. Sometimes things do feel overwhelming or hard, but it helps to just “keep on keepin’ on.”
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
If we’re talking about having the ability to time travel, then I’d love to have a meal with every single person who has a biography in my book. As I was writing it, I imagined what questions I would ask each person and wondered how they would respond. Thinking of them as very real people helped inform how I drew them.
But if we’re talking about here and now, I’m a huge fan of Jonathan Van Ness. I think they are just as curious about the world as I am, and I think we’d jive well over a cup of coffee.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
@shelby_criswell on Twitter
@shelbycriswell on Instagram
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Authors: How & Why Shelby Criswell Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.