Dylan NDR Edwards

@dylanndr.bsky.social

236 Followers 91 Following

Maker of queer & trans comics (Transposes, Valley of the Silk Sky) and monsters (Feeping Creatures). he/him http://www.studiondr.com/

And yet, queer folks won the same-sex marriage battle in the end. It didn't start with the Supreme Court generously bestowing these rights upon us out of the goodness of their hearts. It didn't start with individual municipalities offering marriage benefits to same-sex couples (which, as the cartoon at the head of this post notes, were hardly reliable wins), before Massachusetts finally legalized same-sex marriage at the state level in 2004. All of that was preceded by a very long series of culture wars over queer social acceptance. Progressive legal gains generally tend to follow AFTER cultural shifts have already taken place, a reaction to the zeitgeist rather than a cause of the shift. And queer people, by refusing to accept second class citizen status, by coming out in greater and greater numbers and causing more and more people to know a queer person in real life, by responding to the attacks against us by becoming even more defiantly queer, shifted the culture to one of much broader and more durable queer acceptance.
The bigots, by the way, were not at all subtle about their true intentions. They were too gleeful in their hatred to hide the very obvious fact that they never meant to stop at banning same-sex marriage. They fully intended to eradicate queer people altogether, to complete the project they started in the 1980s when they allowed HIV/AIDS to ravage the queer and trans community, openly cheering for our deaths. So, each time we lost a legal battle on same-sex marriage, each time yet another state passed a law banning equal marriage rights for queer folks, it left an oppressive feeling of doom. We knew it wouldn't end there, but how far down the dark path would we go? The parallels to the current fight over trans rights are striking in no small part because the wealthy elites who funded the efforts to increase queer suffering in the 2000s are largely the same wealthy elites who have been funding the efforts to increase trans suffering over the last decade. The campaign against same-sex marriage gave bigots an excuse to parade their nastiness, something they'd longed to do after the (woefully incomplete) gains queer folks made during the 1990s. The current campaign against trans rights again offers bigots an excuse to parade their nastiness after the (woefully incomplete) gains trans folks made during the early-to-mid 2010s.
Book cover for Valley of the Silk Sky: The Long Run, a queer and trans sci-fi/fantasy graphic novel by Dylan Edwards Two figures face each other with a strange flower between them. The person on the left is a human, the person on the right a humanoid creature with insect-like features. Behind them is an an otherworldly landscape
Cover art for Transposes by Dylan Edwards A trans man in a suit and straw hat, and carrying a cane, dances across the cover in front of several excerpted panels from the book
Screenshot of an excerpt from a scam email: I came across Transposes, and what I found was a creator who understands something that many narratives about identity miss entirely. That gender and sexuality are distinct yet intersecting experiences that deserve to be explored with both humor and profound honesty. You have captured the precise tension between the societal expectations of masculinity and the lived reality of queer transgender men, showing how each individual’s journey is unique, challenging, and deeply human. It is not just a graphic novel. It is an honest reckoning and a call for empathy that forces us to confront the reality that there is no single way to be a man, and that our stories of struggle and joy are worthy of being told.
To the degree that trans men received any representation at all in the media landscape of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, it was usually either tragic stories of our violent deaths (Boys Don't Cry), or anecdotal case studies centering the pain of dysphoria and societal rejection. These were the narratives that greeted me when I came out in 2000. I had already been creating humor comics centering queer culture at that time, so it was a short hop for me to draw comics centering trans culture. I had no interest in earnestly explaining transness to the cis. I mostly wanted to make jokes about trans life for the edification of other trans people. That's how TrannyToons came to be, a name I chose without first Googling it (actually I'd have probably used Alta Vista to do a search in 2000). If I had, I might have learned that it was already in use as a descriptor for porn comics featuring trans women, largely intended for a cis male audience. But I didn't, so I didn't. Oops. The style of my earliest work is reminiscent of old panel comics, published in venues like the New Yorker, Punch, Life, etc. I have a particular interest in late 19th and early 20th century works. I find that these comics often speak to cultural trends in a way that more august essays about the times might not convey. For example, in the 1890s, there was a boom of what I would call "gender panic comics," a reaction to the popularity of bloomers for women. Mutliple cartoonists at the time suggested women would grow massive and muscular from wearing pants, towering over tiny, effeminate men (who themselves were still depicted as wearing pants, I feel I should point out; do pants make you hulking or not?). These are largely offered without any explanation of the cultural assumptions underlying them. You, the contemporary reader, already knew what the cartoonist was talking about, amirite?
Cover for TrannyToons Presents: Annotated Trans Comics of the Early '00s by Dylan Edwards Black and white art of two trans men dressed as superheroes
poster for DeCAF: Denver Comics & Arts Festival Saturday May 9th, 2026 11am-7pm at Schoolyard 1115 Acoma St, Denver CO FREE EVENT
Comic by Dylan Edwards Panel 1 TERF: The all-powerful trans lobby is trying to take away MY rights as a REAL woman!! Trans ppl: What power?? What lobby??? Panel 2 Men in suits labeled ADF, FRC, and Heritage stand behind the TERF and hand her bags of money Men: We LOVE what you're doing! Keep it up! TERF: Also, "queer" is a slur. If you call yourself that, you're bad and wrong. Panel 3 Wacky Fun Facts! (May not actually be fun) Panel 4 The poverty rate for trans people is 29%, versus 15% for straight cis people.[1] The Trans Justice Funding Project, which funds trans rights groups across the country, raised a total of $2.7 million between 2012 and 2017.[2] Meanwhile ... Panel 5 ... the tax forms for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an evangelical Christian legal advocacy organization, showed annual revenue of more than $65 million in 2019 alone.[2] The ADF is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.3 They help fund the anti-trans LGB Alliance.[4] Panel 6 The Family Research Council’s Value Voters Summit instructed attendees to frame transphobia using the language of feminism, and to claim that “gender identity” is a concept offensive to women.[5] "If you separate the T from the alphabet soup, we’ll have more success.” --Meg Kilgannon, Value Voters Summit panelist [5] Panel 7 Along with the ADF, the Koch-funded Heritage Foundation helps draft and distribute anti-trans bills for right-wing legislators to turn into law.[2] These and other interconnected right-wing groups lobby against abortion and same-sex marriage.[4] Citations: 1. williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-poverty-us/ 2. newrepublic.com/article/163113/behind-gop-strategy-outlaw-trans-youth 3. splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/alliance-defending-freedom 4. pinknews.co.uk/2020/06/03/lgb-alliance-gary-powell-center-bioethics-culture-alliance-defending-freedom-anti-lgbt/ 5. lgbtqnation.com/2017/10/christian-rights-new-strategy-divide-conquer-lgbt-community/
photo of a bearded vulture, with bright red and yellow eyes and reddish feathers on the neck, a cascade of black feathers around the eye, and a sharp beak
Photo of an enamel pin of an orange and black butterfly bat designed by Dylan Edwards
Cover for TrannyToons Presents: Annotated Trans Comics of the Early '00s by Dylan Edwards Black and white art of two trans men dressed as superheroes
Cover for TrannyToons Presents: Annotated Trans Comics of the Early '00s by Dylan Edwards Black and white art of two trans men dressed as superheroes
I never did find out what it was about me that didn't quite pass muster with Dr. F. I never bothered to ask. The gate was creaking open, and I wasn't about to jeopardize my opportunity to sneak through by asking too many questions. On March 15th, 2001, I officially started testosterone injections, and have never stopped laughing about celebrating the Ides of March by getting stabbed (even though I have long since switched to gel).
top text: Christ krispies treats A photo of communion wafers piled together into a cut square, like a rice krispie treat but with communion wafers instead of Rice Krispies cereal
Photo of a hand holding a zine, whose cover features a comic drawing of two trans guys in superhero garb text: TrannyToons Presents: Annotated Trans Comics of the Early '00s by Dylan "NDR" Edwards
Pride in Panels event poster featuring cartoon art of various cartoonist people. Text: Pride in Panels SF Queer Comics Fest 2026 Feb 15th 12-5 PM SF Main Library 100 Larkin St.
Screenshot of Sticker Guy web page, white text on purple background: Purple on White vinyl Purple on White – with hearts! In honor (and memory) of the brave Minnesotans who have stood up for their (and their neighbors) rights. Printed with PMS Purple.
Vaccines vs. a new flu variant This new variant wasn’t included in this year’s flu shots because it was identified after scientists had chosen the four strains to include this year.
Cover the QAT Person #1 minicomic by Dylan Edwards, featuring comics on Queer, Asexual, and Trans identity. The cover art shows a cartoon drawing of the artist at his drafting table.
Hand-painted banner on a booth at Denver's No Kings October 2025. The banner reads: "Queers bash back against Trump! Stonewall was a riot! FRSO Freedom Road Socialist Organization"
Photo of an antique sign that reads "GAY OILS Really Lubricate!" In the top right corner is a logo of light house surrounded by the words "Gay Oil Co" "Gay Gasoline" and "Gaymobile Oil"
Concept art from Valley of the Silk Sky by Dylan Edwards: a person carrying a lantern walks through a strange subterranean swamp filled with aquatic plants and dome buildings that resemble anglerfish. Inside one of the buildings a large insectoid creature coils up defensively as it stands near some egg sacs. The figure is walking perilously close to the creature without seeing it.
editorial cartoon by Ben Sargent (1983, Austin American Statesman) A speech bubble points to a rundown shack: "SURE he's loonik' at a 200-billion-dollar deficit, Pa, but he'll just have to raise it somehwere ELSE this time! He's cut us to th' NUB already! You can't get blood out of a turnip! [text fades]" Second bubble: "GOOD LORD, MA - HERE HE COMES AGAIN!" Ronald Reagan is carrying an axe, sneaking up to the house
Polymer clay sculpture of a snake with a cat head (a cat snake, if you will). The colors are a swirl of glittery black and orange-yellow-red stripes.
Photograph of an enamel pin of a Honduran White Bat, designed by Dylan Edwards. A bat with black wings, a white body, red legs and arms, and yellow fingers, ears, and nose leaf flies in front of an image of a full moon printed on fabric.
Photo of Natasha Lyonne as Charlie Cale in Poker Face: a woman with long curly red hair leans forward with a serious look on her face
Book cover for Transposes by Dylan Edwards. A comic book illustration of a bearded man in a suit and hat, carrying a cane, and dancing. Behind him are several comic panels of various trans mascs doing various things. Bottom text reads: "Foreword by Alison Bechdel, New York Times bestselling author of Fun Home and Are You My Mother?"
pencil drawing by Dylan Edwards: a hand wearing a fingerless glove and holding a pencil surfaces from the water as a wave labeled "Horror News" washes over it. A speech bubble points to the downing artist: "Look, I made a thing ... -glub-"
Cartoon drawing of a chicken next to a text box that reads "If a chicken is reinventing how poultry vocalize, is it thinking outside the boks" Bottom text reads "Taxonomically Unbound ©Dylan Edwards - studiondr.com"
Book covers for comics created by Dylan Edwards. Text reads "Queer & Trans Comics By Dylan Edwards" Titles from left-to-right: Valley of the Silk Sky [a human and a humanoid insect person look bashfully at each other over a strange flower] Politically InQueerect [a blond man looks over his shoulder at a creepy Tudor mansion; a smiling old woman stands in front of the house] The Outfield [a pile-up of football players; the man on the bottom seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit] QAT Person issues 1 and 2 [self-portraits of the author drawing at a drafting table, and looking worried] Transposes [a man in a suit and straw hat dances across the cover while holding a cane in an homage to the poster for the musical Funny Face] Bleating About the Bush [cartoon of George W Bush smiling and holding a long scroll of paper listing some of the many atrocities of his administration]
photo of a gloved hand inserting a ballot into a ballot drop box
Screenshot of an Instagram Story by Dylan Edwards Black background with a still of Gandalf on the bridge fighting the Balrog Text reads: "I apologize profusely and with the utmost sincerity for joke I am about to make [ahem]" "You know Gandalf has IBS because he fought a fierce battle with the Bowelrog" [in very small text] "You: you could have just ... not posted this" Me: No but see it's a shitpost, so"
square sticker with a black background, featuring a drawing of a rat seen from behind. The rat is green to demonstrate the sticker's glow-in-the-dark feature
Photo of a framed art piece on a bookshelf. Next to the art is a small hornet's nest. The art is a 2D collage of hornet nest paper affixed to black mat board, with a white pencil drawing of a dinosaur skeleton in the middle.
Excerpt from a comic by Dylan Edwards Panel 1: Top caption: Egg Stage Image: female-presenting human with long, unkempt hair, wearing glasses, a baggy Megadeth t-shirt, fringed leggings, and big black boots stands facing forward, scowling Bottom caption: "Mitigate dysphoria by hiding under excessively baggy clothing" Panel 2: Top caption: Baby Trans Stage Image: male-presenting human with short hair, wearing glasses, a baggy long sleeve shirt, cargo pants, and hiking boots stands facing forward, frowning and giving the finger Word balloons: "Nice outfit, loser!" "Haha!" Middle caption: "25 years old, getting bullied by high schoolers" Bottom caption: "Excessively baggy clothing makes you look like an actual baby"
A slender person in a teal leotard and knee-high black boots, with a salmon-colored sash and lock of hair, lunges to the side in an elaborate dance move. They are holding a bundt cake dripping with frosting directly in front of their crotch. Their speech balloon reads: "Ill be serving bundt".
A man stands with his back to the camera. He is wearing a black cap with studs, a leather motorcycle jacket, leather pants, and leather boots. The jacket has a back patch that reads "Leather Dad Jokes."
Tarot card illustration: a white man in a business suit glares menacingly and clutches handfuls of dollars. Instead of legs he has several tentacles. Behind him is a rainbow pride flag with a dollar sign on it. Text: THE TENTACLES OF PENTACLES Upright: A corporation will fawn over you to get your queer dollars, but as soon as it comes time to actually defend queer and trans people, they'll cave to the loudmouthed bigots. Reversed: Your queer community will experience an abundance of mutual aid.
screenshot of open browser tabs. From left to right: guillotine - Google Search butternut squash - Google Search pig - Google Search bundt cake - Google Search
Left column: cover for the Sept 2023 issue of OUT FRONT Magazine. A femme person with spiked hair, wearing a black miniskirt and black boots, lays on top of a pink CRT TV. Top left text: OFM Out Front Magazine. Bottom left text: Digital Queerness Top right pic shows an excerpt from a comic by Dylan Edwards. A ranting person says, "All these kids coming out as trans are just following a trend! They'll regret this later!" A caption box points to the person: "Some Asshole". Bottom caption text: "Yeah, so, about that ..." Bottom left pic shows another comic excerpt. Young Dylan in profile looks intensely at a TV with a trans woman on the screen. Top caption: "Having grown up in the pre-internet era, I spent my childhood having no clue trans men were even a thing." Word balloon for young Dylan: "Hmm ... If M-F exists, what about F-M?" Bottom caption: "In my mid-20s I reverse-engineered the idea that we might exist based on the few representations of trans women I saw in movies."
A screenshot of Izzy Hands from the Our Flag Means Death season 2 teaser. He is dressed in black, his body is facing forward, his head is turned to the side. He has his hair swept back, and a goatee. His eyes are rimmed with black makeup.
A photograph of the cover of the August 2023 issue of OUT FRONT Magazine. The cover features a photo of Geo Conjure, a Black nonbinary drag artist, who is dressed in a 1970s disco style. There is a mirror ball in the upper left corner. The magazine logo is in the top left, and the title "Disco Divas" appears along the bottom in a 1970s-themed font.
A closeup of the top of a small purple bottle of body lotion. The label reads: LAYHOMO More Perfect Lavender Body Lotion Plant Essential Oil Net:20g
Photograph of a bee inside the large yellow flower of a squash plant. The bee is covered in pollen.