TINSLEY, Kevin (M.)

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Virginia Commonwealth University, B.F.A. 1986; Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art, diploma, 1989; studied at the School of Visual Arts and New School University.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Stickman Graphics, 141 16th St., Brooklyn, NY 11215. E-mail—stick@stickmangraphics.com.

CAREER:

Writer, colorist, publisher, prepress and desktop production consultant. Clients have included Marvel Entertainment Group, Dark Horse Comics, Prentice Hall, Inc., the New York Cotton Exchange, Warner Lambert Corporation, Unicorn Publishing, Pig Run Press, and others.

WRITINGS:

Digital Prepress for Comic Books: The Definitive Desktop Production Guide, Stickman Graphics (Brooklyn, NY), 1999.

(Writer, colorist) The Festering Season (graphic novel), illustrated by Tim Smith 3, edited by Deborah S. Creighton, Stickman Graphics (Brooklyn, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

As a consultant, Kevin Tinsley lent his prepress and production expertise to many projects before publishing his own writing through his company Stickman Graphics. During a four-year stint at Marvel Comics, he led the team that transformed the production department from all analog/cut and paste to an all-digital environment. This experience led him to write Digital Prepress for Comic Books: The Definitive Desktop Production Guide, a guide compiled from methods learned from two decades of experience.

Tinsley also wrote and published, with illustrator Tim Smith 3, the graphic novel The Festering Season, which is set in New York, parodies real people and incidents, and has a diverse cast of villains and heroes. New York Times critic George Gene Gustines noted that "recognizable settings include the Washington Arch, a backdrop for a buy-and-bust operation, and Tony Rosenthal's steel cube sculpture 'Alamo' on Lafayette Street."

The protagonist, Rene DuBoise, leaves Haiti and her study of voodoo and returns to New York City following the killing of her mother. She comes back to a city ready to explode from a combination of a heat wave, political corruption, volatile race relations, and the upcoming trial of a group of police officers. Among the characters are a cultural anthropologist from New York University, who is working for the police, and a black minister who seems to be patterned after Al Sharpton. Rene soon finds herself fighting a crime lord who would control the city through magical means with her own brand of powers, drawn from the Caribbean and African spirituality of her religion.

A Publishers Weekly reviewer called the story "an engaging, fast-paced action drama" and concluded by saying that "Tinsley's script has an urgent subtext commenting on the illegal police brutality endured by many black and Latino New Yorkers."

Randy Lander and Don MacPherson reviewed the novel for FourthRail.com. MacPherson remarked that "what struck me most about this script is its anger. Tinsley has clearly built his plot around the nastier side of New York City's past.… In the wake of September 11, 2001, it's become remarkably easy for us to forget about the sociological and political blemishes that characterized the city in the world's eyes. I think it's great that police officers and other emergency-response professionals are now held in high regard, but Tinsley reminds us how easy it is for the power we've entrusted them with to corrupt."

Scott Woods reviewed The Festering Season for Comic World News online, calling it "a strong story set with real characters, good pacing, and some engaging art, especially with its daring two-tone presentation (tan and gray). That the book was designed as a novel and not a series allows it to unfold in a natural, nonrepetitive way that's refreshing, even at 227 pages. Check it out. The company's got the Motts, and if they keep their editorial chops up, they're set to release some really stunning work in the future."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Comic Buyer's Guide, August 9, 2002, Maggie Thompson, review of The Festering Season.

New York Times, November 3, 2002, George Gene Gustines, review of The Festering Season.

Publishers Weekly, September 23, 2002, review of The Festering Season, p. 51.

ONLINE

Comic World News,http://www.comicworldnews.com/ (March 7, 2003), Scott Woods, review of The Festering Season.

FourthRail.com,http://www.thefourthrail.com/ (November 2, 2002), Randy Lander and Don MacPherson, review of The Festering Season.

Stickman Graphics,http://www.stickmangraphics.com/ (March 20, 2004).*