Meet Damian Alexander, creator of Other Boys!

Damian Alexander

What initially drew you to comics?
I think what really drew me to comics was being able to tell a story visually. I used to write traditional prose a lot more, but I always found myself frustrated because I couldn’t directly show readers what I wanted them to see. The visuals also allow you to sneak in little extras in the background that aren’t super important to the story, but add a lot of extra depth.

What was the inspiration behind Other Boys?
I kept making little comics about my childhood that I posted online and they kept getting comments and likes. Some even went viral! Other Boys ended up expanding off of those little stories.

What scene or panel sequence did you most enjoy drawing?
I really enjoyed drawing the early childhood pages. I was very expressive and emotional as a little kid and I love drawing faces. Which is probably why Other Boys is filled with close up panels. I also loved wider images where I could sprinkle little bits of nostalgia in the background that I think people close in age to me will appreciate.

Other boy

About the Book

Other Boys

In Other Boys, debut author Damian Alexander delivers a moving middle grade graphic memoir about his struggles with bullying, the death of his mother, and coming out.

Damian is the new kid at school, and he has a foolproof plan to avoid the bullying that’s plagued him his whole childhood: he’s going to stop talking. Starting on the first day seventh grade, he won’t utter a word. If he keeps his mouth shut, the bullies will have nothing to tease him about—right?

But Damian’s vow of silence doesn’t work—his classmates can tell there’s something different about him. His family doesn’t look like the kind on TV: his mother is dead, his father is gone, and he’s being raised by his grandparents in a low-income household. And Damian does things that boys aren’t supposed do, like play with Barbies instead of GI Joe. Kids have teased him about this his whole life, especially other boys. But if boys can be so cruel, why does Damian have a crush on one?