Kyle Starks

Kyle Starks makes comics the way blockbuster action movies work—loud, fast, and packed with moments that make you cheer, laugh, and maybe even tear up before the credits roll. A three-time Eisner Award nominee (for Sexcastle, Rock Candy Mountain, and I Hate This Place), Starks has carved a singular space in modern comics, careening from a meta-horror series about slasher monsters hiding in a gated community to an all-ages martial arts romance graphic novel without missing a beat. Perfect for fans of The Boys, Chew, Scott Pilgrim, and any story where big dumb action guys discover they have feelings.

From Ricky Thunder to Eisner Recognition

Starks launched his career the way the best indie creators do: with a webcomic and a Kickstarter. His first comic, The Legend of Ricky Thunder (2012), exploded onto the scene as an absurdist wrestling comedy about a pro-wrestler who discovers wrestling is fake—a premise that immediately established Starks’ gift for finding genuine heart inside ridiculous concepts. ComicsAlliance called it “quite possibly the best wrestling comic book ever made,” and the successful Kickstarter-funded director’s cut proved there was an audience hungry for his brand of chaos.

He doubled down in 2014 with Sexcastle, an all-out homage to ’80s action films published through Image Comics. Equal parts Commando and Die Hard filtered through an unapologetically cartoonish lens, Sexcastle earned Starks his first Eisner nomination for Best Humor Publication in 2016 and was optioned for a film adaptation by the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame). While the film hasn’t materialized as of 2026, the nomination put the industry on notice: Kyle Starks had arrived.

The Rick and Morty Years

In 2016, Starks stepped into what would become his highest-profile gig: writing Oni Press’s Rick and Morty comic series. Over the next five years, he wrote 48 issues of the series, becoming the longest-tenured writer in the book’s history. His knack for replicating the show’s rapid-fire dialogue, pop culture satire, and surprising emotional gut-punches made him a natural fit. During this period he also wrote Invader Zim for Oni and launched the Kickstarter-funded Kill Them All —another action-comedy that was subsequently optioned for film.

2017 brought Rock Candy Mountain , his second Eisner-nominated OGN. Described as “the world’s toughest hobo searching for the mythological Rock Candy Mountain in post-World War II America,” it’s Starks at his most unhinged and inventive—a picaresque adventure full of hobo fights, train-hopping, magical realism, and the Literal Devil. The series earned him a second consecutive Eisner nomination for Best Humor Publication and cemented his reputation as one of the funniest writers in comics.

Collaborations and Expanding Horizons

Starks thrives on collaboration, and his creative partnerships have produced some of the most electrifying comics of the past decade. In 2019, he teamed with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl artist Erica Henderson for Assassin Nation , a Skybound-published series about the world’s greatest hitman hiring the world’s other greatest hitmen to protect him. The “anyone can die” thriller showcased Starks’ ensemble writing and Henderson’s kinetic linework at full throttle.

His partnership with Chris Schweizer —one of the most fruitful creative duos in modern comics—began with Mars Attacks for Dynamite Entertainment in 2018 and reached its peak with The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton (Image/Skybound, 2021). The series—about six former TV sidekicks solving the murder of their monstrous ex-co-star—landed on Polygon’s Best Comics of 2022 list, with Chip Zdarsky calling Schweizer “an astounding artist” and the book earning widespread acclaim.

In 2022, Starks unleashed I Hate This Place with artist Artyom Topilin, a horror series about a couple trapped on a ranch surrounded by monsters and aliens. Originally titled Fuck This Place, Image offered “clean” and “explicit” covers to retailers, and the series became a critical hit, earning a GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Comic Book.

Going Mainstream (Without Losing the Edge)

2023 marked a landmark year as Starks crashed into the Big Two with Peacemaker Tries Hard! for DC Black Label, a six-issue miniseries illustrated by Steve Pugh with colors by Jordie Bellaire. The series captured the anarchic energy of James Gunn’s TV show while layering in Starks’ signature emotional subtext—“big dumb action guys with a lot of stuff going on underneath,” as he described it in his interview with The Beat.

That same year, he unleashed the meta-horror series Where Monsters Lie at Dark Horse with artist Piotr Kowalski—a Cabin in the Woods meets Tucker and Dale vs Evil premise following slasher monsters living in a gated community between murder sprees. The series proved so popular it spawned multiple sequels (Cull-De-Sac, Dead End) and a successful Kickstarter campaign for the final chapter in 2025.

2024 saw the release of Karate Prom through First Second Books—an all-ages OGN described by Publishers Weekly as an “homage to 1980s adolescent dramedy and martial-arts pulp,” with high school fighters navigating romance and violence in the lead-up to prom. He also wrote Pine and Merrimac for BOOM! Studios, a detective comic, and the darkly hilarious Those Not Afraid for Dark Horse.

Current and Upcoming Work

Starks continues at a blistering pace. Wrestle Heist (Image, 2025–2026) sees him return to his wrestling roots as both writer and artist, telling the story of a disgraced wrestler who assembles a team to rob his former promoter. With colors by Vlad Popov , it’s his most personal project since The Legend of Ricky Thunder.

At DC, he unleashed End of Life (2026) as part of the relaunched Vertigo line, alongside projects for Batman: The Brave and the Bold and the riotous Lobo Cancellation Special. Devil on My Shoulder continues at Dark Horse, and the Where Monsters Lie: Dead End Kickstarter fulfillment is underway for 2026.

Starks lives in Evansville, Indiana, and is represented by InkWell Management. He credits his uncle, Tony Starks (no, not that Tony Stark), for introducing him to comics through his collection of Golden and Silver Age books. His Patreon community receives monthly sticker clubs, exclusive content, and behind-the-scenes looks at his creative process.