Author of
Side Quest: A Visual History of Role Playing Games, with Samuel Sattin (HarperCollins, 2024)
Lost and Found: A Heart of the City Collection (Volume 2) (Andrews McMeel, 2023)
Heart Takes the Stage (Andrews McMeel, 2022)
Archival Quality (Oni Press, 2018)
Mine! (ComicMix, 2018)
Elements: Fire (Beyond Press, 2017)
Christina ‘Steenz’ Stewart is a St. Louis based cartoonist, editor, and professor. They are the co-creator of Dwayne McDuffie Award winning graphic novel Archival Quality from Oni Press and are featured in several short story anthologies such as Eisner and Ignatz Award-Winning Elements: Fire, Mine!, and the horror anthology Dead Beats. Steenz launched and edited the popular RPG periodical Rolled & Told. They participate in and create community building comics related programming, and are a frequent panelist at several comic cons. Steenz currently teaches cartooning at Webster University while editing titles from Tapas Media and Mad Cave Studios. They are currently working on Side Quest, a semi memoir and graphic novel history of tabletop role playing games with Sam Sattin forthcoming from Imprint/Macmillan in 2022. They are also the cartoonist on syndicated comic strip Heart of The City from Andrews McMeel.
Steenz
Books by Steenz
Side Quest: A Visual History of Role Playing Games with Samuel Sattin, (HarperCollins, 2024)
For fans of dungeon crawls and dice rolls — and anyone wanting to know more about them — Side Quest is a stand-alone graphic novel history of tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), from ancient games to those played today, with personal stories from creators throughout! With a meld of history, fantasy, and memoir, Side Quest: A Visual History of Roleplaying Games gives existing TTRPG fans insight into the history of the medium—and provides a gateway for anyone new to the phenomenon. An inviting introduction to what TTRPGs are, why they matter, and how readers can get involved, Side Quest is geared toward an audience of gamers, non-gamers, and general readers alike. Equal parts enlightening, adventurous, and approachable, this appealing graphic nonfiction book is one that everyone can enjoy!
Lost and Found: A Heart of the City Collection (Volume 2) (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2023)
This second collection of Heart of the City comics by award-winning author Steenz includes an entire school year’s worth of friendship, drama, comedy, and middle school life lessons. You’ll want to book a front-row seat!
Heart Lamarr wants to follow in her father’s footsteps as an actor, but she hasn’t seen him in years—until he shows up on Christmas Eve with a surprise gift. It’s an especially timely reappearance after Heart’s dreams of stardom hit a major snag. Meanwhile, Charlotte and friends to lead a high-tech investigation into the mystery of the missing Lost and Found items. A visit from Dean’s cousin leads to a riveting boys vs. girls showdown, and Charlotte welcomes a shy new girl to the school after seeing her with her family at the soup kitchen where Charlotte volunteers.
Heart Takes the Stage (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2022)
This first book collection of Heart of the City comics by the strip’s new creator, Steenz, is packed with outstanding art, a diverse cast of characters, and engaging, positive storylines about friendship, pop culture, ghost stories, and a wide range of real-world issues.
Heart Lamarr is a girl with big dreams who lives in Philadelphia with her single mom. She has her sights set on a life of theater, but she runs into plenty of drama off-stage, too. Luckily, her best friends Dean, Kat, and Charlotte form a stellar supporting cast to help Heart navigate the challenging world of school plays, cliques, rumors, and everything else middle school throws at them.
Archival Quality (Oni Press, 2018)
After losing her job at the library, Cel Walden starts working at the haunting Logan Museum as an archivist. But the job may not be the second chance she was hoping for, and she finds herself confronting her mental health, her relationships, and before long, her grasp on reality as she begins to dream of a young woman she's never met, but feels strangely drawn to. Especially after she asks Cel for help…
As Cel attempts to learn more about the woman, she begins losing time, misplacing things, passing out—the job is becoming dangerous, but she can't let go of this mysterious woman. Who is she? Why is she so fixated on Cel? And does Cel have the power to save her when she's still trying to save herself?
Mine! (ComicMix, 2018)
Planned Parenthood, and the millions of people they help each year, need every bit of help they can get. Mine! is a comics anthology with the proceeds going to Planned Parenthood. With stories about trailblazing women, civil rights leaders, a person's first time going to a PP clinic, debunking myths about sex, STI screenings, HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, fantastical stories with superheroes, Greek mythology, and a future both with and without Planned Parenthood.
Elements: Fire (Beyond Press, 2017)
Elements: Fire is a comics anthology of 23 stories by creators of color from around the globe. With stories featuring peaceful warriors, blossoming brujas, godly hackers, and a fire-breathing dragon boy, we are the main characters of our own stories, not the sidekicks or token characters. This is an anthology that is full of our passions, magic, and inner fire because our diversity is not just a buzzword: it's our reality!