Sean Martin

Who is Sean Martin?

Sean Martin is a Canadian cartoonist, illustrator, and graphic designer, best known for the Doc and Raider comic strip series which appeared in LGBT publications in the 1980s and 1990s.

Martin lived in New York and San Francisco before moving to Canada in 1986. He took Canadian citizenship in 1989, living in Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. He published the first Doc and Raider strips in a Vancouver gay publication in 1987. Although the issue featuring Doc and Raider turned out to be the final issue of the publication, the strip was quickly picked up by other LGBT publications, including the Xtra! newspapers in Canada. The arrangement was a unique one in that Martin's fee for providing the panel was instead turned over to local charities and organizations, not necessarily LGBT ones; in its time, Doc and Raider underwrote everything from AIDS hospices in New Zealand to an arts festival in Scotland, resulting in total donations of close to a quarter million dollars. The characters have also been used to promote safer-sex practices and AIDS education, as well as rodeos, country dance conventions, and film festivals around the world.

Martin published two books of the comic: Doc and Raider: Caught on Tape in 1994 and Doc and Raider: Incredibly Lifelike in 1996. A third, to be presented as an eBook, is currently in the works. He has also written a manual for theatre designers, "Big Show Tiny Budget", based on his years as a scenic and costume designer, and a novella, "Triptych".