Sparkplug Comic Books was a publisher and distributor of alternative comics founded by cartoonist Dylan Williams.[1] Based in Portland, Oregon, the company operated from 2002 to 2016. The publisher's backlist is now handled by Alternative Comics.
Sparkplug eschewed traditional distributors and comic book retailers; instead focusing on festivals, conventions, and direct sales through the company website.[1]
Historyedit
One of Sparkplug's first projects, Jason Shiga's Fleep, was the 2003 Eisner Award winner for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition. (Shiga's Bookhunter, published in 2007, was also nominated for a couple of industry awards.)
From 2008 to 2015 Sparkplug co-published annual mini-comic anthologies in commemoration of Free Comic Book Day; they were always produced in partnership with Tim Goodyear's company Teenage Dinosaur as well as other Portland-area small-press publishers.
Sparkplug founder Dylan Williams died of leukemia in September 2011;[1] three projects were published posthumously via the crowdfunding site IndieGoGo.[2]
After Williams' death, the company was run as a trio by Virginia Paine, Tom Neely, and Williams' widow Emily Nillson.
Paine took over as sole publisher of Sparkplug in 2013.[3][4]
Sparkplug shut down in June 2016, with the company's backlist moving to Alternative Comics.[5]
Publicationsedit
Ongoing titlesedit
Eschew (2 issues, 2010) – Robert Sergel
Jin & Jam (1 issue, 2009) – Hellen Jo
Papercutter (16 issues, 2006–2016) – (co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat Press)
^Parkin, J. K. (March 19, 2012). "Sparkplug turns to IndieGoGo to fund three final Dylan Williams projects". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
^MacDonald, Heidi. Virginia Paine to take over Sparkplug Books; business to continue as usual," The Beat (April 20, 2013).
^MacDonald, Heidi. "Sparkplug Books announces the end of REICH for 2014 and a fundraiser," The Beat (Dec. 18, 2013).
^MacDonald, Heidi. "Sparkplug Books Shutting Down This Summer," The Beat (Feb. 18, 2016).