Sparkplug Comic Books is a defunct publisher and distributor of

alternative comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

founded by cartoonist Dylan Williams.Spurgeon, Tom
"Dylan Williams, 1970-2011,"
''The Comics Reporter'' (September 18, 2011). Based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, the company operated from 2002 to 2016. The publisher's backlist is now handled by

Alternative Comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

. Cartoonists published by Sparkplug included Austin English,

Jason Shiga Jason Shiga (born 1976) is an American cartoonist who incorporates puzzles, mysteries and unconventional narrative techniques into his work. Early life Jason Shiga is from Oakland, California. His father, Seiji Shiga, was an animator who worke ...

Renée French Renée French (born 1963) is an American comics writer and illustrator and, under the pen name Rainy Dohaney, a children's book author, and exhibiting artist. Her work is characterized by her "obsessive-looking and highly unsettling visual style ...

Julia Gfrörer Julia Gfrörer (born September 12, 1982) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and author. Her work is often transgressive, invoking occult themes within an ambience of subtly observed historicist concerns, in narratives g ...

Katie Skelly Katie Skelly is an American comics artist and illustrator. She is best known for her graphic novels ''My Pretty Vampire'', ''Maids'', and ''Nurse Nurse''. Biography Katie Skelly was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Her father's side of the family ...

, Juliacks,

Yumi Sakugawa Yumi Sakugawa is a comic artist based in California. Her work has been published online, in feminist magazines and in book form. Sakugawa also edits a blog about wellness. She was nominated for an Ignatz Award in 2014 for her mini comic, ''Never F ...

, Whit Taylor, Elijah Brubaker, and Jeff LeVine. Sparkplug eschewed traditional

distributors A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark plugs ...

and

comic book retailer The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * four major comic distributors: ** Lunar D ...

s; instead focusing on festivals, conventions, and direct sales through the company website.

History

One of Sparkplug's first projects,

's ''

Fleep ''Fleep'' is a graphic novel by Jason Shiga. It was originally published in comic strip format in ''AsianWeek'' in 2002. It was later collected and published by Sparkplug Comic Books. Synopsis Jimmy Yee awakens to find himself trapped in a telep ...

'', was the 2003

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

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 Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and is often cross-promoted wit ...

; they were always produced in partnership with

Tim Goodyear Timothy "Tim" Patrick Goodyear (born August 1977) is an American minicomics publisher, distributor, and comics artist from San Jose, California. He has been a contributor to Tim Root's ''Crappy Comics'', Sean Aaberg's ''PORK'', and has compiled ...

's company Teenage Dinosaur as well as other Portland-area small-press publishers. Sparkplug founder Dylan Williams died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

in September 2011; three projects were published posthumously via the crowdfunding site IndieGoGo. 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. Sparkplug shut down in June 2016, with the company's backlist moving to

Publications

Ongoing titles

* ''Eschew'' (2 issues, 2010) – Robert Sergel * ''Jin & Jam'' (1 issue, 2009) – Hellen Jo * ''Papercutter'' (16 issues, 2006–2016) – (co-published with

Teenage Dinosaur Timothy "Tim" Patrick Goodyear (born August 1977) is an American minicomics publisher, distributor, and comics artist from San Jose, California. He has been a contributor to Tim Root's ''Crappy Comics'', Sean Aaberg's ''PORK'', and has compiled ...

and

Tugboat Press A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

) * ''Reich'' (12 issues, 2007–2014) – Elijah Brubaker * Sparkplug Minis: # ''Hungry Summer'' (2014) – Asher Craw # ''The Anthropologists'' (2014) – Whit Taylor # ''Bird Girl and Fox Girl'' (2014) –

# ''Ce/Za'' – Suzette Smith (2015) # ''A Wretch Like Me'' (Oct. 2015) – Ebin Lee * ''Tales to Demolish'' (3 issues, 2003–2006) – Eric Haven * ''Watching Days Become Years'' (4 issues, July 2003–2007) – Jeff LeVine * ''Windy Corner Magazine'' (3 issues, 2007–2009) – Austin English

Graphic novels, anthologies, collections, and one-shots

* ''Asiaddict'' (2006) – Mats! * ''Asthma'' (2006) – John Hankiewicz * ''Bookhunter'' (2007) –

* ''Christina and Charles'' (2006) – Austin English * ''Danny Dutch'' (2009) – David King * ''Department of Art'' (2009) – Dunja Jankovic * ''The Disgusting Room'' (2011) – Austin English * ''Edison Steelhead's Lost Portfolio: Exploratory Studies of Girls and Rabbits'' (June 2007) –

* ''

'' (2002) – Jason Shiga * ''Flesh and Bone'' (2010) –

* ''Gay Genius'' (2011) – edited by Annie Murphy * ''The Golem of Gabirol'' (2012) – Olga Volozova * ''The Heavy Hand'' (2011) – Chris Cilla * ''The Hot Breath of War'' (2008) – Trevor Alixopulos * ''Inkweed'' (2007) – Chris Wright * ''It Lives'' (2003) – Ted May * ''Lemon Styles'' (2010) – David King * ''Nurse Nurse'' (2012) –

* ''Orchid'' (2002) – anthology of Victorian horror stories adapted into comics form, edited by Dylan Williams and Ben Catmull * ''Passage'' (2012) – Tessa Brunton * ''Reporter: Little Black'' (2002) – Dylan Williams * ''Rock That Never Sleeps'' (2009) – Olga Volazova and Juliacks * ''Whirlwind Wonderland'' (2010) – Rina Ayuyang (co-published with Tugboat Press)

Free Comic Book Day mini-comic anthologies

* 2008 ''Nerd Burglar''– edited by

Andrice Arp Andrice Arp (born 1969 in Los Angeles) is a U.S. comics artist and illustrator, and the daughter of Halton Arp. She has been a contributor to the self-published comic ''Hi-Horse''. In 2004, ''Hi-Horse Omnibus'', comprising all new material, was pu ...

and Jeremy Tiedeman; co-published with

and

* 2009 ''Bird Hurdler'' – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat Press * 2010 ''Dope Flounder'' – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat PressClough, Rob
"Public Service: Dope Flounder,"
''The Comics Journal'' (July 10, 2010). * 2011 ''Dan Quayl'' – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur, Revival House Press, and Gazeta Comics * 2012 ''Brad Trip'' – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur, Revival House, and Floating World Comics * 2013 ''Master P's Theater'' – co-published with Floating World Comics, Snakebomb Comix, and Teenage Dinosaur * 2014 ''Barrio Mothers'' – co-published with Floating World Comics, Snakebomb Comix, and Teenage Dinosaur * 2015 ''Free Stooges'' – co-published with Floating World Comics, Snakebomb Comix, and Teenage Dinosaur

References

Notes

Sources consulted

* *

External links

Dylan Williams obituary
on ''The Comics Reporter''
Dylan Williams tributes
on ''The Comics Journal'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sparkplug Comics Alternative Comics Companies based in Portland, Oregon Publishing companies established in 2002 Lists of comics by publisher 2002 establishments in Oregon