Reich #7 Excerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich over the next week as our Fall Books Kickstarter wraps up.   Keep an eye on this blog to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughtful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

New Reward Tier! $7 for a digital copy of Vortex

It's the last week of our Kickstarter and we added a new reward!  $7 gets you a DRM-free copy of Vortex!  The entire book!  For $7!  And you get the satisfaction of helping Sparkplug's legacy continue.  Check out all the rewards and our project here.

Reich #6 Excerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich over the next week as our Fall Books Kickstarter wraps up.   Keep an eye on this blog to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughtful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

Reich #5 Excerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich over the next week as our Fall Books Kickstarter wraps up.   Keep an eye on this blog to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughtful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

Reich #4 Excerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

 

I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich over the next week and a half as our Fall Books Kickstarter wraps up.   Keep an eye on this blog to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughtful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

MORE MIIZZZARD HISTORY, COMING TO YOU FROM THE HYPERCASTLE!

Hey all!  In honor of our Fall Books Kickstarter, William Cardini has been blogging about the history of the main character in Vortex, the Miizzzard.  Please click on over to give it a read, and check out our fundraiser.  We've got some really awesome rewards, including original art by Cardini!

Reich #3 Exerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

As part of our Fall Books Project, I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich.   Keep an eye on this blog for the next 11 days to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue of this series - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

Reich #2 Exerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

As part of our Fall Books Project, I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich.   Keep an eye on this blog for the next 11 days to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue of this series - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

New Sparkplug T-shirt Design!

This design, by Sera Stanton, is available on a t-shirt as one of the rewards for our Fall Books Kickstarter!  Please check out our page and help put our next two books out!

Reich #1 exerpt - Part of our Fall Books Project

As part of our Fall Books Project, I'm going to be posting a couple pages from each issue of Reich.   Keep an eye on this blog for the next 11 days to catch more glimpses of Elijah Brubaker's thoughful biography of scientist Wilhelm Reich.  Click here to support the publication of the twelfth issue of this series - your support means the the completion of this wonderful series!

History of the Miizzzard, Part 2

In conjunction with our Fall Books Kickstarter, William Cardini has been detailing the history of Vortex's main character, the Miizzzard.  Check out the second installment!

The Weirder than Weird Origins of the Miizzzard

In conjunction with our Fall Books Kickstarter, William Cardini is detailing the bizarre and fascinating origin story of Vortex's main character, the Miizzzard on his blog.  Give it a read, you won't be disappointed!  Afterwards, be sure to hop on over to our Kickstarter page to help turn these comics into a beautiful graphic novel.

One last reminder - Sparkplug at SPX!

Yumi Sakugawa will be covering the Sparkplug table at SPX this weekend!  That's September 13th from 11am to 7pm and September 14th from 12pm to 6pm at the Marriot Bethesda North in Maryland!  Yumi will have a good selection of Sparkplug's titles, including our newest books The Anthropologists and Reich #11, as well as her own books such as the Ignatz-nominated Never Forgets.  Please stop by, say hi and pick up some great titles!
Aaaaaaaaand, don't forget to check out and share our Fall Books Kickstarter!  Our next two books need your help to get made - and you'll get awesome rewards for your donation!

Reich #12 pg 3 - a sneak peek in conjuction with our Kickstarter!

To help promote our Fall Books Kickstarter, we'll be putting up the first three pages of Reich #12 this week.  Please check them out and take a moment to get into the story.  Then consider contributing or sharing!  This book can only be published with your help.  To everyone who has already given or shared, thank you so much!  We really appreciate it.
If we can get the funds up to $3000 by Sunday, I will post page four on Monday, so if you've been waiting to contribute, now's the time to do so!

You can read page one here and page two here.  And you can check out the rest of the Reich series in our store!

Sparkplug Highlight: Keep Fresh by Zejian Shen

Keep Fresh by Zeijan Shen is one of many comics we brought in recently! This minicomic definitely keeps fresh itself - the inking is beautiful with dark halftones. Most of the text is in Chinese with English translations at the bottom. Following the story of a few characters, it progressively becomes unclear who is who, and whether the world all the characters live in is the same as ours. Perhaps it's a futuristic ultraviolent world where gore and death are everyday. Perhaps it's all the delusion of one character... Everything isn't as it seems, but something is definitely amiss in this Akira-like future. 

A violent biker kid, someone working in a take-out restaurant and a bunny man's lives are all centered around the violent deaths happening around the neighborhood. The kills seem random and caused by biker delinquents. But what else is going on? The TV ads are all full of body horror and nobody is phased. Keep Fresh is a puzzle I want to sort out over again after reading it a few times. 

Aside from having a twisting storyline, this comic also features a lot of great psychedelic effects and panels. The uneasiness of the plot is reflected stylistically with intense line weights and character design. Bodies are distorted and intriguing. Definitely a comic worth reading!!

(46 pages, black and white with color cover, 9" x 5.5", Retrofit Comics)

available for purchase here!

Reich #12 pg 2 - a sneak peek in conjuction with our Kickstarter!

To help promote our Fall Books Kickstarter, we'll be putting up the first three pages of Reich #12 this week.  Please check them out and take a moment to get into the story.  Then consider contributing or sharing!  This book can only be published with your help.  We're super close to $1500 - that's a quarter of the way to our goal, which is amazing!  To everyone who has already given or shared, thank you so much!  We really appreciate it.

You can read page one here.   And you can check out the rest of the Reich series in our store!

Sparkplug at SPX!

Are you stoked for SPX?  We're stoked for SPX!  We'll have a small but excellent selection of books at the expo this weekend.  I(Virginia) won't be there, but Ignatz-nominated artist Yumi Sakugawa will be covering the table for us.  Please stop by, say hi and pick up a Sparkplug book or one of Yumi's comics!
And another reminder - our Fall Books Kickstarter is going strong, with over $1000 already raised.  Let's keep it up!  Please consider giving to or sharing the campaign.  Your help is so important!

Reich #12 pg 1 - a sneak peek in conjuction with our Kickstarter!

To help promote our Fall Books Kickstarter, we'll be putting up the first three pages of Reich #12 this week.  Please check them out and take a moment to get into the story.  Then consider contributing or sharing!  This book can only be published with your help.  As I write this, we are very close to $1000 - that's about 15%!  To everyone who has already given or shared, thank you so much!  We really appreciate it.

Sparkplug Highlight: Danny Dutch by David King

An experimental comic featuring four-panel strips on each page, Danny Dutch is an existential run through the minds of a few sad saps. I really have no clue what the heck David King is talking about, because I don't have the same foolhardy power that dudes do. But I think that is mostly what these comics are about - a reflection on sensitive boys with foolhardy power. 

These friends (boys? men??) have a bunch of emotions. They can dress up like business people and look professional, but that doesn't mean they aren't totally sappy and bummed out and confused about why they're moved by certain things. They are confused by ladies. They don't know how to act out their violent aggressions. They are children in men's clothing! 

Featuring super-close-up gross out panels like 90s cartoons, David King definitely appreciates some light humor on top of his heavier existential thought. While it does always get dark, this comic is delightful and a good look at what David King can do in four panels. 

(28 interior pgs, 8″ x 8″, color cover with black and white interiors, Sparkplug Books)

available here!

The Kickstarter for our fall books has launched!

Our Kickstarter is live!  We're raising funds for our next two books, Reich #12 and Vortex.  Please check out the description and our awesome rewards!  We really need your help to make these next two books, so please donate and share!