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Sparkplug Comic Books
Founded	2002
Founder	Dylan Williams
Defunct	2016
Country of origin	U.S.A.
Headquarters location	Portland, Oregon
Key people	Virginia Paine, Tom Neely
Publication types	Comic books, graphic novels
Fiction genres	Alternative

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 was later handled by Alternative Comics.

Cartoonists published by Sparkplug included Austin English, Jason Shiga, Renée French, Julia Gfrörer, Katie Skelly, Juliacks, Yumi Sakugawa, Whit Taylor, Elijah Brubaker, and Jeff LeVine.

Sparkplug eschewed traditional distributors and comic book retailers; instead focusing on festivals, conventions, and direct sales through the company website.^[1]

History

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]

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 and Tugboat Press)
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) – Yumi Sakugawa
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) – Jason Shiga
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) ISBN 978-0974271576 – Renée French
Fleep (2002) – Jason Shiga
Flesh and Bone (2010) – Julia Gfrörer
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) – Katie Skelly
Orchid (2002) – anthology of Victorian horror stories adapted into comics form, edited by Dylan Williams and Ben Catmull^[1]
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 and Jeremy Tiedeman; co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat Press
2009 Bird Hurdler – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat Press
2010 Dope Flounder – co-published with Teenage Dinosaur and Tugboat Press^[6]
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