Hello y’all! Sparkplug is heading to the Midwest for one final show. We’ll be exhibiting at CAKE Chicago with Suzette Smith. This is one of our favorite fests and it’s free and open to the public, so be sure to check it out! Info below: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE)...
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SPARKPLUG BOOKS IS NO LONGER OPEN. Please visit Alternative Comics for updates and to purchase our books. THANK YOU FOR YOUR YEARS OF SUPPORT! {If you have any questions, please email virginia (at) sparkplugcomicbooks (dot) com.} June 11th & 12th – Sparkplug will be at CAKE in Chicago...
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Sparkplug will be at Linework NW this weekend! Linework is free and open to the public. There is a different group of tablers each day, so be sure you visit both days. We’ll be selling our books with Suzette Smith (Ce/Ze) on Sunday from 1pm-8pm. Hope to see you there!
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Hey y’all, tomorrow’s the last day to place orders! May 17th – This is the last day to place any online orders, including wholesale orders. Marc Arsenault is picking up the books from me the weekend of Linework. I’ll be taking the shop part of the site down after this.It...
Read moreJust a reminder: May 17th – This is the last day to place any online orders, including wholesale orders. Marc Arsenault is picking up the books from me the weekend of Linework. I’ll be taking the shop part of the site down after this. It would be really wonderful if you wanted to...
Read moreJust a reminder: May 17th – This is the last day to place any online orders, including wholesale orders. Marc Arsenault is picking up the books from me the weekend of Linework. I’ll be taking the shop part of the site down after this. It would be really wonderful if you...
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Hello again friends! I hope you are having a good spring. I wanted to let you know a couple upcoming dates for Sparkplug. May 17th – This is the last day to place any online orders, including wholesale orders. Marc Arsenault is picking up the books from me the weekend of Linework. ...
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Hello friends, It is with mixed feelings that I must announce that I will be shutting down Sparkplug this year. I appreciate the opportunities that running Sparkplug has given me and the wonderful people it has introduced me to. I know Sparkplug means a lot to many people and I want to...
Read moreYou can now get all five issues of the Sparkplug Minis Series at once, for the low price of $25 (plus shipping)! Check it out here. Quantities are pretty limited for the complete set since we are nearly out of Yumi Sakugawa’s Bird Girl and Fox Girl.
Read more“There’s just something awesome about seeing something, physically holding it, being able to sit with an image. That somebody can sit and look at it and interpret it anyway they want to. I think that’s pretty powerful.” Our friends at Bitch Magazine have interviewed...
Read more“This is hard art. Unrelenting and necessary.” Daniel Elkin has written a wonderful review of Ebin Lee’s A Wretch Like Me, which debuted last month. Check out the full review here.
Read moreWe’ll be doing a pop up shop this weekend in Portland. Screaming Sky Gallery is a lovely little collectible toy shop and local art gallery and we’re honored to be hosted by them! Please stop by to check out the shop and pick up some books! The pop up is this Sunday...
Read moreWe’re so proud to tell you that Whit Taylor’s The Anthropologists was included in the 2015 Best American Comics notables list. If you haven’t checked out this excellent autobiographical examination of race and self, you can find it here in our webstore! There are so many...
Read moreThe next book in the Sparkplug Minis Series is now available for pre-order. A Wretch Like Me is a gorgeous visual journal by Portland artist Ebin Lee. Pre-ordered copies will ship out the week of November 2nd. The book will debut at Short Run in Seattle!
Read moreJust a reminder! Sparkplug will be at SPX this year! It takes place September 19th and 20th at the Bethesda Marriott. More details here! William Cardini, author of Vortex, and Sparkplug superstar Jenny Flax will be at the table with postcards for free and plenty of books for you to check...
Read moreHave you checked out our summer sale yet? Lots of great items like those shown above! Check out the full list here!
Read moreWe are excited to announce the fifth book in the Sparkplug Minis Series! A Wretch Like Me: Sad/Black/Ugly/Queer is by Portland artist Ebin Lee. Lee describes the book as “A Wretch Like Me is my visual journal of Depression/Anxiety/ and Body Dysphoria.” The book will...
Read moreJimmy Yee awakes in a phone booth encased in concrete with no memory of how he got there. What follows is a slow unraveling of the truth as Jimmy puzzles out the preceding events based on his knowledge of scientific principles and the contents of his pockets. With its captivating, expertly paced...
Read moreAfter a brief break to get our website fixed up, the summer sale continues! Select books, minis and zines are 50% off in the store, including both Sparkplug and distro titles. You can find the complete list here. There’s a lot of good stuff in there, please check it out...
Read moreWhile driving around Oakland, ruminating on the history of underground comics in the Bay Area, the main character fatally hits Dan Clowes. After convincing his partner to help him hide the body, he immediately goes on to accidentally kill another indie comics darling. The two spirits meet in the...
Read moreVortex was recommended on Broken Frontier’s Small Press Payday last week, along with a bunch of other great small press titles. “Kirby in terms of concepts, Ditko in the sheer otherness of its confines, and yet quite unlike either in delivery, Vortex is a mesmerising...
Read moreSparkplug will be at Autoptic in Minneapolis this weekend! We’ll have a full stock of our titles, including a bunch of sale books! Autoptic takes place August 8th and 9th at Aria. More details here!
Read moreRob Clough wrote a wonderful review of the final Reich issue over at High-Low: “Reich was a fantastic series about the ways in which ego and personality conflict with seeking the truth, and how those conflicts affect those around us.” Read the full review here.
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