The late-1960s documentary film of Dada by Helmut Herbst has haunted me for some time and has been an influence both in its form and for its subject. “Germany Dada” or “DADA-Manifest – DA DA – ein Alphabet des deutschen Dadaismus” or “Germany-DADA: An...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Take a Picture, by Asher Z. Craw
No discussion of work from local artists and writers can possibly be considered complete without including the Craws, and Asher’s Take a Picture is a lovely and thoughtful addition to Portland’s creative body. The first story included, “Unknown: Life & Death...
Read moreAlan Moore – the Low-Budget Biopic
Jeffrey Lewis tells you all you need to know about Alan Moore. We have just added about 40 of Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics titles to the Wow Cool store, most at discounted prices. Go get yours.
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: The Golem of Gabirol, by Olga Volozova
Olga Volozova’s portrait of the life of the late Solomon Ibn Gabirol mixes ancient Jewish lore with her unique, fluid style of storytelling in The Golem of Gabirol. Originally told by Ibn Yahya in “Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah,” legend has it...
Read moreNew in the Store: Vortex #4!
Welcome to the psychedelic space fantasy cosmos of the Hyperverse, a realm filled with immensely powerful beings who battle over worlds with strange geologies and hoard advanced technologies left by ancient starfarers. The Vortex are shape-shifting berserkers created and enslaved by the Empire...
Read moreGo Listen: Eight Hour Four Tet Mix on Rinse FM
The soundtrack for your day. On Sunday, the 6th of October 2013, Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet, took over the Rinse FM airwaves for a very special one-off extended 8 hour show featuring guest mixes from Caribou, Floating Points, Anthony Naples & Pearson Sound, which ran all night...
Read moreLiverpool FC – Anfield Rap
For those who did not get the full effect, and were left needing more from our last post, here is the entire Anfield rap. You will never walk alone, brother.
Read moreRight Place, Wrong Speed – John Peel Day +1
Yes, we are a day late. Friday, October 11 (or possibly Sunday, the thirteenth, or maybe some other day… we acknowledge the eleventh) was John Peel Day. Digging around this week, nearly nine years after John Peel passed, a number of things were discovered on the interwebs that are worth...
Read moreSupport This: DICE: Durham Indie Comics Expo
DICE is the Durham Indie Comics Expo, a comics art festival in Durham, North Carolina. The show will feature lectures, panels, signings, minicomics and more! DICE is running an IndieGoGo campaign to raise at least $3,000 to fund this otherwise completely free show. DICE is the Durham Indy Comics...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Watching Days Become Years #1, by Jeff LeVine
Be warned: the first issue of Watching Days Become Years will sneak up on you, make you feel like you’re understood and in good company, and then, at the last possible minute, punch you right in the gut. Knowing that, do you still want to read it? You should. Jeff LeVine writes about...
Read moreSupport This: Persimmon Cup Collection by Nick Bertozzi
“120-page full-color graphic novel of the first book of my webcomic Persimmon Cup. Sci-fi in scope, Bertozzi-ish in execution.” The great Nick Bertozzi has turned to self-publishing and Kickstarter for the print edition of his popular web comic Persimmon Cup. There is barely a week...
Read moreThe Wow Cool Shop Grows Deep And Wide
Sorry that headline kinda sucks. Wow Cool has recently acquired the stock of legendary retailer Independent Comics and we are getting all those many fine and seldom seen alt comics titles into the shop as fast as we can. We also have picked up the Karl Stevens illustrated Anatomy for Artists by...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Neptune, by Aron Nels Steinke
Aron Nels Steinke possesses a rare talent: he has the ability to create stories that will appeal to children and adults in equal measure. This talent is exercised magnificently in his first graphic novel, Neptune. Co-published by Sparkplug Books and Tugboat Press, Neptune is a quirky, adorable...
Read moreNew In The Shop Tom Hart’s RL Chapter Three
RL #3 – The third chapter of Tom Hart’s chronicle of his daughter Rosalie Lightning’s far too brief life – a work in progress – is now available in this very limited risograph printed and hand assembled comic made by the artist at SAW – The Sequential Artists...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: I’m Not Afraid to Love (Gridlords Anthology)
Did you know that Gridlords is happening this Saturday, the 28th, at The Waypost? And did you know that several talented comics folks in attendance will be debuting work from the new Gridlords anthology, Other Worlds?! We’re super excited about it! Other Worlds, edited and...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Reich #10, by Elijah Brubaker
I don’t know about you, but I love graphic biographies, illustrated journalism, and historical comics. From the highly detailed, moving work of Joe Sacco to Kate Beaton’s hilarious history gags to the recent and highly acclaimed March, learning about the past, the...
Read moreThe Golem of Gabirol in Maximum Rocknroll!
Olga Volozova’s The Golem of Gabirol got a great review in the September issue of Maximum Rocknroll (#364) from Mariam Bastani! Check it out: “This is a comic rendition of 11th century Moorish Spain-based poet, scholar, kabbalist Ibn Gabriol’s Legends Around the Name. The comic...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Goodbye Turtle and An Unfilled Circle, by Yumi Sakugawa
I don’t think there’s a word in the English language for the feeling of simultaneously being sad and being happy that you’re sad, because your sadness means that there is beauty in the world, even in small tragedies, and you are capable of being moved by such...
Read moreSF Zine Fest pics on Facebook now!
We had a great time tabling at San Francisco Zine Fest over the weekend of Aug 31 to Sept 1. Thanks everyone who stopped to say hi, buy stuff, or just to take a look. Go to our Facebook page to see more fun photos of the event.
Read moreSparkplug at SPX 2013 This Weekend!
Come see us at one of the country’s largest and most celebrated independent comics and arts festivals: the 2013 Small Press Expo! We are so excited to be a part of this event; come visit Tom Neely at table J1 and check out our great new books! The Expo will be held this weekend, September...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Rock That Never Sleeps, by Olga Volozova and Juliacks
What do we forget? How do we remember? At the heart of this arresting story by Olga Volozova and Juliacks is Rock That Never Sleeps, a mystical junkyard lost in time, filled with memories and kept by mysterious sages. If you take something from this place, though, you must leave something...
Read moreOperation Ivy – Live 4/25/1988 – The Boilermaker in St. Louis, MO
I never got to see Operation Ivy play live either. Saw them lots of other times tho… Running from cops, drinking coffee, watching Sesame Street. Lint really did cruise around El Cerrito on a lo-rider bicycle… I think that is in a rock video somewhere. Didn’t know there was...
Read moreHappiness Now in our Shop
Yes, Happiness. We can guarantee you that. It took some time, but the technology is now in place. Well, obviously that’s just a load of hooey. We can, however offer you the first three issues of the bleeding-edge New York-based comics anthology Happiness, edited by Leah Wishnia, and the...
Read moreSparkplug Highlights: Sorry Sheets, by Eroyn Franklin
The smallest things become imbued with meaning when we are living in a state of emotional distress: when we are leaving our home for good, or dealing with death, or living as one half of a failing relationship. Everything seems portentous, pregnant with omens. Erin Franklin illustrates this...
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