Thursday, August 25, 2011

Buy Some Sparkplug Books Already.


Dear reader, recently my friend and publisher, Dylan Williams, of Sparkplug Comic Books has taken ill and it has been a hard time for both him and his wife Emily. I'm glad somebody started a fundraiser to help them out financially while they deal with medical costs.

How does the fundraiser work you ask? Buy some comics and help Dylan and Emily. Go here to browse some of the best comics being published today and help my friends out. Not only can you help them out you can also get some awesome books while you're at it. While there are many great Sparkplug titles, some of my favorites are the following:

Sausage Hand by Andrew Smith: - Beautiful artwork and bizaare stream-of conciousness style comics. Usually I'm not a fan of gross-out comics, but this is much, much more.

I Want Everything To Be Okay by Carrie McNinch:
This book, published by Tugboat Press (Sparkplug not only publishes but also distributes for many artsits and other small presses) is one of the best autobiographical comics ever. This is true. I should go back and read it again. Check out any of her comics.

Department of Art #1 by Dunja Jankovic: Rendered with a painter's eye with what looks like graphite, charcoal, and paint, this book is a surreal trip to read over and over. The flow from panel to panel, and the uniqueness of this work is what stands out to me. Dunja's made a sequel to this comic which is great too.

Watching Days Become Years by Jeff Levine:
Each issue in this series acts as visual poetry. I love the way Levin's line work breathes life and effortlessness into the pages. I really enjoy the slow, moody, and self-reflective stories.

Eschew by Robert Sergal: Rarely does anyone's linework look as flawless as Robert Sergals in this comic series. I have to say I feel sort of an affinity with Robert's work as far as his design aesthetic and story pacing, plotting, etc. Really nice comics and from what I can tell, extremely underrated.

I Was Born But... by Emily Nilsson: Emily knows how to write! Also, I have an illustration in this zine. Emily has more work out there but you've got to try hard to find it.

Reporter by Dylan Williams: Dylan publishes and makes comics too!! Yes, it's true. A fellow Xeric grant recipient, Dylan has created a set of stories that support one another yet can stand by themselves. Number 5 is my favorite right now... Reporter feels like a film noir from the 50s.

Passage by Tessa Brunton: The most recent of Sparkplug Books... I haven't read it, but I saw the mini-comics. This is the book I'm buying.

So that's it for now. I'd recommend more but there's too many. Then I'd have to explain why I left certain ones out!

There you have it. I can't recommend Sparkplug Books anymore. They truely are some of the best comics being published today. Dylan is a great friend and a pillar of the comics community. Someone once said, "nicest guy in comics" and I can't think of anyone better to recieve that title. I hope you can help him out.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Big Plans 5!


I'm posting this image twice, because I love it so much. I have this insane idea of doing the whole comic in color. It'd be prohibitively expensive, I know, but the thought is nice.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Big Plans 5 on Kickstarter?

Hey ya'll. I'm just waiting to hear from Kickstarter if they'll let me do a project or not. What I want to do is a 112-page issue of Big Plans. It will be full-color with a printing limited to 700. I can't really ask for any more money. Big books cost a lot. And my distribution is dismal. So, anyway, I want to put this up so you can get a sense of how the color cover will look. This is the spread, including the spine, which will go well with Neptune. Not sure if the cover price will be 10 or 12$. We'll see how much $ I get or don't. I'm really scared the project won't get funded. It's up to you to make it happen! Spread the word. Well, when the word is out. It's not yet. Check for updates.


Saturday, August 13, 2011

Big Plans 5

Big Plans 5 is officially done. That is, I'm working on the last minor Photoshop edits. Tomorrow is the InDesign stage and I'm getting quotes from the printer. It's 112 pages, and will probably be perfect bound. I'm thinking I'm going to do this as a Kickstarter project. Keep your ear out for updates.