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Spike Trotman

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C. Spike Trotman
Trotman and her Templar characters at the 2008 MoCCA Festival in New York City
BornCharlie Spike Trotman
(1978-11-18) November 18, 1978 (age 45)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Area(s)Cartoonist, publisher, editor
Notable works
Templar, Arizona
Smut Peddler
AwardsGlyph Comics Award, 2007
http://ironcircus.com

Charlie Spike Trotman,[1] also known as C. Spike Trotman (born November 18, 1978), is an American cartoonist and publisher known for creating the long-running web comic Templar, Arizona, and for publishing the Smut Peddler anthologies of what she describes as "lady centric porn".[2] She is the founder and owner of Iron Circus Comics, an indie comics publisher which Forbes described as "a powerhouse of the indy landscape."[3]

Early and personal life

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Growing up in her hometown Potomac, Maryland, Trotman was a fan of Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Power Pack, and Excalibur comic strips in the Sunday Washington Post newspaper.[4] She attended Spelman College (1996–2000) achieving a bachelor's degree in Fine and Studio Arts, then attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2000–2001).[5] Her work centered on relationships and culture, and erotica. She also self-published on the web.[6] She married Matt Sheridan, the author she collaborated with on Sparkneedle in 2004.[6] She is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.[citation needed]

Career

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Her first notable online publications were Sparkneedle and Lucas and Odessa,[7] which she began serializing on Girlamatic in 2003.[8] Trotman released Templar, Arizona in 2005.[9]

In 2007, she founded Iron Circus Comics, a Chicago-based alternative comics publisher that was described by the Chicago Tribune as a pioneer in the industry for bringing queer-friendly fantasy, sci-fi, and erotica books to market and publishing underrepresented artists.[10][11][12][13] She told the Chicago Tribune that increasing diversity and representation in comics was part of her motivation for starting Iron Circus Comics: "When I was getting into comics, there was absolutely no room for people like me — people of color who wanted to tell their own stories, or women who wanted to tell their own stories. Comics had a very firm idea of what would sell or what qualified as niche. Anything a white, heterosexual man would make would be interpreted to having universal appeal, but anything I would make would automatically be classified as difficult to relate to or niche.”[11]

Iron Circus has published over 30 titles, including The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E. K. Weaver and Shadoweyes by Sophie Campbell.[14] Trotman created The Sleep of Reason (a horror anthology), New World, The Smut Peddler series, and Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less, an instructional book illustrated by Diana Nock.[15] In 2012, she revived the title Smut Peddler, first published by Johanna D. Carlson and Trisha L. Sebastian in 2003, created by women, primarily for a female readership.[16] In Kickstarter's first year, she funded a print edition of the book, Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less,In 2022, Iron Circus Comics published The Poorcraft Cookbook, illustrated by Nero Villagallos O'Reilly based on characters developed by Trotman.[17][18]

Trotman is known for integrating crowdfunding into her publishing company's business model.[19][12] Trotman "built a comic book publisher from the ground up," with Iron Circus Comics raising over $2.5 million over its first 30 Kickstarter campaigns.[20][21][22] Trotman moved away from using Kickstarter to an independent crowdsourcing platform after Kickstarter announced it would migrate to using blockchain technology.[19][23][24]

Selected works

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  • Templar, Arizona (2005) – The comic is an alternative history webcomic set in a fictional Arizona town. It focuses on ancient religions and survival cults, with a diverse cast of characters, relationships, cultures, and romances.[6]
  • Smut Peddler (2014 and 2016) – An anthology featuring erotic comics. The stories focused on varying sexual preferences often with science-fiction or fantasy themes.[6] Works featured in Smut Peddler involved sexual variety and consensual relationships. Male cartoonists were permitted to work on stories, but only as part of a team involving at least one-woman creator.[25][26]

Recognition and awards

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Publishers Weekly named Trotman a "Star to Watch" in 2015, recognizing her as a "go-to source for best practices on crowdfunding."[27][28]

In April 2018, Kickstarter named Trotman as one of the seven Kickstarter Thought Leaders invited to lead talks and host community events.[29]

She won the Rising Star Award for Templar Arizona in the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards.[30] She was a juror the Small Press Expo's Ignatz Awards in 2016.[31]

References

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  1. ^ @Iron_Spike (February 5, 2018). "Casual reminder for article writers and Twitter managers: Spike is part of my legal name. C. Spike Trotman. No quotes necessary. ( o_o)-b Thanks!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Smut Peddler, 2014 Edition". Iron Circus. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  3. ^ Salkowitz, Rob. "For Publishing Pioneer C. Spike Trotman, Crowdfunding Is Still The Way To Go". Forbes. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  4. ^ "Hire This Woman: Cartoonist and Publisher Spike Trotman". ComicsAlliance. October 22, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  5. ^ Dean, Michelle (November 13, 2015). "Spike Trotman: from slice-of-life to smut, a comic book artist doing it her own way". the Guardian. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d She changed comics : the untold story of the women who changed free expression in comics. Gomez, Betsy; Williams, Maren (First ed.). Berkeley, CA: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. 2016. ISBN 978-1632159298. OCLC 951760329.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ "The Bossest Comics on Girlamatic | The Comics Journal". August 12, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  8. ^ Asselin, Janelle (October 22, 2014). "Hire this Woman: Cartoonist and Publisher Spike Trotman". ComicsAlliance.
  9. ^ Dean, Michelle (November 13, 2015). "Spike Trotman: from slice-of-life to smut, a comic book artist doing it her own way". the Guardian. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "One-Woman Publisher C. Spike Trotman Gives Voice To Underrepresented Characters In Comics". Spreaker. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Jackson, Cheryl V. (April 5, 2018). "Iron Circus Comics brings diversity to the comic book market". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Alverson, Brigid. "Trotman's Iron Circus Celebrates 'Strange and Amazing' Comics". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Hudson, Laura. "It's Time to Get Real About Racial Diversity in Comics". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  14. ^ Howard, Sheena C.; Gates, Jr., Henry Louis; Priest, Christopher J. (2017). Encyclopedia of black comics. Golden, CO. ISBN 978-1682751015. OCLC 974683696.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ "Diana Nock is creating comics". Patreon. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  16. ^ Asselin, Janelle (December 12, 2014). "Books That Feel Real: Spike Trotman On 'Poorcraft 2′ And Building An Indie Comics Empire". ComicsAlliance. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  17. ^ Ho, Soleil (February 28, 2022). "This unique graphic novel is the ultimate guide to frugal eating". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  18. ^ ""The Poorcraft Cookbook" Serves up Some Fun, Hearty, Budget-Friendly Recipes". The Mary Sue. February 8, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Reid, Calvin. "Spike Trotman Steps Away from Kickstarter for Her Next Crowdfunder". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  20. ^ Jackson, Cheryl V. "Iron Circus Comics brings diversity to the comic book market". RedEye Chicago. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  21. ^ "Interview: The Poorcraft Cookbook and C. Spike Trotman's Poetic Crowdfunding Evolution". WWAC. February 21, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  22. ^ Johnston, Rich (February 10, 2022). "Spike Trotman Drops Kickstarter For Iron Circus Comics". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  23. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (February 8, 2022). "The Poorcraft Cookbook: How Iron Circus Comics Is Breaking New Crowdfunding Ground". IGN Middle East. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  24. ^ Peters, Jay (December 8, 2021). "Kickstarter says it's switching to crowdfunding via the blockchain". The Verge. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  25. ^ . Two volumes have been published to date."Smut Peddler 2014: Submissions are now open!". Iron Circus Comics. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  26. ^ "C. Spike Trotman". Comic-Con International: San Diego. May 30, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  27. ^ Cox, Erin. "Catching Up with C. Spike Trotman". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  28. ^ "PW Star Watch 2015 Honorees". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  29. ^ "Introducing the Kickstarter Thought Leaders". The Kickstarter Blog. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  30. ^ "Your 2007 Glyph Award Winners". The Comics Reporter. May 21, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  31. ^ "Spike Trotman on the business of comics". SPX. April 9, 2016. Archived from the original on January 21, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
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