Spike Trotman

Charlie "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 describe as "ladycentric porn".[1] She is the founder and owner of Iron Circus Comics.

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

Early life

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.[2] 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).[3] Her work centered on relationships and culture, and erotica. She also self-published on the web.[4] She married Matt Sherridan, the author she collaborated with on Sparkneedle in 2004.[4]

Career

Her first notable online publications were Sparkneedle and Lucas and Odessa,[5] which she began serializing on Girlamatic in 2003.[6] Trotman released Templar, Arizona in 2005.[7] It was printed in four volumes via Iron Circus Comics, of which she is owner and founder. It is Chicago, Illinois's largest alternative comics press founded in 2007 concentrating on fantasy, sci-fi, porn, erotica, horror, and queer-friendly books. It has raised over $1 million over its first 14 Kickstarter campaigns.[8] In Kickstarter's first year, she funded a print edition of the book, Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less, an instructional book illustrated by Diana Nock.[9]

Trotman states that her company Iron Circus is a platform for works by creators who have been underrepresented by mainstream comics. She published The Less Than Epic Adventures of T.J. and Amal by E. K. Weaver, and Shadoweyes by Sophie Campbell.[10] Trotman created The Sleep of Reason (a horror anthology), New World, The Smut Peddler series, Poorcraft: The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less, and more.[11] 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.[12]

Selected works

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.[4]

Smut Peddler (2014 and 2016) – An anthology featuring erotic comics. The stories focused on varying sexual preferences often with science-fiction or fantasy themes.[4] 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.[13][14]

Recognition and awards

In April 2018, Kickstarter named Trotman as one of the seven Kickstarter Thought Leaders invited to lead talks and host community events.[15]

She won the Rising Star Award for Templar Arizona in the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards.[16] She was a juror the Small Press Expo's Ignatz Awards in 2016.[17]

References
  1. "Smut Peddler, 2014 Edition". Iron Circus. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  2. "Hire This Woman: Cartoonist and Publisher Spike Trotman". ComicsAlliance. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. "The Bossest Comics on Girlamatic | The Comics Journal". Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  6. Asselin, Janelle (October 22, 2014). "Hire this Woman: Cartoonist and Publisher Spike Trotman". Comics Alliance.
  7. 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.
  8. Jackson, Cheryl V. "Iron Circus Comics brings diversity to the comic book market". RedEye Chicago. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  9. "Diana Nock is creating comics". Patreon. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  10. C., Howard, Sheena (2017). Encyclopedia of black comics. Gates, Henry Louis Jr.; Priest, Christopher J. (Christopher James). Golden, CO. ISBN 978-1682751015. OCLC 974683696.
  11. Scott, Aaron. "Webcomic Artist C. Spike Trotman Gives Voice To The Underrepresented". www.opb.org. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  12. Asselin, Janelle (December 12, 2014). "Books That Feel Real: Spike Trotman On 'Poorcraft 2′ And Building An Indie Comics Empire". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  13. . Two volumes have been published to date."Smut Peddler 2014: Submissions are now open!". Iron Circus Comics. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  14. "C. Spike Trotman". Comic-Con International: San Diego. May 30, 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  15. "Introducing the Kickstarter Thought Leaders". The Kickstarter Blog. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  16. "Your 2007 Glyph Award Winners". The Comics Reporter. May 21, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  17. "Spike Trotman on the business of comics". SPX. April 9, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
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