(From the Publisher)
Iron Circus Comics is Chicago’s largest alternative comics publisher. Owned and operated by cartoonist C. Spike Trotman, it is dedicated to publishing strange and amazing comics, amplifying unheard and unique voices, and giving creators a fair deal. ICC pioneered the widely-used Kickstarter anthology bonus model that’s since reshaped the compensation system of the small press, jump-starting the current renaissance of alt-comics anthologies. ICC is the first comics publisher of note to fully incorporate crowdfunding into its business model, netting over $1,800,000 on Kickstarter to date for its slate of new work from emerging talent in the comics field.
The company was founded in 2007 to publish the print edition of Spike’s webcomic, Templar, Arizona. After this early success, ICC has revitalized the small press world with boundary-pushing anthologies like The Sleep of Reason (horror) and New World (fantasy & sci fi), as well as creator-owned works like EK Weaver’s The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal (Eisner Award nominee), and Melanie Gillman’s As the Crow Flies.
NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS
- Raised over $1,800,000 through crowd-funding to date
- Multiple Eisner, Harvey, Lambda, and Dwayne McDuffie award-nominees and winners
- Titles netted five-figure unit sales before major trade distribution
- Inclusive, diverse, unusual books
- Independent, single-owner publisher with multiple starred reviews in major trade publications
More titles to check out…
Poorcraft by C. Spike Trotman and Diana Nock (2015) — Over 16,000 copies sold without major distribution
Banned Book Club, By Ryan Estrada, Hyun-Sook Kim, and Hyung-Ju Ko (2020) — Amazon bestseller, three starred reviews (School Library Journal, Booklist, Publishers Weekly), 8,000 copies sold first month of release, Junior Library Guild Selection
The Complete Penultimate Quest, by Lars Brown, Bex Glendining, and John Katz (2020) — Two starred reviews (School Library Journal, Booklist)
