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]
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
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
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]
^ abcdShe 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. ISBN978-1632159298. OCLC951760329.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Howard, Sheena C.; Gates, Jr., Henry Louis; Priest, Christopher J. (2017). Encyclopedia of black comics. Golden, CO. ISBN978-1682751015. OCLC974683696.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)