Ads Some Spark to your Lovelife

Posted: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
By: Darren Schroeder

Sparky, a strange, magical imp who is half-angel, half-devil, is returning with another collection of stories centering around a single theme. The new book, Sparky In Love, sees both Sparky and his creator, Steve Peters, embark on a quest for romance and true love.



Some of the book’s tales are autobiographical, but with fantasy elements woven in in the form of Sparky. Peters has been documenting his personal, spiritual search for love, and the heartbreak that often results from his failures, throughout his previous books, Awakening Comics, Everwinds, and Chemistry. “His stories are personal, human and heartfelt as he explores situations that one can’t help but relate to”, says Tales Of the Unexpected penciler Eric Battle.

As with the previous Sparky book, Peters is including a number of comics that are “jam” collaborations with other independent comic book creators. These are passed around at comic book conventions, such as Wizard World East in Philadelphia, PA, SPX in Bethesda, MD, and SPACE in Columbus, Ohio. Among the over 40 contributors to the book are Alex Robinson, Carla Speed McNeil, Matt Feazell, Tony Consiglio, Mike Dawson, Jimmy Gownley, and Jeff Nicholson.

Sparky In Love continues the idea that every reality has its own Sparky, explaining all the different versions of the character that appear in the jam comics. As is usually the case with jam comics, the stories take all kinds of wild twists and turns. One jam finds him in a coma, hallucinating that he’s a character in a twisted animated cartoon; another has him in love with a woman whose boyfriend is a jealous Frankenstein’s Monster (drawn, of course, by Supernatural Law’s Batton Lash); still another sees him rejected and depressed, taking a potion that turns him into a female Sparky (drawn by Mike Manley).

Sparky made his debut in 2005 in Steve Peters’ autobiographical comic, Chemistry, which has recently been pronounced the winner of the 2006 Gene Day Memorial Prize, to be awarded at the next SPACE convention.

Sparky In Love is a B&W 32 page book.
Diamond Comics order code APR07 3467
Published by Awakening Comics. Art and story by Steve Peters and various artists.
$2.99 US, $3.75 Canada, scheduled for June 2007 release.

PRAISE FOR LAST YEAR’S SPARKY BOOK, THE ORIGIN OF SPARKY:

“The fact that the Origin of his white-gloved, haloed, angel-winged and pointy-tailed iconic cartoon mascot is given twenty different treatments, most of them free-form jams with other cartoonists...is in itself pretty witty.”
---Dave Sim, Cerebus

“Consider it an autograph book for APE or SPX.”
---David S. Carter, yetanothercomicsblog.blogspot.com

“The jam comic turned out pretty cool.”
---James Kochalka, Super F*ckers, American Elf

“A vast canvas of styles in art and writing await you that has numerous twists and turns. You will not be disappointed.”
---Mark Arnold, Atomicavenue.com

“The real fun of a jam book is tracking the procedure, and breaking it apart. It’s also generally funny stuff, with a high enough level of talent across the board that the median never dips too low. Clearly a labor of love, and sometimes a rewarding one. Dave Sim fans won’t want to miss it, but those interested in jam comics will do well, too.”
---Jog, joglikescomics.blogspot.com



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