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". She is the founder and owner of Iron Circus Comics.

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

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

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. 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. 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.

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.

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

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

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