Indie comics publisher, retail space, and gallery Silver Sprocket has a slew of major announcements heading into 2026, and The Beat has all the details.
In addition to a new distribution deal and its slate of 2026 cartoonists, Silver Sprocket has also announced new team members, a new membership drive, and updates on the upcoming Pride In Panels: The San Francisco Queer Comics Fest in February. Read on for details on each of these announcements.
Silver Sprocket signs with Publishers Group West
Silver Sprocket has inked a deal with Bay Area-based Publishers Group West, a subsidiary of Ingram, to distribute its comics and graphic novels to the book trade. The publisher remains fully independent and will still distribute to comic shops through Lunar and Universal, in addition to maintaining its existing direct, indirect, indie, and other channels.
In a statement, Silver Sprocket said it found the PGW team “refreshingly warm and indie-savvy, with reach into all the weirdest bookstores, libraries, and random places that sell zines for some reason. And they happen to have the fewest tangles with gigantic megacorps, which is… nice.”
Silver Sprocket announces 2026 cartoonists
Following a short breaking from publishing new books in the first half of the year, Silver Sprocket will release new work from Elizabeth Pich (Fungirl), Hyena Hell (Demons), Corinne Halbert (Scorpio Venus Rising), EM Hoover, Fredde Lanka (Demon F*ggots), Travis Rommersim (Grampa), Andy Warner (Brief Histories of Everyday Objects), and more in the latter half of 2026.
The publisher has not announced specific release dates yet, but has announced some titles, seen in the gallery above.
Sebastian Ramos & Lina De La Cruz join Silver Sprocket’s publishing team
Sebastian Ramos and Lina De La Cruz have joined the Silver Sprocket publishing team and will work alongside Josh PM Frees and Sol Cintron at the San Francisco store front under the tutelage of founder Avi Ehrlich.
Ramos has a background in libraries and the arts, and began a career in publishing with Image Comics as its Book Market and Library Sales Manager a decade ago. De La Cruz has been working with Silver Sprocket since 2021 as part of Full Bleed Rights, which handles the publisher’s international licensing.
New membership drive aims to maintain San Francisco storefront
Speaking of the storefront, in December, Silver Sprocket launched a new membership drive to maintain the space. Memberships contribute to rent, hiring staff, providing space and resources for local artists, and ensuring physical space for DIY zines and indie comics community in Bay Area.
Per the publisher, approximately 200 people have signed up to contribute monthly, at tiers ranging from $5 to $500, with associated perks. Silver Sprocket also offers digital and print subscriptions, which offer store discounts on top of regular deliveries of PDFs or a quarterly, curated box of physical comics, respectively.
The current membership drive aims to raise $8 thousand per month. At time of writing, it has reached 46 percent of its goal at $3,618 per month.
Pride in Panels: The San Francisco Queer Comics Fest
Last, but not least in Silver Sprocket’s slew of new year announcements, is about its helping to organize Pride in Panels: The San Francisco Queer Comics Fest with the San Francisco Public Library.
Taking place at the SF Main Library at 100 Larkin St. on Sunday, February 15 from 12-5 p.m. PST, Pride in Panels will feature over 100 exhibitors, workshops, panels, and more. It’s also totally free. More information is available at prideinpanels.org.
Silver Sprocket will additionally be exhibiting at the following conventions this year:
- ComicsPro in Glendale, CA: Feb 19-21
- Montreal Comic Arts Festival: May 14-17
- Toronto Comic Arts Festival: June 6-7
- American Library Association Conference in Chicago: June 25-29
- Comic-Con International San Diego: July 22-26
- Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD: Sept 13-14
For updates, visit silversprocket.net.
