Georgetown Power Plant back in 1909. All images: City of Seattle

Comic book creators who like the rain and steampunk might have just found their dream job. The city of Seattle is holding a contest for an artist (or team of artists) to make a graphic novel about a historic steam plant. Cha-ching!




The city wants an artist to create a 200-page fictionalized graphic novel centered around the Georgetown Steam Plant, a century old power plant that represents the pinnacle of steam-powered engineering. It was primarily used to power the city’s electric trolley car system, and after changing hands multiple times over the decades, is now a national historic landmark. In short, it’s basically a steampunk lover’s dream.


Seattle’s government has proposed an $85,000 budget for the graphic novel project, allocating $50,000 of that as payment to the artist or artists (the rest is for printing costs and project management fees). Sadly, you have to live in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or British Columbia to qualify— or, at the very least, have at least one member of your team who’s a resident.



The city’s government plays to use the graphic novel to better educate residents about the steam plant, which is in the midst of restoration. They plan to distribute the graphic novel for free to local schools, libraries, museums, non-profits, and other organizations.

[King 5 Seattle]