As an author and as a comic book publisher, Sammy Harkham is nowadays one of the most influential names in the comic book world. He was born in Los Angeles on May 21, 1980 and at the age of 14 he moved with his family to Sydney, Australia. In those years he discovered the works of Jamie Hewlett, Daniel Clowes, Kim Deitch, Renee French, Chris Ware, Julie Doucet and Jim Woodring. Inspired by them all, Harkham began to create his own comics and a fanzine titled Kramers Ergot, which quickly evolved into the most influential comic anthology of recent years. After studying experimental animation and cinema, Harkham abandoned both careers to focus on comics. Poor Sailor (Apa Apa, 2009), originally published in Kramers Ergot 4, was later included in the prestigious anthology The Best American Nonrequired Reading.

Meanwhile, Kramers Ergot has appeared several times on the "best of the year" lists in publications such as Time, LA Weekly, The New York Times, Dazed and Confused, The Comics Journal and Publishers Weekly. In 2006, the prestigious Canadian publishing company Drawn & Quarterly published his regular comic book series Crickets for its first two issues, but after the third issue the comic series is now self-published by Harkham. In 2009, he edited the annual volume of the popular series The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror. Sammy Harkham is a member of the Family bookstore and screening room in Los Angeles and he is currently working on a graphic novel scheduled for release in 2023 titled Blood of the Virgin.