Things You Carry & MIX 2011

Thursday, yes this Thursday we will be releasing Vincent Stall's Things You Carry, a silent comic novella, into the willing wildness of your eager mitts for a mere 10 spot. As a part of the closing of his solo show at CO Exhibitions, there will be an artist talk, vessels in-which to whet your gullet with some of that liquid courage should you find yourself so in awe of the works at hand. Or maybe you are just a fellow awkward creative? Do not worry, Vincent has you covered -- have a drink, buy a gorgeous King Mini screen print, a comic book, mingle. It's going to be a fun opener to this years MIX festivities.

Oh, address:
CO Exhibitions
1101 Stinson Blvd NE #2
MPLS MN

+ FB event page

Speaking of MIX, why yes, yes you can catch the book and Vincent at MIX this weekend. (And remember, it's at the SOAP FACTORY!) However, not catching them at this specific event and you will miss the man's show; screen prints galore, installations, an artist talk -- the whole shebang. Things You Carry the show acts as a perfect companion piece to Things You Carry the comic book. Just check out the vid above already to help you make your decision.

Pretty neat, right? So come ON!




While this vid is not for MIX (and is 5 years old) BUT it does feature Luke and John Holden gearing up for a comic show. We got both of these lovely dudes at the 2DC tables alongside Nic Breutzman pimping their new comic, Motherlover. I've been blabbing pretty hard about this book due to the kickstarter we held for it just a scant week ago or so. If you somehow missed said blabbing, please by all means check out a preview of it here.

These 2 mini's are premiering at MIX this weekend as well. Today I biked over to Saint Paul to see how things are looking at the printer. Pretty good I would have to say.

Arthur Turnkey is an all-ages ongoing adventure serial by Toby Jones, Alex Horab, Madeline Queripel, Amanda Thomas. It's 32 pages and in color on quality paper.

Prizon Food is decidedly cut from another cloth -- I mean, it's not not an all ages book, but then again it might not be an all ages book either. It's also in color and while a smidgen smaller dimensionally, it's a bit longer at 48 pages and it shares the same quality paper stock. So maybe it is cut from the same cloth after all? Anyways, it's a Party Food off-shoot by Joe Gillette & Eric Schuster.

I will also be moderating two panels at MIX this weekend. Anthologies Anthologies Everywhere is the first one and it's on Saturday morning at 11:30am and will run for 50 minutes. Editors and cartoonists discuss the meaning of anthologies for readers and the industry. Cartoonists talking at the panel include Noah Van Sciver, Jordan Shively, Anna Bongiovanni, Tom Neely.

On Sunday, How Not To Succeed: Stories From When Things Went Wrong , get an earful of sweet comic wisdom from comic creatives as they discuss failure, success, and everything in between in a humorous and often self deprecating manner. Cartoonists involved include Julia Wertz, Nicholas Breutzman, John Porcellino, Zak Sally.

A fair amount going on this weekend at MIX. I do hope you all can make it to the show proper. It's going to be quite fun I think. There is some awesome events going on after the show as well. Check the MIX Parties pages for more info. Here is the poster for the after party that Nic Breutzman illustrated. Our own John & Luke Holden will be performing as a part of that after party. Hope to see yah there!

Holy crap -- we made it!!

The past month has been bonkers. The Motherlover Kickstarter and all the books we are premiering and previewing at MIX add up. The stress kicks in and the fun deflates a bit. With that said, WE FREAKING MADE IT!! I feel embarrassed and utterly thankful to everyone who kicked in and helped spread the word. I am so damn indebted to all you folks. Thank you, thank you.

I am also thankful to the artists working with us on upcoming projects for dealing with any bs on our end, to the artists involved in books premiering at MIX and before and to my wife and co-publisher. I got warm feelings for y'all --you know that feeling when you are a kid -- you are in the kiddy pool and there is that warm place? Yeah, so, everybody rules and hopefully everybody wins!

There is still much work to be done as we gear up for MIX, so I will say adieu to all of you. Thanks again!

This Weekend.......................TC Book Festival

The hustling continues here at 2dc, as we have two big books at press simultaneously (Things You Carry & Motherlover), while two minis, Toby Jones & Co.'s new serial Arthur Turnkey, and Eric Schuster and Joe Gillette's Prizon Food, are being assembled for press in preparation for their MIX debuts as well!

Needless to say, our hands are full, but if all this activity wasn't enough, we have another show before all these new 2dc releases drop: Rain Taxi's Twin Cities Book Festival. Although this is a show primarily geared towards the printed word, comics always figure in the spectrum of exhibitors as well as at least one notable cartoonist from outside our borders. 

The first year 2dc attended, it was Jaime Hernandez, interviewed by Zak Sally. Gabrielle Bell was the guest cartoonist the following year, which is also when Tom K. put out his first of what has become a reliable string of well-designed minis collecting much of Gabrielle's recent online output into print form. Last year saw a smattering of MN connected cartoonists, including newly 2dc-distroed artist Will Dinski, amongst others. This year, it looks like Rain Taxi has done it again by bringing Ben Katchor to the show. Admittedly, I haven't read as many of his books or collections of his weekly strips as I'd like, but what I have seen in anthologies (Kramers 7 is coming to mind) was definitely memorable and I look forward to hearing him talk this weekend.

Not to be outdone by Mr. Katchor, plenty from the stellar local scene will be in attendance, as we once again do battle with MCBA's Fallcon show for the hearts, minds, and hard earned currency of the local comics fan. If you have the chance, do stop by both, as there are plenty of worthwhile cartoonists in attendance at each show, but if you're looking for something a little different than what you may have seen at Springcon earlier this year, you may want to spend your afternoon in Minneapolis instead.

Although things are starting to look a little grim, we are still hoping beyond hope that our goal for the Motherlover Kickstarter can be met in the week and a half we have left before the curtain is lowered. We truly appreciate all of the backers that have donated thus far, and we'd like to be able to shell out those gifts we have listed, but if that goal can't be reached, well, we can't promise anything. If you haven't checked out the page in a while, it has been updated with more images of the book as well as some samples of the awesome prints Luke Holden has conjured as gifts, not to mention a limited edition of Detrimental Information 8. But enough out of me, if you like this book or what we're doing overall, feel free to share this kickstarter in any way you see fit; we want to pay the artists what they deserve for this book and we want to give people some awesome art and comics!

If you're reading this and you're out west, Raighne and Meghan will be at the Plush You! show at Schmancy in Seattle this Saturday as well. Meghan's always popular Geirdoz will be standing alongside other handmade creations of all shapes and stripes, so if you're up in the pacif northwes, make a point to stop by!