2D Cloud 2013: headlong into the future.

Now that we're working our way through the last few weeks of winter up here in the great north, it's time for 2DC to stretch beyond our borders once again and show the world what we've been up to.

Raighne is putting the final touches on something that has been in the 'pipeline' for a while now, our first book of 2013, Strong Eye Contact by Christopher Adams! Those of you who've been paying attention saw that we published a mini with Chris for SPX last year, Period, which gave us a glimpse of the distinct vision that Chris brings to comics.

Our first exposure to Chris was by way of the work that became this book, and we couldn't be happier to be the ones helping bring this into the world. Strong Eye Contact will make its international debut this May at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, May 11-12th.

Hot on the heels of our TCAF weekend will be the perennial local favorite, Springcon! We formally don't have our table assignment yet, but we have been doing this show since we started with Good Minnesotan 1 back in 2007, so you can expect to see us there again come May 18-19th.

We'll get a few weeks off before we move down to Chicago for the second year of CAKE, June 15-16th, where we'll not only have our stateside debut of SEC, but also our debut of another comic that's been a long time coming, Deep in the Woods by Noah Van Sciver and Nicholas Breutzman! This will also be going to press in a matter of weeks, with advance copies starting to ship to our Kickstarter backers by hopefully late April. Below is a rough image of a page that didn't make the Kickstarter campaign, from Nic's half of the comic, "The Mayfly"

As I was writing this post, it looks like our intern Greer Lawson's anthology Every/Body made its goal, and in record time! There's still a full three weeks to secure yourself a copy and get in on the rewards offered. Every/Body will also debut at TCAF in May and will be distributed by 2D Cloud following the event.

Last, but definitely not least, we have been working with some of the best and brightest small-press comics publishers and cartoonists Minneapolis has to offer to organize what will act as a sort of follow-up to MIX from a couple years back, but also an expansion on that concept, Autoptic. Applications are open until MARCH 31ST, so if you want to be a part of what we're planning, the time to apply is now! There will be satellite events leading up to the show on August 18th, one of which your own 2DC will be hosting! Check here or our other channels (FB/Tumblr/Twitter) for further details as the date draws near. For those of us who saw SPX sell out in under an hour earlier this morning, this might be the show to be at for a lot of publishers and cartoonists following CAKE in June.

Lots more to show and tell, but this should be enough for now! More to come as always. 

Post Stump // Pre Tea Calf 2012

This past weekend was Stumptown 2012. The last Stump show we attended was in 2010 and we had a total blast, so it was very disappointing that I was unable to be in attendance this time around (had to work the Art in Bloom event at the MIA). With that said, Vincent Stall (King Mini) had us covered as he was holding down the 2DC tent at said show. In addition to the usual 2DC wares, he was carrying some killer King Mini swag which included this short mini which continues his new stylistic approach to narratives (see & buy THINGS YOU CARRY!). Gorgeous, brooding work.

For everyone who stopped by our table and chatted up Vincent, our thanks! Double that for 2DC and Kini Mini purchasers!! A big and obvious thank you to Vincent as well!!

Stepping out of hump-day (well, I guess technically it is Thursday now) and into the future, Little Heart will be making it's big debut at TCAF this Saturday & Sunday! Woo! To help direct that laser pointer that is your wallet onto that book, I have been asked to be a part of a couple panels. 

The first one, taking place at the Pilot Tavern on Saturday at 3:15-4:15pm titled New, Exciting, and Queer will be moderated by Jose Villarrubia (this guy is my comics coloring hero!). Panelists include Maurice Vellekoop, Emily Carroll, Lucy Knisley, Ed Choy, and myself (raighne here!). 

The other panel I will be participating in is called Crowdfunding a Project. It will take place on Sunday on the first floor of the library itself from 1:15pm-2:45pm. Subject matter is pretty straightforward enough I imagine. Fellow panelists include Becky Dreistadt, Frank Gibson, Scott Campbell, Yuko Ota, and Evan Dahm. George Rohac is the moderator for this guy. I'm pretty pumped for these panels and I hope you can make it to both of 'em!

Tomorrow morning we will be getting a closer look at the books as we are (as usual) playing this all last minute like. Many-many heart attacks happening inside my 12 year old frame, believe you me!!

At our table (#137) we will have Ed Choy & Jeremy Sorese, both of whom had larger and longer narratives in Little Heart (and who are both über-talented and awesome). Each of them will be debuting a new book at the show as well (Araby and Curveball, respectively) . Obviously Justin and I will be at our table too. 

Elsewhere on that awesome little island of tables that we are at you can find our friends at La Mano/Spit and a Half sharing a table housing Zak Sally, John Porcellino, and the one and only Noah Van Sciver; Sparkplug Comic Books/i will destroy you will be represented by our pal Tom Neely along with Emily Nilsson; lastly, Dan Nadel from PictureBox will also be on the island -- tons of awesome all around!!!

Please stop by and buy books from our friends Anna Bongiovanni and Evan Palmer too. They are both mega-talented! You can find them on the 2nd floor. We'll have some news on a new book we are doing with Anna later in the year. Pretty excited for it.

Across from our island is kickass Koyama Press, their tables will be full of amazing artists like Maurice Vellekoop, Michael DeForge, Brian Fukushima, Dustin Harbin, Jesse Jacobs, Pat & Marek Tin Can Forest, and quite possibly many others, including kickass Annie herself!

Well, I am out of steam, gotta sleep and maybe dream. Hope to see yah at TCAF!!

2dc road hitting: part 1

With MIX firmly behind us and Raighne in the midst of getting Little Heart off the ground (look to your right), we thought we'd take a moment (or several) to give a little rundown of the whats, whoms, wheres, and whens for 2dc in the first half of twentytwelve.

First up will be Chicago Zine Fest, running March 9-10. Raighne and I will both be making the trek, where we'll be debuting a zine we pulled together in December 2011 and into January of 2012, Brothersister (cover at left). Our donators to the Motherlover Kickstarter are receiving advance copies, as this was made with that set in mind, but it was a fun little project to put together and it has a good sampling of work from both 2dc veterans as well as talents fresh to our pages. CZF was good to 2dc last year, so I suspect we'll see a repeat this year!

The next leg of our tour will see us out in Portland for Stumptown, running April 28-29. While Raighne, myself, and our better halves had one of our best out of town shows at Stumptown 2010, we're unfortunately going to have to miss this year's show. In our stead will be Vincent 'King Mini' Stall, who will be there to promote his new book published by 2dc back in November, Things You Carry, as well as make available the rest of the 2dc catalog.  If you're lucky, you may see some of Vincent's stellar mini's and prints hanging out with the old 2dc standby's as well. While we're bummed we won't be able to attend, we're very happy and fortunate to have Vincent representing us out there and know we're in good hands with him behind the table. 

May will see Raighne and I (Justin here, BTW), on the road again, but this time out to Toronto for TCAF (5/5-6)! We did this show back in 2009 and while we were still in the throes of some notable growing pains, the show itself and the city of Toronto were hard to top. If all goes to plan, we will be debuting Little Heart at the show:

Joining us at the 2dc table will be Ed Choy and Jeremy Sorese, both of which have lengthier contributions in Little Heart. Ed is one of the oldest 2dc artists outside of the original trifecta of Raighne/Meghan/Me that we still work with and we're glad to have him along. In addition to his 2dc work, Ed will have a couple of his own mini's at the show, one of which will be new! Jeremy was introduced to Raighne at MIX by the great Annie Koyama (who we're excited to see again!), and we were quickly impressed with his great color sense and dynamic compositions. Having him in Little Heart was definitely a boost and we welcome his presence at our table as well. A few other Canucks of note will be residing between the covers of Little Heart: Maurice Vellekoop, Michael Deforge, Kate Craig + Emily Carroll, and a foreword penned by Chris Butcher. All five bring various strengths to the book and we're very lucky to have them be a part of it. One side-note: Anna Bongiovanni will be found across the border this weekend as well, slinging her newest mini, The Offering, along with her other great prints and mini's, so track her down and help make her trip even more worthwhile!

*catching breath*...okay. A few weeks after returning home Raighne and I will be tag-teaming one of our old local favorites, Springcon! I'll be the guy to see on day one, while Raighne will be there with manic laughter and mustache in tow for day two. Nothing is set yet, but chances are this will be the first proper show you'll be able to pick up Prizon Food 2:

Details on a special release party for this guy are forthcoming, as Party Food has got something in the works. Check back here in April for more...

We've got about a month before we're back in Chi-town (6/16-17), this time for CAKE, otherwise known as the Chicago Alternative Komics/Komix/Komex Expo! Lots of people from our neck of the woods should be in attendance: Zak Sally, Nic Breutzman, Vincent Stall, Anna Bongiovanni all are confirmed, but I'm sure I'm forgetting more than a couple. 2dc OG Meghan Hogan will be there to debut the first in her new series of mini's titled Startled Maggie. Meghan always 'brings it' in ways we don't typically see in most comics, so I know both Raighne and I are looking forward to seeing what surfaces come June.

Alright, thanks for sticking it out if you're still reading, we have plenty of shows and books still in the pipeline for part 2 of twentytwelve, some which there have been murmurings of for a while now, others which only a select few are privy to. Trust me, you'll want to be checking in, more than a couple of surprises on the way...

A double dose of dat Noah Van Sciver fella'

First, as seen from the picture, The Death of Elijah Lovejoy has been a little cursed over at the printer -- running into snags and complications due in part to the way I coloured and designed the cover and inside cover. The good news is that 10 or so copies have made it through unscathed and will be giving 2D Cloud a minor presence at TCAF today and Sunday via Zak Sally of La Mano 21. Should you find yourself in Toronto-Land this weekend, stop by the downtown library for comics goodness and be sure to checkout the beautiful books at La Mano 21 and Uncivilized Books! And while we're dispensing recommendations, stop by Sparkplug Comic Books and i will destroy you!

Ok, I lied about the Noah double dip, it is a Quad Powered trip into the Van Sciver world: A week or so ago our pal, Noah Van Sciver, had the latest issue of Blammo reviewed over at The Comics Journal. It was maybe a sterner review, but still a positive one. Shortly thereafter he was interviewed over at Ink Panthers. They talk about getting harsher reviews, make it or break it deals with their female counter parts, etc. It's interesting and funny stuff -- go give it a listen. If you want to take a peek at one of the stories included in Blammo # 7 (and trust me, you do), head on over to Top Shelf 2.0 for 'Who Are You, Jesus?'

And speaking of this Noah Van Sciver fella', The Death of Elijah Lovejoy is getting closer and closer to  finally being realized in print and will be premiering proper at SpringCon 2011 in exactly 2 weeks!! Noah will be on hand for the show, so stop on by then and chat him up. We will have more news on SpringCon soon.