Little Heart review + new tumblrs

Yay! New review for Little Heart!

print for our Little Heart backers by Jeremy Sorese

“I’m happy to say that the variety of styles and point-of-views make that book a good tool to discuss the issue.” This from François Peneaud, writing over at Gay Comics List.

Thanks François!!

Thar he be, Jeremy Sorese!! Pic and Portrait of 'da artist

I say, HWAT -- HWAT else we got? Our mega-rad intern, Greer Lawson has put together a tumblr page for Little Heart. It’s currently linked to our Little Heart FB page (though the linking/re-posting doesn’t seem to be working sadly). On it, we got short and sweet interviews with a variety of Little Heart artists, LIKE the above Jeremy Sorese. Many others on there as well PLUS, press re-postings, AND, later in the month, Greer will begin serializing a NEW web comic there as well. 

Speaking of tumblr, we’ve begun our arduous migration of Itchy Keen over to tumblr. We kicked it off with an interview with Vincent Stall. Butter laight than nuhver. It’s still rather rough around the edges and more of a drawing blog by 2dc peeps -- BUTT -- we do have some plans for it. Oh yes. More on that later in the year.

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!!

Stump Log Post

Above is a recent page from the man who you will have the chance to meet, converse with, and, should you prefer, conduct some transactions with for goods both 2dc generated as well as works from Vincent Stall/King Mini's private reserve. By "you", I mean those fortunate enough to be attending Stumptown this coming weekend!

Raighne and I have a heavy first half of the year in terms of shows, so, much to our deep gratitude, Vincent took it upon himself to rep 2dc at Stumptown this year. If memory serves correct, we appear to be situated right in-between a couple of great young labels from the pacif northwes, Press Gang and Revival House Press. Both have been churning some great work lately, so if there's one lane you choose to mill around in, this might be the one. 

The editor of the upcoming issue of NO ME (which contains what one could call an unofficial 'sequel' to the Hogan/Hogan/Skarhus trifecta of GMN1), Jason T. Miles, will also be in attendance come this weekend. He runs one of the best distros for the kind of work I gravitate towards, Profanity Hill, so do yourself a favor and FIND HIM!

But who are we kidding, you can't spend your entire weekend hanging around a small handful of tables, right? I know of at least one reason why you shouldn't. 2dc artist and author of one of our big fall releases, Out of Hollow Water, Anna Bongiovanni has a table all her own, where you can pick up some of her great mini's and prints. Stop over and get a feel for what's to come this fall, not to mention some of her more light-hearted work, which has a charm all its own.

Enough about our friends and neighbors though. If you want to hear directly from the source why Things You Carry is such a great work, this really is one of the few times you west-coasters will get the chance. Vincent is a great talker and while we both wish we were getting ready to head out there this weekend, we know we are in more than capable hands. 

Plenty more to hit keys about (Little Heart at the printers! TCAF looms! New Itchykeen page in the works! New Vincent Stall interview nears! New Distro books imminent! At least SIX new 2dc books still in the 2012 pipe!), but for this week, keep your eyes trained on one corner of the country, plenty to keep one entertained over there...

Before I rest my head and maybe finish reading 1-800-MICE, thanks to everyone who made it out to the Party Food performance/Prizon Food 2 (in shop soon!) release show in Minneap this past week. Party Food and his co-hort Ric Schuster, who are the brains and brawn behind Prizon Food, performed to a Full House last Wednesday night. It was great to finally experience the full gamut of the Party Food enterprise all in one room, we hope to recreate the scene again, in the future.

2dc Blop Gost

Thought I'd start out this post by thanking everyone who helped make our recent trip down to chi-town memorable. Our gracious host, friend, and tireless zinefest co-organizer, Neil Brideau, can be found in the vid above putting forth some of his feelings on why zines matter to him. From what I observed that weekend, Neil seems to have unlimited energy and willingness to do whatever is in his power to make the fest a good experience for everyone. I remember being on the couch sleeping when I heard him come in around 1-2 a.m. after the zine olympics Friday night at Quimby's, only to be out the door again around 7ish for the fest at Columbia College. The guy's a machine! Anyway, thanks Neil and everyone who stopped by the 2dc table, we'll be back down in a couple of months for CAKE, which, from what I've heard thus far, should be off some sort of chain.

In further praise of near herculean feats, my co-publisher and crazyman extraordinaire, Raighne Hogan, along with a plethora of people too numerous to list here (don't want to risk leaving anyone out!) have all rallied together to make our first benefit anthology, Little Heart, a reality! Raighne and I had our misgivings as we departed for Chicago to attend CZF, as progress had stalled out for a few days at 46%, but the final week saw a very strong surge of support that helped push it over the top. When all was said and done, $9,779 was raised, which will be going into improving the book. Seeing how frazzled Raighne was becoming over making this kickstarter happen (part of why some people may not have seen him making the rounds at CZF this year, as he was taking it easy behind the table most of the day), I'm glad it wasn't for naught, as he really put a lot of himself into this book. Raighne will be providing more updates on the book soon, but for now a massive thanks to everyone who made this happen and you'll be seeing us at TCAF, where the book will debut!

Pornhounds 2 continues to accrue praise, this time from Daniel Elkin over at Comics Bulletin. In a very thoughtful review that touches on a lot of the prominent themes (and tosses in a Videodrome reference for bonus points), Daniel surmises: 

Pornhounds 2 is another incredible example of the possibilities of comics. It is a confessional, thoughtful, funny, and empowering story told by someone clearly in command of her craft. All the artists on the book contribute to the book's overall effect, adding emotional tones and focus that would not exist were this story presented in any other medium. It is a great comic book.

While PH2 is back in stock, Pornhounds 1 is out of stock again, so for those of you who have or are looking to order a copy, hold tight, more are on their way!

Raighne and I had the pleasure of chatting briefly with Matt Brady at CZF this year, who was gracious enough to have a go at two of our big releases from last year, Motherlover and Things You Carry. Vincent's book was a bit of a head scratcher for Matt, and understandably so. It's a fairly open-ended work, one that welcomes a wide range of interpretations, which for me is part of its appeal. Raighne and I have had the privilege of hearing Vincent talk about the book on numerous occasions, which has brought many insights to light that I would have otherwise missed. Even without the author's intent(s) rattling around in your head, I had fun reading this book and teasing out my own meaning before I ever heard Vincent talk about it. Despite the bouts of confusion on Matt's end, the quote below encapsulates what he took away from the book:

It's weird stuff, but it's pretty gorgeously drawn, with chunky ink lines marking out all the jumbled details of wrecked buildings, clouds that seem to be alive billowing through the scenery, stacks of oddly orderly piles of papers, and what might be an even more apocalyptic ending. This is weird shit, but I dig it. Maybe someday somebody can explain it to me, but I'll be enjoying the mental imagery it provides whether that ever happens or not.

Moving on to Motherlover, Matt wasn't exactly sold on this book, but "...while it's not necessarily something I would seek out, I'm glad I read it, just to get a feel for what kind of comics they make." I can see where he was coming from with how this book struck him, but how he took it was sort of the point. This is a book that explores the ennui and confusion of youth in multiple ways, which doesn't always make for pleasant reading. Raighne and myself are drawn to these kinds of stories and cartooning styles, as they resonate with both of us in ways we don't find a lot of, at least locally, and this book was our way of adding that dimension to the collective voice of the Minneapolis scene, for better or worse. But enough defense, to each his own, and thanks Matt for taking the time to put some thoughts down on both books for us. Better to elicit a less favorable reaction than no reaction at all!

Check back here in a few weeks for more on 2dc's April events: Stumptown with Vincent/King Mini Stall and a one of a kind release party for Prizon Food vol. 2!

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...

UPDATED: Vincent Stall on KFAI TONIGHT!

Hey fellow cartoony reading/writing/drawing peeps. Vincent Stall AKA King Mini will be interviewed on Minnesota's KFAI by Britt Aamodt tonight around 7:30pm - 8:00pm. Pretty rad, do check out!! For a link, it will be a part of the MinneCulture Legacy series. And I am sure somewhere in there Vincent will be talking a bit about his latest release, Things You Carry put out by, you guessed it, 2DC. It's in the shop yo.

UPDATE: If you missed the interview, you can catch it here.

Things You Carry reviewed! Breutzman interviewed + a NVS studio peek!

"It's all very quiet and beautiful and, while open to interpretation, "Things You Carry" feels like a homecoming story..." -- Sarah Morean, taken from her review on Indie Reader.

Things You Carry by Vincent Stall, got its first review earlier in the week. It's a really sharp and perceptive review, well-thought out -- and really, what more could one ask for?

A week or two back Nic Breutzman was interviewed by Lauren Peck of Metro Magazine. Nic talks about living in NY vs MN, comics that he is interested in, etc. It's a nice quick read. Nic's most current work is in Pornhounds 2 (written by Sharon Lintz) and Motherlover. Both books are in the shop!

PICTURES: Noah Van Sciver was recently featured on the Where They Draw tumblr curated by Jordan Shiveley. There is a peek at his workspace, The Hypo, and other doodles and comics. Neat stuff!

Welp, I gotta go watch a holiday movie with my wife now. Hassle Dazzle and Happy Holidays to All!

Things You Carry @ BCGF + New Books in 'da Shop!

If you're headed to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest (and really why would you not be? unless of course you live thousands of miles away...), Santa comes early. Instead of cookies, bring cash-money's for gorgeous comic goodness. While we at 2DC will not be there, our compatriots at La Mano 21 and Uncivilized Books will be there representin'. Swag.

And speaking of Uncivilized, Tom K. will have Vincent "King Mini" Stall's latest and longest comic narrative at the show -- you know that awesome book pictured that we published last month, yep, that's the one! So please stop on by the table with Tom K, Zak Sally, and Gabrielle Bell behind it -- buy their books and Things You Carry!!

Oh and a small note on the snappily dressed chap -- (yep, that's a-me) Tom K, over at Uncivilized has some cool tee's featuring the 'caveman' logo and the one for True Swamp -- very metal! That's what I am modeling. I was going for that sexy underpants look as seen in those american apparel ads. Yeah, maybe not so sexy. Sorry Tom!

Using sex as a jumping off point -- we have 6 new items in the shop! The list includes the aforementioned Things You Carry, Motherlover, Arthur Turnkey Vol. 1, Prizon Food Vol.1 and two books of which have Pornhounds in the title. Those latter two are self published by Sharon Lintz -- who is awesome! They are all top notch books, so go check 'em out! 

A couple more quick notes: the two mini's, Prizon Food and Arthur Turnkey are in very limited supply but they will be getting re-printed very very soon! And for all the awesome folks that are waiting on their copy of Motherlover and other thank you gifts for throwing down the green during our kickstarter -- it's on the way. We are putting together some very cool extra special items! I think y'all will be pleased!

Hobbies Galore

Okay, deep breattthhh.....lots to cover:


First off, thanks to any and all who found their way to our table at the TC Zine Fest last weekend. I was playing Lonewolf, so I wasn't able to see many people besides my neighbors Anna B. and Eric S., who both had some fun mini's I picked up. I wholly recommend tracking down copies of each, if you can. Will Dinski's new mini, The Old Guys, did well on it's 2dc debut, which was good to see. I did manage to run over to Tom K.'s Uncivilized books table to pick up his new Gabrielle Bell Mini, as well as a couple of solid choices from the always polite John P. and his Spit and a Half distro, on tour now! Besides an overactive child (even when the Geirdoz aren't present, they seem to find our table) and her little ugly dog who was dangerously close to besmirching the last copy of Nic's You Can't be Here I had on hand, a good time was had by me. Nice job Lacey, here's to the 2012 show!


Onward and upward, we have our still newish and awesome 2dc (and NOW Fantagraphics) cartoonist Noah Van Sciver on his way to the city by the bay for APE this weekend, right alongside Joseph Remnant, who was kind enough to share table space with Noah and by extension, 2dc. Noah will have some of our more travel-ready 2dc books on hand, in addition to 2009 Isotope winning Covered In Confusion by Will D., not to mention his other thoughtfully crafted mini's, both old and new. This will of course all be accompanied by Noah's standard spread of Blammo's and other Van Sciver ephemera, such as his new mini, Dueling, which is just a taste of what's to come in Noah's forthcoming book from Fantagraphics:

Thats'anice'acover'a

As I've already mentioned multiple times already, Will Dinski's new mini is officially out in the world, and you can make the moves on getting your copy over at our online shop, in addition to a few other choice releases Will decided to have us distro for him. As with all of Will's work, he does limited runs, and these won't be available in shops, so unless you want to meet us in the flesh, get over there!


Now for the big-tent items. Vincent Stall/King Mini's first work with 2d Cloud, Things You Carry, is officially off to the presses! After pouring over the files and proofs (thanks Raighne and Vincent), everything should be in place and this will be one fine, fine book come October. We were hoping for the book to have a preview launch at Vincent's new show going up at the CO gallery 10/8, but some fine-tuning will probably push it back a little bit, possibly to the Rain Taxi Book Festival, possibly to an event all its own, details will be forthcoming. I know both Raighne and I are very excited and honored to be working with Vincent, given his reputation both in the sequential arts as well as his numerous other accolades and achievements. Below is a sample from Vincent's upcoming show of the same name at the CO gallery:

Last, but in no way least, we have just begun our push to get our other big 2011 release out the door in time for MIX: Motherlover. I can say that I've read this book multiple times already, both for copy editing purposes and in earlier permutations (for Nic's pieces anyway), and all of the work in here was already solid. Now, with a few minor editing choices by Raighne and I to "You Can't Be Here" so Nic's great pacing shines to its full extent and some of Raighne's as always stellar color work, we really have something of interest on our hands. Rob Clough has been gracious enough to put 2dc in context with the Minneapolis comics scene and beyond, as well as expound upon what makes the Holden Bros. and Nic's comics  so oddly compelling by providing a foreword, all of which can be read here, which sits below the following video from the kickstarter: 

We're about a quarter of the way there already (huge THANKS to those who have already shoved numbers our way!), but to keep the momentum going we'll need YOU to find it within yourself to bring this book the attention it deserves. We have quite a few worthwhile incentives tied to each price level, some of which I'll be making sure I snag a copy of before they're gone, so make that hard for me to do and drop the coinage!

Alright, another night of little sleep at the 2dc abodes. Show up to Vincent's show if you're able, we'll be there!

Ganked

Ha! I think the last time I used that word was when I was 12 or so and would bike to Target every day after school with my friend Thien-Mihn (I don't remember how to spell his name -- it's a mystery that I can spell my own as my spelling is indeed that atrocious. Maybe you've noticed?). We would go there purely to steal comic book cards. What put a stop to my early years of thievery was that I was hit by a car -- which at the time I was pretty sure was an act of god telling me to knock it off or something.

Anyways, this image was ganked from Noah Van Sciver's blog. It's a preview of a newsprint comic that he is splitting with Nic Breutzman AND that we are publishing early next year. The title of Noah's story is the The Cows Head and is based on some folklore. Noah has another preview of a short story that we are publishing next year titled The Lizard Laughs. That story is going inside a new anthology that we are starting sometime in 2012. I'll be talking more about that at a future date. To see more cool stuff that Noah is up to, like 1999 (put out by new comics publisher, Retrofit) check out his blog.

Before the month is out I will be adding a small distro section on the blog as we have a few of Will Dinski's gorgeously designed and illustrated mini's that we'll be selling direct. Speaking of which, Will just finished a new one in collaboration with Mark Ehling. The story is called The Old Guys and will be made available in two formats -- one, as a short in the literary journal, The Nashville Review, and two, as a very limited mini, which you can take a gander at above. In the interim, hit up Will's blog for details. I'm pretty sure these handsome mini's will be making it to the aforementioned distro section of the site in the near future.

Oh and before I go, Will is designing a little comic to fit squarely on our new business card. That ought to be "out" in time for Vincent Stall's Things You Carry launch this October.

La Mano 2nd Annual Report + awesome but mostly unrelated note

This Saturday, starting at 5pm is Zak Sally's La Mano 2nd Annual report. It's an awesome-strange combination of a comic/zine/art fair, music show and benefit, all wrapped into one with a side order of fries, er, fun!  The place to be is:

Eclipse Records
1922 University Ave. W.
Saint Paul MN

The musical acts are as follows (though, not in this order):

CAMDEN (Cole from Daughters Of The Sun project)
PINK TEETH (me and Tooth making a racket)
NOSE QUEAN ANT (newly reconstituted)
TUNNELER (a couple guys from Moonstone doing "a hair metal project about drills", whatever the hell that means...)
MARIJUANA DEATH SQUAD
ARCTIC UNIVERSE
and
GAY WITCH ABORTION

Also, there is a door fee of $6. With that door fee you get a $6 discount off select La Mano books. Other cartoonists selling their wares include Zak Sally/La Mano, Tom K, Maddie Queripel (?), Vincent Stall(?) and a few 2D Cloud folks (of course!). I should mention that I am not really sure who all is attending the fest to sell their comix and the like. I apologize if I forgot anyone or if folks listed above are actually, you know, not in attendance. Not 100% sure...

Here is a clip from last year's event:



Also of awesome note:  Sean Lynch and Mako Homura got hitched!  Congrats you two love birds, sorry we missed yah!