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.

Valentine's Day, Little Hearts, and Pornhounds too

Welp, happy Valentines day folks! If you are looking for something fitting to get that special someone, I have 2 recommendation for yah.

1: Why not pre-order a comic anthology on marriage equality? This vid/montage is for Little Heart, a kickstarter project that happens to be another one that I am involved with. The project itself was created in partnership with local non-profit [MN]Love. Their creative director, Simon Stromberg got that ball rolling for this project to happen. Music is by the multi talented Dan Moyer.

2: Why not pick up a copy of Pornhounds 2 by the brilliant Sharon Lintz and various artists, including killer work by 2DC favorite Nic Breutzman. Say, did I mention that Pornhounds 2 made it into the Top 15 Comics of 2011 over on High-Low via Rob Clough? Well, it did. Nice! You can pick that book up in the shop, just scroll down a bit.

Some of our fav cartoonists are on that same list: Noah Van Sciver, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Julia Gfrörer, Tessa Brunton and many other amazing cartoonists -- go check it out yourself!

Anna Bongiovanni had her self-published comic, The Offering recently reviewed over at 13 minutes. From the review:  "I like to imagine The Offering as a softer version of Julia Gfrorer’s Flesh & Bone, which was one of the best books I read last year. It has that same sort of flickering line weight, this rustic quality that reverberates with kinetic potential."  -- Justin Giampaoli

In the fall we will be publishing Out of Hollow Water by Anna Bongiovanni, which will collect some of her past work and some new stuff as well. Really really excited for that book! 

Reminder: 2DC2011TCZF

Before the day draws too near, just one more reminder that the Twin Cities Zine Fest is occurring this Saturday, the 24th. With Lacey taking the reins for the first time, there are a few changes, all of which I'm (Justin) looking forward to: a later start time (Noon), a new location (Powderhorn Park building--3400 15th Ave. S.) and a little bit different approach to the scheduling (Lacey describes it as a three-ring circus). We'll have copies of Will Dinski's new mini The Old Guys on hand for the first time, not to mention the usual gaggle of 2dc books. I know a couple of 2dc cohorts (Eric Schuster, Anna Bongiovanni) will have new mini's debuting at the show as well, which only sweetens the pot. There are a few other cartoonists/distros/labels of note that will be there as well, but I'm going to leave it up to you to discover them yourselves between 12-5 this Saturday. 


Not 100% related, but I'm putting out the call for an unofficial after-party spot: Skoal Kodiak will be dropping their first load (records) release the very same night at the Eagle's Club in the Seward neighborhood. These boys don't disappoint and Load has its own history of putting out records by stellar cartoonists (Lightning Bolt--Brian Chippendale), so this sidetrack has come full circle.


No excuses, see you Saturday.