Spring Con

FRESH from our weekend at TCAF, I'll (Justin) be at the MN State Fair Grounds on Sat. with a limited supply of pre-formal US debut copies of Strong Eye Contact:

...along with the usual 2DC array. You're likely to find portions of 2DC's catalog split between Eric Schuster and Uncivilized Books' respective tables for day 2, so track those two down and check out their books while you're at it!

This is the only other local summer show for 2DC between now and Autopic, so if you just can't wait until August and like to buy from 2DC directly, this is the weekend for it.

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. 

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...

2D Noah Van Sciver

Photo by Tom K

"Noah Van Sciver was frozen in this position for the entirety of Spring Con. Raighne & Justin thought that was funny. Weird Funny. Not haha funny." --Tom K's Flickr page.

Spring Con 2011 was a lot of fun-- more so than I would have expected for a non-alternative/indie/art show. Part of that fun came from the excellent company of one Noah Van Sciver. We hosted that fella and premiered his book at the show. A big shout out to Zak Sally for the printing-hell to get it done in time for Spring Con. It's a beautiful little book and I am certainly proud of it. While at the show and shortly thereafter it's made some noise here in MN via a review by local cartoonist Alexander Fukui, and a brief interview with the nice chaps over at the Geek Report. Included in the interview/Spring Con post is Lars Martinson and the North Star Roller Girls.

Photo by Will Dinski

Speaking of The Death of Elijah Lovejoy, it is now available to order from the shop. So, head on over there and pick it up!

Also at our table we had Nic Breutzman, who drove up from Rochester MN on Sat. He is in the process of moving back to the cities. He has quite a load of work coming out the second half of the year. Keep a look out for it, 'kay? Other 2DC regulars included Justin, my wife Meghan and myself. We kept the table and a half stocked with people and books. Thanks to all who stopped by and chatted us up!!

I am sure everybody's done hearing about how the rapture/end of the world scenario did not happen this weekend, but we did get some heavy rain and a tornado dropped down in North Minneapolis and made a mess of things. That was a little worrisome...

Photo by Tom K

One grave error that I made during the duration of the show was forgetting to bring cash, thus I ended up staying put and not tempting myself with books I could not buy. Which was sad as I wanted to check out lots-o-stuff. And I opted to not use an ATM as I HATE doing that. Little did I know I would end up having to do that at Matt's Bar in South Minneapolis as Justin, Noah, Tom K. and myself had lunch there AND they do not accept plastic. I really should have known better. No matter.

Photo by Tom K

On monday I stopped at Big Brain and picked up 21 by Wilfred Santiago, Evolution by Kevin and Zander Cannon of Big Time Attic, True Swamp 01 by Jon Lewis, Book of Logo's by Dan Wieken.

Oh, and if you happen to stop over at Itchy Keen in the next week or two, my apologies-- it's in the middle of a redesign.  

Fleeting Pages & SpringCon 2011 + notes

Last week Justin sent out some copies of Yearbooks to Fleeting Pages, a pop-up book store in Pittsburgh, PA. They ended up taking over the Borders that went out of business and will be selling independently published and small press books of all stripes in their HUGE 24,000 square foot shop until early June. They have also been getting a ton of press coverage on their venture. If you are in Pittsburgh between now and early June, stop by, pick up some gorgeous small press books and check out their workshops and film showings!!

Next on the agenda: This Saturday and Sunday is SpringCon 2011! We will be premiering Noah Van Sciver's 'The Death of Elijah Lovejoy' at the show. The show opens to the public at 10 am both days and ends at 5 pm and takes place and the MN State Fair Grounds. Below is the address for quick reference.

1265 Snelling Ave North
St. Paul MN 55108

At our table will be Nic Breutzman, Justin Skarhus, Meghan Hogan, and myself (raighne here). Noah might be at our table too, not sure if he has his own table or not... Hrm. So visit us, say hi, take a look at our new book!

2 quick notes:

1:
Help Zak get this baby out in the world!! Pre-ordering the book is only 12$!

2: in a future post, after SpringCon I will talk a bit about my curatorial picks for MIX-- sorry about the delay JP.

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.

TCJ's Top 25 Minis of 2010: 2D Cloud makes the cut

!!!!

The last book in the Good Minnesotan series, GMN4, makes it into The Comics Journal's Top 25 Minis of 2010. Hoo-haa, heady company we is in -- landing in the #2 spot, as decreed by indie comics maven Rob Clough feels, I don't know, nice. I worked my beard and bum off on that issue, so thanks much to Rob for digging into and appreciating the work. But don't take my word for it -- go check out the article! Fellow Minnesotans (past and present) like Tom K, Toby Jones, Ed Choy Moorman, and Nic Breutzman, not to mention our newest 2D Cloud artist, Noah Van Sciver, all made the list for their own releases over the past year as well. Congrats to them, and keep an eye on the future releases page as you're likely to see some, if not all of these great cartoonists in new 2D Cloud books in the future.

A big thanks to our contribs/supporters as well. You know, I still have yet to finish binding all 500 copies of GMN4. Ugh. Gotta get back to that prior to SpringCon!

They come in three

One:
A thank you to everyone who made it out to Immaculate: Works by Anna Bongiovanni at our studio last Friday.  Due to the time creeping up on us for the prep of the show, I did not give Anna or myself a ton of time for set-up, so thanks Anna for slogging through!  And thanks for tasty wine!














In the end it all worked out and some wonderful smiles showed up!

Thar be David "Mister-no-where-to-be-found-on-the-internet" Lundin (captured in a Good Minnesotan 3 story illustrated by Renny Kissling).

Alison Stump, who helped set-up the show on a late late Thursday night, enjoying some wine.

Jenny Considine, in the foreground, David's back, my forehead, and Christina's hands.

Several members of my family showed up, my mom and my sister, Chantel and her friend Tiffany.

Mako Homura having just the right bit of fun with those yummy vegan cupcakes!

Myself, Mako, and Evan Palmer enjoying some "apple juice".  

Yummy yummy vegan cupcakes and fun photo's taken by Heather Buscho with Christina Beard.  Flowers provided by the two of 'em.  Thank yah ladies!

Two:
Immaculate continued into the weekend with the Art-A-Whirl crowd making their way through the Thorp Building.  Big thanks to everyone who stopped by and made the show so fun! Extra big thanks to Meghan's Mom for food & table sitting and to James who bought the green mini Geirdo + rocket.

Three:
Meanwhile: Elsewhere: in the cosmos.... Justin, Sarah and meself were at SpringCon talking to peeps, selling some of the last Sunday edition's of GMN4 and picking up some books as well.   Unfortunately we did not take any photo's but Will Dinski has got us covered here.  Speaking of Will, he had some really nice things to say about the last Good Minnesotan comic on his blog, thanks Will!

You know, I had originally planned to write a lot more when this was all fresh in my head, but my internet has mostly not worked the past 3 days.  SO.  I will end this with mention of JP's 1890.  A very beautiful book.  I urge you to check it out!

One more thing before I forget.  Sarah Tulius noticed a mention of GMN4 on Midnight Fiction and a photo of Justin and Sarah taken by Richard Krauss as part of their Stumptown 2010 coverage.  Cool!  Thanks Richard!