Good Minnesotan

2D Cloud @ MCBA Book Arts Fest this Saturday

2009-11-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

10am-5pm this Saturday Nov 14 Raighne and I will be at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts selling our comics and creatures at the Center's annual Book Arts Fest. I'm super excited because I've never gotten to work this event before. There will be lots of artist-created books. The thought of all those handmade papers, screen-printed covers, and letterpress printed texts makes my quiver with delight. No doubt I'll be spending any and all of my profits... Also, I've heard from my Mom that there is a mystery writing conference going on at the Loft Literary Center (also located at Open Book) on the same day.

We will have the second edition of Beard Growing Contest for sale at our table. It has a different cover, printed by our amazing neighbor Eric Recktenwald and his company The Lab Digital Production. The printing quality makes me cry with awe.

Minnesota Center for Book Arts is located in
the Open Book Building in downtown Minneapolis
1011 Washington Ave S, Suite 100
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612.215.2520

FallCon...Rain Taxi TC Book Fest...what happened

2009-10-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Last October during FallCon it was almost 90 degrees and this year it snowed. Bahhh! I've never experienced a mild convention. Here we are freezing in our fall gear. Thanks to Renny's photo of us you can admire Raighne's Louvre-stashe. All the worthy male MIA guards are sporting them for the Louvre show.

Tom K. stopped by our table to take a photo. While I was looking for it on Flickr I found Tom's photo of Justin at the Toronto Comic Arts Fest 2009. While Justin and Sarah manned the table we stopped by Tom's table and bought a copy of the mini-comic Gabrielle Bell's L.A. Diary. He he wrote the Introduction. Gabrielle sketched a portrait of Raighne and I in our new copy. Wish we had a portrait of our lovely Shaun Feltz. He represented 2D Cloud at Rain Taxi's Twin Cities Book Fest and it was his birthday week too...

Here's a (blurry overexposed) photo of one of my Geirdoz. Geirdo is what my brother used to call me when we were kids. I translate it roughly as meaning dork or nerd. I did a test sale with two of these crocheted creatures at FallCon. We just got asked to participate in the Artist Mart at the Walker Art Center's Gift Shop in December and I will sell more Geirdoz there. Better pics to come with my Geirdoz blog.

Post-convention recap: We've got to burn lots of midnight oil what with all the minis we picked up from local comics people. This reading list most notably includes Sam Anderson who, in addition to comics, gave us a free screen print of an ear. We owe him.

Rain Taxi Twin Cities Book Festival & MCBA's FallCon

2009-10-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

Shaun Feltz will be holding down the fort at Rain Taxi Twin Cities Book Festival this Saturday. The Festival is a 1 day event, and admission is free! Free admission is always pretty neat. Our latest book, Yearbooks, which was co-scribed by Mr. Shaun Feltz, will be at said event. What you will find besides our latest books (and our older GMN titles) is some excellent small press books/crafts/comics and other misc. crafts created by some talented local folks and a few not so local. Take a peak, will you?

Event Hours:
10:00am-5pm... or thereabouts.

Location:
MCTC At (Minneapolis Community & Technical College) 1501 Hennepin Avenue S

The other event of which Meghan and I will be covering is MCBA's FallCon. This event is next Saturday and Sunday. There is a fee to check out all the cool local comic books, which is 11$. It is good for both days though, not too shabby ay? And Yearbooks will be there as well. In addition we do have a new little mini that Justin and I did. Something small and a bit weird I am sure. Meghan will be representing the other spectrum of the weird with little crocheted creatures crawling around a new little diorama. We may have some other little things too...

On the 2nd day of festivities, Justin and Sarah will be arriving at the our little neck of the FallCon woods as they will have just gotten back from Korea. They may still be jet lagged and bleary headed which could make for some fun and/or pleasant conversation righty?

Event Hours:
10:00am-5pm or so

Location:
At the State Fair Grounds right off of Snelling in Saint Paul

Stop by our tables, chat us up, look at our odd books and creations, and maybe buy 1 or 2!

Also, a belated thank you to anybody that stopped by to visit with Nic Breutzman, creator of Yearbooks, at SPX last weekend! Just as importantly, thank you Nic for holding down the fort and chatting up folks!

Floo Powder, Ain't it Grand!

2009-09-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

I wish we could use Floo Powder to travel to all of our tour dates. Planes are so expensive and dirty. Here is one of the wedding photos of us in Harry Potter travel mode. We are emerging from the chimney in our studio. This was Simon Stromberg's idea as is the photo.

We'll try the Floo Powder when we attend "An Evening of Fine Wine and Fine Books" Tuesday, October 13; 6-8pm at The Shop and in MCBA’s gallery. You're welcome to do the same.

Here is MCBA's event description: "Peruse new and exclusive book art represented by The Shop at MCBA, sample a delectable variety of wines and cheeses, and socialize (or talk shop) with other artist’s book collectors, enthusiasts and artists. New work will be on display this evening by book artists from across the nation and beyond. Sponsored by the MCBA Collectors Forum."

2d Cloud's books will be displayed at a table there...and we'll be roaming the gallery as well.

Harry Potter, Waffles, and What We've Been Avoiding

2009-09-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

I've been downright neglectful of my business duties lately. My computer died, our friend Simon's computer died (the friend who took our wedding photos), and then my Grandma died. Thus, Raighne and I spent the last couple of weeks hiding in our apartment eating waffles and reading Harry Potter. Now that we've recuperated, we're settling into our new studio and into our old familiar hardcore work mode. Here's a little rundown of what's been happening since we've been gone:

Retailer News
In addition to buying comics at their store, you can now buy Good Minnesotan comics online at Chicago Comics! Thanks to Caitlin for posting our books.

Thanks also to our newest retailers, Bergen Street Comics of NYC and Pilot Books of Seattle, for carrying Yearbooks!

Fall Tour Schedule
We have a neat line-up planned although we had to forego our annual trip to San Fransisco due to having no vacation time and no vacation funds. Ah well.

Nic Breutzman will be representing 2d Cloud at SPX Sept 26-27. If you're in Bethesda, MD buy a copy of Yearbooks and have him sign it! Then on October 11 and 12, Raighne and I will be at Midwest Comic Book Association's FallCon at the State Fair Grounds in MN. We hope to have Reduced Fist and a second edition of Beard Growing Contest printed butt um, no promises. Justin and Sarah will be flying back from South Korea that weekend so they will in attendance on Sunday. Shaun Feltz will be holding down the fort at Rain Taxi's Twin Cities Book Festival on the same weekend and signing and selling lots of his Yearbooks. We will close the fall with the MN Center for Book Arts Book Arts Festival on Saturday November 14. If you love books arts you should visit us at these events since they will be humming with bookmakers!

Beard News
There is none. That's right. Even the little neighbor girl who rides around on her electric scooter couldn't fail to notice: "Your beard's gone!" Raighne shaved his three year old beard. Please read on before you break down in gut-wrenching sobs. The beard will reemerge as the subject of a stop-motion animation in the months to come.

Headlines and Deadlines

2009-08-31T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hey reader, Justin here. So the 31st has arrived, but many of the submissions we were expecting for the next installment of Good Minnesotan have not. The reasons for this vary: some are simply not done yet while others have committed to submitting at later dates. Due to this paucity of finished material and the amount of work required to get the Xeric grant application in by the end of September, we have decided to get rid of deadlines altogether and instead have just an open submissions policy. If things have congealed enough by early 2010, we'll apply for the Xeric then. Given that we had agreed to post a list of contributors today, here's what we know will be in GMN4 thus far: Raighne & Meghan's first GMN (first ever?) collaboration, a story by Nic Breutzman, and a new story by Luke Holden, who will also have cover duties. There are other submissions we are leaning towards for the next issue, but we don't want to commit to anything just yet since Luke's piece will be what helps set the tone for the rest of the issue and his is still incubating. Just so we're not leaving those who have submitted already in the lurch, we will be contacting each of you individually to give you an update on where your submission stands.

More to come in the following weeks regarding Fallcon...

2d Cloud's New Studio

2009-08-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a tantalizing glimpse of our new studio. We are still on the 2nd floor of the Thorp Building, but we are across the parking lot. It's like an Escher print!

Here we are in our comics & games area. It's still unorganized, but you can see part of the display case for convention decor and my drawing desk. Through the doorway behind us is where we are assembling our screenprinting, papermaking, and bookmaking areas. Not pictured is our painting studio, inventory closet, and bathroom. Yes, the possibilities have expanded.

Our first project is our contribution to Good Minnesotan episode #4. The deadline has been somewhat flexible as we have decided to postpone the publishing date until we have organized funding. We will be applying for grants beginning at the end of August so that is when we need finished pages. Watch for additional pics as we set the studio up!

Mini-comics reviews in Comics Related & Exquisite Things

2009-08-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Raighne and I have received more reviews of our mini-comics Beard Growing Contest and Manny + Bigfoot.

Matthew Dick reviewed both mini-comics together in his Exquisite Things blog. Matt says, "I’ve always had a soft spot for mini comics, and these are amongst the best I’ve read in recent times."

Richard Krauss reviewed Manny + Bigfoot in Comic Related. Richard says, "If you like artsy comics with a handmade, craftsperson feel, it doesn't get any better than this."

Thanks guys!

New Digs: part one

2009-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hello lads and ladies. I have to be getting to work in 5 minutes so this will be split into two posts. Sorry for the drag that is. We are moving in a few days. Our new address to send submissions is:

2D Cloud
1620 Central Ave NE Suite 204
Minneapolis MN 55413

More next time, I promise.

Bare Tare Craft Fare

2009-07-29T16:41:00.001-07:00

Going out in sweat-blazed glory, the 2d Cloud summer touring sched has officially come to an end with Caffetto's 2nd annual Craft fair. I could have done with less sun, more money, and more serious looking little boys hula-hooping through whole noise sets, but I did appreciate seeing those who graced Sarah, Shaun, and I with their presence. Thanks to Shaun for wrangling up some customers, keeping an eye on the table while Sarah and I were away, and keeping me company for the final leg of one of the longer shows I've been a part of. Although people of our ilk were at a minimum (I think Josh Journey-Heinz was the closest I could find to a fellow countryman(get his new book, as I did!!)), I feel that overall our presence was worth the oscillation between genuine enthusies for our booksies and mild interest quickly sprinkled with disregard. Anywho, thanks Caffetto, I can't say I drink much fluids there as of late (living in Seward will do that to you), but a good time was had by us. Bye!

Cirque du Soleil: KOOZA in review

2009-07-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

For those who are unfamiliar with Cirque du Soleil, it is a Circus unlike any you will likely see elsewhere. There are no animals; only people performing amazing acrobatics coupled with fantastic live music sets. They hand pick performers from all over the world that best fit that particular Cirque show. Click on the video above for a little taste.

It's hard to believe that July has nearly past us. A few weeks ago we were gifted with free tickets to Cirque du Soleil's latest show to hit Minnesota, KOOZA. What a show it was! Through the powers of serendipity, the free showing happened to be on my birthday. A rather fortuitous turn of events.

As soon as we were ushered into our seats, a smile danced across my face and the playfulness of the clowns pre-show act kept it there until the show proper began. The show picks up with a child being unable to keep his kite in the air. A mysterious package arrive's taking The Innocent and the audience on act after act of phantasmagorical acrobatics. And all throughout, that smile never left my face.

I really feel that I can't recommend YOU going and seeing this show enough. It's a lot of fun and totally worth the admission. I should mention that I traveled briefly with the last show (Corteo) as security (through several subcontract agencies) so perhaps that coloured my view of the show, although I don't see it that way. When I stumbled upon that gig, I decided to keep it for a least a few cities because the show filled my heart with something very close to the high one gets from being in-love. And KOOZA brought it all back.

Hector, from KOOZA gave us a heads up about a special summer offer: tickets are 30% off! The offer can be accessed by clicking on BUY TICKETS at http://www.koozainstpaul.com. The show runs on until August 9th.

Many thanks to Hector and everyone at KOOZA!

Caffetto Craft Fair this Sunday + Reviews!

2009-07-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, I guess this is a little late, as the Craft Fair begins in 12 hours, but whatever. Justin will be there holding down said fort. If you are in the uptown neighborhood tomorrow (or today as it may well be), stop on by and chat him up!

And we got some more reviews in for Manny + Bigfoot and Beard Growing Contest which were reviewed together by Matthew Dick in Exquisite Things. They are positive little reviews for those little little books, "both of which are lovingly assembled to a high standard." Thanks Matt!

Twin Cities Zine Fest: Photo Blog

2009-07-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

"Good MN's elaborate display lured many..."
Thank you to tom k and Sarah Jordet for taking these pics of Justin and Sarah at the 2d Cloud table at Zine Fest.

Sarah Morean's Daily Cross Hatch report: Zinefest: The Only Good Party I Ever Threw. Crystal Erikson's TC Daily Planet story: Little, local, and made with love: Twin Cities Zinefest showcases Minnesota's tiniest media.

Zinefest Report/GMN4 Update

2009-07-13T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well, another weekend, another show in the can. Although I honestly expected to sell more than we did, I had a good time talking to peeps as well as learning of GMN submissions that loom on the horizon. Thanks to those who did pick up books and those who stopped by to inquire and interrupt my furtive bouts of staring at fellow tablers. As Raighne covered briefly in the previous post, there are going to be some changes to how Good Minnesotan is presented and released. As the new editor, I guess I should be the one to expound upon what those changes are and what they mean for you, the reader/contributor/casual observer. More after the jump.

First and probably foremost, the deadline for GMN4 submissions has changed to Friday, August 14th, so those who thought they'd missed the boat don't have to make a frantic swim for it just yet (wit in spades, I tell you). As Raighne explained before, Yearbooks, while being a real piece of work, did not come cheap for the 2d Cloud clan, causing us to pause and reconsider how we are to continue putting out quality material without morphing into paupers in the process. The first wave of our plan to get GMN4 into your discerning hands is to look for free money, i.e. grants, the first being the Xeric. Given that this is not the easiest grant to obtain, we will also be exploring other means of funding both the next issue as well as future issues, but for the immediate future, this is what will concern us.

Raighne mentioned that we're looking for a minimum of two pages from all interested in submitting to the next issue. That still holds true, but a little elaboration is required. These two pages need to be finished pages, not rough layouts/pencils/scripts/etc. The primary reason for this is that we need something presentable for the sample we'll be submitting for the Xeric, but it will also help expedite the process of compiling a final roster of contributors, which will be listed on the blog Monday, August 31st. A reminder for those submitting for the first time: in addition to our predilection for comics with a fine-art shade and/or an autobiographical bent, we tend to prefer comics that are mixed-media, stray from traditional narrative structures, and are not something you spent a couple days banging out in a sketchbook (i.e. polished work). Having said that, we are not opposed to strong linework and solid storytelling, but if you're going to go that route, make sure that this is not your first foray into the world of comics making. Another change from the original submission guidelines that I should mention is that what you turn in by the 14th need not be 1200 dpi, but must be no lower than 300 dpi. Once the final list of contributors has been posted on the 31st, those people will need to send in their files at 1200 dpi. If you can scan at 1200 dpi the first time through, that would obviously be easier, but if meeting the deadline means getting a lower res scan from you, that will suffice for now.

The other major piece of news on the submissions front is that we will now be accepting them year-round. The reasons for this are threefold: we are in the process of creating an online version of Good Minnesotan that will ideally be updated bi-weekly, but at the very least monthly with new work. This will be a way for us to promote contributors' work in the interim between print issues and give people a preview of what they can expect in future issues. Having submissions come in throughout the year will also help us in planning future print versions of the anthology. A key part of that planning will be determining a featured artist for each issue who will do the covers and set the tone for what else will comprise that issue. Ideally we will be able to return to a biannual schedule for the print version, but this will be dependent on fundage, submissions and other 2DC projects. Lastly, changing to a year-round open submissions policy will hopefully be less stressful for both contributors and for us.

Aside from those changes, consult the link on the sidebar for anything else regarding submissions. Thanks again to all who showed last weekend and we look forward to seeing what will be sliding under our door, dropping into our mailbox and popping up in our inbox in the coming weeks...

Zinefest + New Reviews for Yearbooks + GMN changes

2009-07-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

So first things first-- this weekend-- ZINEFEST! It's this bloody weekend! Saturday 11am-5pm (the poster has the incorrect start time for Saturday), with an afterparty at ARISE! books!. Sunday 11am-4pm

Justin Skarhus, Sean Lynch and their ladies will be holding down the 2D Cloud/Good Minnesotan fort. Luke Holden and his zine machine will possibly make an appearance as well.

In addition, Sean will be premiering Zine Supreme at said event. It's going to be a mouthful of mouth-wateringly Jawsome zines and comics, so please swing on by the event (and pick up yerself a copy of ZINE SUPREME)!

In other news, we have several new reviews of our latest comic, Yearbooks recently thrown-up on the internets. Huzzah! Up first is one performed by Mr. Shawn Nyland-Hoke of Size Matters. And while you really should read the whole review (and the comic!) here is a snippet "what really makes this project crackle with energy is the vibrancy of Raighne Hogan's colors." Ahh shucks, I turns me head and bats my eyes. Seriously, I do. I have tried really hard to complement Nic's amazing line work with the colours, and after spending me and Maggie's honey moon money on the book, it's nice to hear that.

Up next is a review by Kevin Bramer of Optical Sloth. "Nicholas uses the silences of his characters beautifully to convey emotions that would take him pages of exposition and Raighne nails the drabness of high school while still managing the vibrancy of the students and the general high school art world". Kevin ends the review with "I wouldn’t have guessed Minnesota to be one of the places that could legitimately be called the future of comics, but if these people keep this up they might well get there". Wow! Very grand, thanks Kevin!

"From the jarring psychedelic dream sequence that opens the book, to its closing apocalyptic meditation on the intrusion of the adult world, Yearbooks presents a realistic, sometimes darkly skewed vision of high school life". The above comes curtesy of Matt Dick's review on Exquisite Things. Another wonderful review, thanks Matt!

The last topic to cover in this blog post is that yes, we are having some changes in how we run Good Minnesotan. GMN#4 is going to be delayed until early 2010. The reason for this is pretty simple, Yearbooks was expensive and we wish to focus on pushing that book. The deadline is still roughly in place... Although pushed back several months. We would still ideally like something by folks by mid-August, even if it is only 2 pages of progress as we plan to be applying for grants and what-not to get funding for the project.

Justin Skarhus is the new lead editor going forward as well. We will talk more about this in a very near future blog post. Thanks for reading!

Yearbooks Launched into the Basket!

2009-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

When Shaun, Raighne and I were setting up the Launch Party we met a woman who summed up the night's events perfectly:"I have like 600 people's numbers on my phone but only 6 I could call to pick me up at the airport."

We threw our party on Sunday night, on Father's Day, in the rain! Most folks who would normally attend an outdoor summer party stayed home. However, the friends who would pick us up at the airport, wait, let me ammend that, the friends who have picked us up at the airport, formed the bulk of the party. We enjoyed the intimate gathering, and it was fun to meet our friends' friends that had braved the poor weather.

We attempted to project Basket Case on the big screen, but phantom technology problems prevailed despite all efforts by Amanda of Arise and a friendly Walker Arts guard. We ended up hovering around a laptop! It was better suited to the smaller turn out!

We had a lengthy discussion about our shared dislike of Holy Land's hummus's new packaging (more paper, less food) and receipe (way over-whipped). The garlic flavor, which used to be my fav, is now inedible. Luckily Raighne and I baked some cookies which Shaun photographed. They tasted delicious but look like poop in the photo. Sort of fitting?

Thank you to Arise Books, Big Time Attic, Ed Choy Moorman, Dirk Deppey of Journalista, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Dan Olson of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy, and Minneapolis's Comic Examiner Ted Anderson for promoting the Yearbooks launch. For anyone who has Minneapolis and/or Minnesota comics events coming up in the future: contact Ted!

Finally a big thank you to Shaun, co-birther of Yearbooks. He helped us copy our flyers, get our stuff and selves to and from the event, bought lots of sweet yuppie treats for our guests, and he was so nice and funny the whole time. He even remembered to take pictures at the party...which once again, we did not. Friends! Airports! Yearbooks!

Publisher's Weekly previews Yearbooks

2009-06-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Ada Price was kind enough to preview Yearbooks in Publisher's Weekly's newsletter of comics and graphic novel publishing last week. Ours was one of three books featured in her Panelmania: Comics from the MoCCA Art Festival.

Launch Party at Arise this Sunday + Yearbooks Preview

2009-06-16T00:56:00.000-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More shaun feltz

Kinda neat? Maybe? In any case that was just a snack to give you a taste of what you will be seeing this Sunday, should you stop on by for the launch party.

Yearbooks reviewed on High-Low

2009-06-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

We got our first review of Yearbooks in Rob Clough's High-Low blog on Friday. In the review, Yearbooks: The Betrayal of Dreams, he says, "Breutzman's visuals tell the story effortlessly. His character design, body language, use of gesture and unusual placement of panels give the reader subtext and a richer understanding of the story's ultimate emotional resolution." Whoo-hoo! Go read it!

We also noticed that Rob's review got a nice mention by Dirk Deppey in Journalista (in the Literary Comics section).

Our Goods and Our Bads at MoCCA

2009-06-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Whew! MoCCA 2009 is over and we are back in MN. It's time to reflect on our goods (high-five) and our bads (oops!) at NYC's small press convention. We'll also talk about a change we're making at 2d Cloud based on how we fared.

ps. thank you to Shawn Nyland-Hoke for taking this pic of us at MoCCA. There were six of us at this table and not one of us had a camera!

Without further ado, the Good and the Bad:

Table Display

Our Bad: A cardboard cutout of a pink lactating moonbat was poor advertising.

How we made Good: We removed the moonbat and used the space to leave copies of our mini-comics and Yearbooks opened up on the table. Customers flipped through books they barely glanced at before!

Sales

Our Bad: Sales were slooooow on Saturday. Raighne, Nic, and I watched in heat-exhausted awe as Sean Lynch charmed con-goers with his friendly demenour: "Even with ketchup-stained fingers you can flip through my sketchbooks." Meanwhile, we drank water and tried not to faint.

How we made Good: Sunday was a .05% cooler. After a day of observing Sean, the undefeated master of customer service, and a pep talk from Ed, the great self-promotion guru, I gathered my wits. I opened my mouth and people bought comics.

Marketing

Our Bad: 1) Aesthetically, we make comics that are grey matter. They are neither light and happy nor dark and homicidal. 2) We publish an anthology about Minnesota. Limited appeal...anyone?

How we made Good: 1) Ed Choy Moorman. His comics are universally loved by all people and press. We were able to pass our comics on to all of the reviewers that stopped to check out his books. 2) We decided that after GMN #4 Good Minnesotan will become an online-only anthology. This will give us a chance to start creating more of our own books whose audiences are not limited by geography.

Networking

Our Bad: Not meeting up with Julia Rothman from Book-by-Its-Cover.

Double Bad: Failing to give review copies to Matt Phelan from Anthem Magazine.

How we Made Good: We're mailing Julia and Matt their review copies.

How we made Double-Good: We were overjoyed to hear Jose Villarubia say he was so glad we made it. We got to meet our sales rep, Tony Shenton, in person, and chat with Tom Neely about self-publishing. We gave a distribution sample to Dylan Williams of Sparkplug comics and promo copies of Yearbooks to our favs Charles Burns, Al Columbia, Dan Nadel, Matt Madden & Jessica Abel. We met Shawn Nyland-Hoke of Size Matters: the Mini-Comics Blog (he's vegetarian!) and Ada Price of Publishers Weekly who loved Yearbooks.

Panels

Our Bad-est Bad: 1) We missed yet another one of Tom K.'s panels. 2) Going to the Making Comics panel that Heidi MacDonald of Publisher's Weekly's The Beat moderated and not getting her a copy of Yearbooks.

Our Good-est Good: 1) Nic was a panelist in a talk with successful School of Visual Arts graduates. This panel included Nate Powell and Dash Shaw. He mentioned Yearbooks. 2) The Comics vs. Art panel with Frank Santoro, Gary Panter, and Raymond Sohn ("the swingin' 80's"). I thought I was going to pass out. I didn't know anyone else was melded across the divide like me.

After-parties

Our Bad: Missing the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art's opening night for David Mazzucchelli's Asterios Polyp because we hadn't eaten dinner. Not hanging out with Matt Madden & Jessica Abel...because we were too tired...? WTF.

Our Good: Nothing good. We sucked the big one here, folks. Too much hot air, not enough liquids, foodstuff or sleep to make wise decisions.

Comic Books Shops:

Our Bad: Not visiting Forbidden Planet.

Our Good: Dropping off Yearbooks at Jim Hanley's Universe. They have the best organized mini-comics section we've ever seen. Our comics were placed at eye level with our shelf-talker. Unbelievable!

Conclusion
At MoCCA 2010 we resolve to eat breakfast, talk to con-goers instead of hiding behind cardboard moonbats, attend after-parties with or without our dinners, and to avoid flights that are likely to be delayed. See you at MoCCA 2010...when we plan to commit more Good deeds than Bad!

Links:

Here's our table-mates Sean Lynch and Ed Choy Moorman's take on MoCCA.
Jog the Blog: MoCCA '09: The Tourist
Publisher's Weekly: MoCCA's Heated Success
Newsarama: MoCCA
Comic Book Resources: MoCCA Hits Manhattan

2d Cloud gearing up for MoCCA

2009-06-03T11:36:00.000-07:00

At first, we were going to the MoCCA comic convention, then we were not. Raighne submitted the forms within the first week of registration BUT THEN we learned that tables were sold out. That canceled our NY trip.

While tabling at TCAF in Toronto, we met Jose Villarrubia. I'm not exaggerating when I write that if you read comics you've read his. Raighne read interviews when he was young in which Jose talked about how he first painted things by hand and then scanned them into the computer and reworked them digitally. In other words, his opinion means a lot to us, and he's a wonderful man. Jose told us in the airport on the way back to Minnesota that we needed to go to MoCCA, even if we didn't have a table. We decided to go.

We booked our flight, and then a couple of weeks later, we were taken off the waiting list and given a table. Whew! Nic Breutzman, Ed Choy Moorman, and Sean Lynch decided (again, thank goodness) to share a table with us.

If you are in New York City on June 6 & 7, please stop by our table at MoCCA.

Thank you, Jose! Thank you Richard Krauss for posting Yearbooks info on Midnight Fiction. Thank you Brian Heater for including us in the MoCCa Festival 2009 Preview on the Daily Cross Hatch.

Shaun + Brendan = movie manstuff

2009-05-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons Raighne and I became publishers is because we have many talented friends to work on projects with. Our friend Shaun Feltz is a filmmaker and writer. He is collaborating with Nic and Raighne on our current series of 3 Yearbooks the first of which we just published. He is also editing our much-hyped and still absent (apologies...we have been doing too many comic cons) podcast interviews.

Shaun directed Raighne in two of his short films. Maybe some of you remember An Expression of Woe within which Raighne cries over a wooden duck? I would like to share another video of Shaun's with you today. It carries a special place in our hearts because it stars Brendan Holloway. Brendan was our roommate for a couple of years (read Justin and Raighne's Sex Box in GMN #3). We are all going to his wedding this Saturday. We wish Brendan congratulations and now let's watch Shaun's film.

2DC @ TCAF '09: The weekend in hindsight

2009-05-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

Given the wealth of tasks and events on Raighne and Meghan's proverbial plates (this weekend's Art-a-Whirl–ends today!–, getting review copies of Yearbooks sent out, preparing for our release party at Arise!, getting ready for MOCCA next month, working on their pieces for GMN4 and Rdcd Fist, and sundry tasks I'm forgetting), they have delegated the task of recounting our time in Toronto for TCAF to me, the increasingly less silent partner in the 2D Cloud enterprise, Justin. If interested in what transpired, click below for the full account. Otherwise, thanks to those who stopped by our table to converse or pick up a book! (Note: Thanks to our superior saleswoman, Sarah T., for visually documenting the trip)

Riding the rail, fresh faced and ready to undergo multiple bouts of vomiting in a few short hours. A few miles away, Raighne and Meghan are stuffing their faces with home-made pancakes before they depart.

Here Sarah and I sit, awaiting the arrival of Raighne and Meghan.

All are accounted for, and I'm about to begin my cold sweats and vomiting shortly.

Here I am, Mr. dried sweat and stale vomit, but who gives a shit, we're in Toronto! Time for us to contribute to the Canadian economy and the coffers of our fellow TCAFers.

Our lovely bearded chief, Raighne, is about to let the rest of the 2D Cloud clan set up camp, unawares to the Le Meridien staff. "Do not disturb"=cheap hotel for all!

And

Now

We

Rest?

Preparing for day one of TCAF. Raighne is putting his final touches on a display that, sadly, will not realize its full potential. Notice the sun glowing behind the curtain? That won't last.

Foreground: me posing for subway photo.
Background: Raighne and Meghan figuring out how to get to our vegan breakfast.
Aboveground: Stormclouds gather.

Little do

we

know

This awaits us upstairs

After some scrambling and a thorough soaking, we make it there. Raighne and Meghan get started on damage control while Sarah and I...

Sneak off to eat breakfast at Tim Horton's. I think Toronto has the friendliest hobos I've ever met.

I relieved Raighne and Meghan of their posts shortly after we returned. I think this is around the time that Tom K. stopped by to check up on us.

Here's what we had to offer the people. Of note is the addition of Yearkbooks to our spread for the first time. It almost didn't make it, but Westcan was able to ship a couple of boxes to the hotel.

Depending on whom you ask, this could've been to our benefit or detriment, but we were placed in the same loop as Drawn and Quarterly , who was hosting three of the primary draws for the show: Seth, Adrian Tomine, and Yoshihiro Tatsumi. All were signing books for a large chunk of Saturday and part of Sunday as well.

Our top salesperson of the fest, Sarah T. She made a quarter of the weekend's sales in one hour. Apparently some people prefer to buy our books from a cute Asian girl than scraggly white people.

Upon being granted their newfound freedom from the table, Raighne and Meghan don't know what to do with themselves. They quickly came to their senses, however, and decided to hand out a few copies of Yearbooks to people we admire and those offering to review it: namely Chester Brown, Frank Santoro, Jose Villarrubia, Jim Munroe, and the good people at Broken Pencil.

This was somewhat early on in the day. As the fest wore on, it became difficult to make one's way around any part of the show.

Just like everyone else, we have photos of Seth, Tomine, and Tatsumi, but there are plenty of people with better shots of them that you can find easily. This one pretty much sums up Raighne's feeling about waiting in line for at over an hour to have Tatsumi sign and sketch in his copy of A Drifting Life.

Day two of the fest saw the 2D Cloud clan split up for a large portion of the day, hence the dearth of fest photos and a couple of what Sarah and I ate in their stead. I did break down and return to the Picturebox table to buy issues 1 and 2 of Powr Mastrs by CF and sat in on a couple of panels. Raighne, Meghan and I attended one on editing comics, which consisted of Alvin Buenaventura, Brendan Burford, and Greg Means. Not much was said that any of us deemed illuminating and Alvin didn't seem to know how to talk into a mike, but nevertheless it was still entertaining. The latter panel was a critics roundtable which consisted of Jeet Heer, Douglas Wolk, Dan Nadel, and Bart Beaty. This panel was great and I wished it was twice as long, but alas, it was not to be. Jeet and Dan seemed to dominate the panel, with Bart getting his thoughts in there when he could. They covered topics ranging from the level of critical discourse concerning comics in the press to the selective lineage modern cartoonists seem to be constructing for themselves with the reissues and promotion of older cartoonists. All in all, it was fun to see people who knew their shit argue and bemoan current trends in the 'biz'.

After the fest had ended and we all gathered our meager earnings and growing stack of reading materials, we split to fill our stomachs (Raighne and Meghan chose an excellent but exorbitant vegan pizza from Magic Oven, while Sarah and I went for cheap, mediocre bento boxes). Once reconvening at the hotel, Meghan decided call it a night and cozy up with some of said reading materials, while the rest of us ventured to the DeLeon White gallery
to see NoisePopper/Twee producer Dan Deacon. After a twenty minute wait and tantalizing wafts of chronsmoke gliding past our noses, we made it in. Seen here is Raighne and I amused at how much shitty beer costs and how old we are in relation to many of our fellow show-goers.

Sarah demonstrating how fast she could sell books in relation to the rest of us.

Here's a couple samples of what Dan Deacon had to offer those in attendance:

Aside from a tasty breakfast the following morning and a brief encounter with Jose Villarrubia at the airport, that pretty much sums up the weekend. Thanks again to all who stopped to see us, those who picked up a book or two, and to you for getting through what will probably be the longest GMN blog post ever.

?

A little late?

2009-05-13T22:06:00.001-07:00

VISIT! Yeah sorry, that's all I got.

Art-A-Whirl @ 2d Cloud Studio!

2009-05-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Join us in our studio this weekend for ART-A-WHIRL! We will have our new comic book Yearbooks for sale, plus Good Minnesotan comics, mini-comics, and buttons.

There will be artwork and comics by Raighne & Meghan Hogan with guest artists Sean Lynch, Joe Nixon, Dave Digre.

We are located directly above Diamonds Coffee Shoppe!
2d Cloud
1618 Central Ave NE Suite #214
Mpls, MN 55413

Friday May 15 6pm - 10pm
Saturday May 16 Noon - 8pm
Sunday May 17 Noon - 5pm