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

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.
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Mail Art + New Review on Optical Sloth

I've been a little confused as to what to work on of late...SO I made some mail art for a hopefully new online retailer to carry Good Minnesotan. I think I am going to get back on track though...
We have yet another review up at Optical Sloth. "This one can go right on your bookshelf", Kevin Bramer follows that with "what with the spine and all." HA! He then alludes to GMN#4 having a gold foil cover. Perhaps a dare? Hmmm...
It's a very solid review with the highest praise saved for Anna Bongiovanni, Nic Breutzman, Luke & John Holden, and a funny image capture of Toby Jones' "Its Much Worse". Mr. Bramer, gives us our highest praise and recommendation by telling his viewers to send us some money! Why, that would be lovely, thanks!

With that, I'd advise all contributors and mini-comic lovers and lumbers to check out Kevin's updated and re-vamped review site. Easier on the eyes and thus far he appears to be keeping his promise to reviewing them mini's like mad. I know I now unfortunately have more comics on my "do want" list.
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Just Married and More Mad Props for Good Minnesotan!

Yesterday Meghan and I went downtown with a few members of our families and signed some papers in front of a judge. Turns out we are now married! We plan on having an art show/party in summer '09 to celebrate. For folks with interest and in town, stay tuned to this blog and we will announce the date in the coming months.

Good Minnesotan # 3 is now available to purchase at the Poopsheet Shop. If you have any interest in purchasing or even just peaking at an awesome array of mini comix and alternative/underground comix, I urge you to check the Poopsheet Shop out. Rick Bradford has an online mini-comix/underground comix Museum that you actively participate in and purchase amazing ART from. For more of the historical angle, check out Poopsheet Foundation.

Back in September Dank! AKA Danno Klonowski (GMN#3 contributor) was interviewed on Cream City Comics and gave us a little mention. It's a cool interview and worth checking out! You can read it here.

On Rob Clough's High-Low Best of 2008 we were given an Honorable Mention. It's a very cool list.

Lastly, I made a bit of a boo-boo in my last post. To clarify, Struktur and GMN#4 are two separate projects. Sorry for the confusion!
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Walker book fair, Treehouse Records, Xeric Grant

Book Fair
2D CLOUD will have a table at the Walker Art Center's Multiples Mall: A Bookish Fair in February. We will be selling the Good Minnesotan compendium, Beard Growing Contest, GM buttons, and a new mini comic by Meghan.

Multiples Mall accompanies the Walker exhibition Text Messages: Books by Artists. Feb 21 activities include tour of exhibition, a presentation on the history of chapbooks by Rain Taxi editor Eric Lorberer, and the artists book fair and sale open for browsing throughout the afternoon.

Multiples Mall: A Bookish Fair
Walker Art Center
Cargill Lounge & Lecture Room
Feb 21, 2009
11am - 4pm
FREE


New Retailer
The next time you're in Treehouse Records in Mpls, MN pick up a copy of GOOD MINNESOTAN episode #3.


Contributor News
Ed Moorman (contributor to GMN #2 & #3) has just won a Xeric Grant to publish his benefit anthology Ghost Comics: A Benefit for RS Eden. In addition to Ed, Ghost Comics includes the work of GMN contributors Toby Jones (GM#3), Abby Mullen (GM#3) and many other talented artists.

The Xeric Foundation was established by Peter Laird, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It offers assistance to committed, self-publishing comic book creators by covering the costs associated with self-publishing their work.What's written here is hidden until the readers click on Read More! link.
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SIZE MATTERS review + GMN Contributor News

Shawn Hoke has just posted a review of GOOD MINNESOTAN episodes # 1 & 2 on SIZE MATTERS: The Mini Comics Blog. He says, "Good Minnesotan is an impressive collection of art and comics[.]" Check back at SIZE MATTERS throughout the week for an upcoming review of GM #3!

GOOD MINNESOTAN has been picked up by another retailer. Atomic Books in Baltimore, MD will be selling GM beginning in January. This place has so many awesome underground comics & books that John Waters picks up his fan mail there.

Meanwhile, GMN contributors have been busy:

Nic Breutzman (GMN#2 & 3 contributor) has comics in two anthologies. The first Critical Citidal has received praise from David Mazzucchelli, Gary Panter, Matt Madden, and Dan Nadel which is a strong indicator of the quality of this book. The second, Porn Hounds #2, will be released in the Summer 2009.

Reynold Kissling's (GMN#3 contributor) original comic art is on display in the MN Museum of American Art's Hot Ink: Comic Art in Minnesota from Oct 3, 2008 - Jan 4, 2009. He is shown alongside the original comics of Zak Sally, Tom Kaczynski, King Mini, Will Dinski, Big Time Attic, and Tim Sievert who are all wonderful people and amazing comic artists.



Danno (GMN#3 contributor) and our studio neighbors Big Time Attic (Zander & Kevin Cannon) will be on KFAI radio at 6pm Sunday, Dec 14 to talk about comics for the Wave Project.
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Art Cellar, Arise Books Carry GMN #1 2 & 3

We have added two new GOOD MINNESOTAN retailers. You can now pick up a copy of our latest GOOD MINNESOTAN, plus any back issues you're missing, at MCAD Art Cellar and Arise Books.

The MCAD location holds a special place in our hearts for several reasons. GMN episodes #2 and 3 feature several students and alumni from MCAD's comic book program. The MCAD Art Cellar sells awesome art supplies, that's where I picked up all of the paint I used for my comic in GMN#3. AND I studied printmaking at Hamline University under Leonardo Lasansky with two of the guys that work in the store, Chris and Jacob. Jacob created SHOULD YOU ENCOUNTER A COUGAR which I have been eyeballing in many comic book shops without realizing it was his.

As for Arise Books, they are a cooperative volunteer-run book store/resource center that gives POWER TO THE PEOPLE! They have all kinds of kick ass political books such as "The People's History" by Howard Zinn and amazing t-shirts and zines. Also, this is where Raighne and I first came across Ed Moorman's minicomics. Now he is one of our dearest GMN contributors. Ed is also a comic student at MCAD.
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Poopsheet & High-Low Review

You can now buy Good Minnesotan Comics from our friends over at Poopsheet! And while you're there, you ought to check out there huge selection of AWESOME small press comics!

AND, we have gotten a wonderful review of episodes 1 & 2 by Rob Clough in his High-Low column at SEQUART.org.

"This is a group of artists with an interesting and distinctive set of voices...a good mix of storytelling styles and a palpable desire to experiment. That boldness is the anthology's greatest strength."

For the full review go here where we share a review with Nerd Burglar.
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Pig's Eye visits The Source

GM #1 was so close to being unfinished for FallCon 2007 that an hour before the convention we didn't have any comics. That costly time crunch is why the person on the GMN #1 cover never got properly identified in the comic. Thus, I was completely floored when a FallCon guest saw the freshly printed covers and recognized Pig's Eye in Fountain Cave. The intuitive guest who identified Pig's Eye was Bob Source, manager of The Source Comics & Games and a big supporter of local comics.
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GMN #1 for sale in San Francisco

Raighne and I visited San Francisco this past week with Good Minnesotan Episode #1 stowed away in our luggage. We wandered San Francisco seeking mini-comic retailers and vegan raw food restaurants. In the end, we dined upon many a feast, spent copious amounts of money adding to our comics library, and made two successful mini-comics deals. As a result of our trip you can now purchase Good Minnesotan Episode #1 in San Francisco. Simply stop by Comix Experience or Needles + Pens and lay down some cash.
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