The Curtains Close

Welp folks, this is the end of the road for this here blog. You can keep up to date on all things 2D Cloud over at the 2DC blog. In addition, Good Minnesotan, as a series is also ending. It has been a fun run. Recently we have even landed the #2 spot on Rob Clough's Top 25 Minis of 2010 via The Comics Journal with our fourth and final issue, GMN#4. I want to thank everyone who has donated their time and / or cash to plunk down a copy of this humble art comics series. You have all made it worth while. Thank you.

Over at Itchy Keen, we have been doing short, sweet stock interviews with some of the creators of the 4th issue. The plan is to expand this to include everyone in the series. So please, stop by now and again to catch these little interviews as they progress.

In the interim, this is a list of folks who helped us make GMN#4 possible, through their art, funds, time and coverage.

Daniel Jay Olson
Richard Krauss of Midnight Fiction
Sarah Huneke
James Vculek of Partizan Pictures
Eric Schuster
Craig Farmer
Carolyn Belefski
Mark McGinty of Seventh Avenue Productions and author of The Cigar Maker
Lupi
Nicholas Breutzman
Daniel Moyer Artisan
Martha Iserman
Matt Wells
Vincent Stall
Meghan Hogan
Ed Choy Moorman
Luke Holden
Justin Skarhus
Sarah Dan Bee Tulius
Megan Koh Eun Tulius
Zak Sally
Sean Lynch
Noah Harmon
Joseph Nixon
Steroid Party
Mux Mool for dem beats
Maddie Queripel
Emily Kaplan
Toby Jones
Kevin Cannon
Joshana Anderson
Tom Kaczynski
Neville McKinnie
Buck Sutter
Anna Bongiovanni
Mayme Donsker
Will Dinski
Reynold Kissling
Tim Sievert
Eric Ruby
Pat Hogan of Virtual Reality
Holy Land Brand
Central Avenue Liquors
Bryan Mitchell
Nick Busse
Carrie Parra
Theresa Dew
Rossi Fraenkel
Achilles Sangster II
Charles Gearin
Debbie Skarhus
Jeanne Shields
Mike Mullan
Ruthie Hanson
Brittany Edwards
Luke Mackowiak
Rob Clough of TCJ and the High-Low blog
Matt Dick of Exquisite Thing
Kevin Bramer of Optical Sloth
Shannon Smith of File Under Other
Matthew Brady of Warren-Peace
Matthew Kessen of Playtime Magazine
Shaun Feltz
Chantel Holsather

A big thanks to everyone!

PS:
If I forgot anyone, I apologize. If you write me on the 2DC blog, I will correct it ASAP.What's written here is hidden until the readers click on Read More! link.
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Mini-comics reviews in Comics Related & Exquisite Things

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!
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Caffetto Craft Fair this Sunday + Reviews!

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!

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Zinefest + New Reviews for Yearbooks + GMN changes

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!
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MicroCon, mini-reviews+Yearbooks

Yearbooks is off to the printer! We are so thrilled (and exhausted)!

So, MicroCon is this Sunday? Crikey! Yes, MicroCon is indeed this Sunday at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds
Progress Center
1621 Randall Ave
St. Paul, MN 55108

We will be represented there by Justin and quite possibly myself (raighne here). If I am ambitious I will have a preview of Yearbooks on hand. We'll see on that one.

On Rob Clough's High-Low site there is a new review of Me and Meghan's mini's. In the review , Rob says: "Both of these minis are beautiful, weird art objects". Thanks Rob!

There is a lot more to say and show here, but I have run out of time. Sorry folks! New post soonish!
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Manny + Bigfoot Reviewed in the Daily Cross Hatch

My husband Raighne woke me up at one in the morning last night to tell me the news: "Your mini-comic's been reviewed in The Daily Cross Hatch!" I was sure I was dreaming, because this has been one of our oft wished and oft denied goals over the past year and a half of making comics. So I rolled over and said, "Uh, huh. Nice honey." He kept talking, saying the review was positive. "Wait, what?" And that some people had ordered Manny + Bigfoot through our online shop after reading the review.

Today, I found out that it wasn't just a dream. My new mini-comic Manny + Bigfoot was reviewed on The Daily Cross Hatch on March 26. According to Sarah Morean, the mini-comics editor/reviewer at the Daily Cross Hatch, "Its a charmer." To read the full review please click here. Sarah's review is an excellent introduction to the mini-comic if you are curious about it.

Also...Sarah's review of Manny + Bigfoot got mentioned in Journalista (the Comics Journal Weblog). Here's what Dirk Deppey said after reading Sarah's review: "Praise for Meghan Hogan comic, which is printed on elephant-poop paper. No, really. Elephant=poop paper." Sweet old ellie poo, how I love you. If you want to see it for yourself, click here and scroll down slowly, and lovingly.

Thank you Sarah Morean and Dirk Deppey! Thank you Justin for noticing the review and informing Raighne!
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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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NEW Review at Midnight Fiction!

Yay another wonderful review of GMN#3 up on the intraweb by the fine folks of Midnight Fiction!

Richard's write-up calls Noah Harmon's comic "a humorous musing that attempts to clear the waters when a cephalopod is suddenly struck by inspiration."

He precedes down the list of GMN #3 creator's where he closes his review with Danno Klonowski's "The Shriner" which he call "a fitting finale to GMN #3".

You can read the review in full here.
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GMN Makes Best Comics of 2008 + SIZE MATTERS reviews GM3

Zak Sally told Raighne he saw GOOD MINNESOTAN mentioned on The Comics Reporter blog. We looked and found that Tom Spurgeon posted Shannon Smith's Best of 2008 and we had made Shannon's list!

Shannon has posted his "favorite minicomics and webcomics of 2008" on his File Under Other review site. Here's what Shannon had to say about us: "The Good Minnesotan books are amazing looking. Vol. 3 is more of a graphic novel format (I'll review it soon) but 1 and 2 are two of the "best" designed minicomics I saw all year. Especially 2." He also singled out Ed Moorman (GMN #2 & #3 contributor) for his work in various anthologies and books in 2008.

We also are thrilled to announce that Shawn Hoke wrote a review of GOOD MINNESOTAN episode #3 on SIZE MATTERS: The Mini Comics Blog. He commended the work of Toby Jones, Maddy Queripel, Ed Moorman, and Nic Breutzman's comics as his favorites but reserved his highest praise for Nic's "My Town" calling it "the best story in this book".
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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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2 New Reviews for GMN! + Beard in Shop

Richard Krauss has reviewed GMN #1 on Comic Related and GMN #2 on Midnight Fiction. He has also posted a news item heralding the launch of GMN #3 on his blog.

Richard was interviewed on Indie Spinner Rack's first installment of their Mini-Comics Book Club (episode #138). He talked about the history of mini-comics and being a part of the Newave Comix Scene.

On that note, I must mention that Raighne's mini-comic Beard Growing Contest is now available in our 2D CLOUD store.

Also I must mention that Rob Clough's review of GMN was mentioned in Journalista, the online blog of The Comics Journal. Scroll down if you want to see it, it's pretty small, just a link, but hey we're proud fans of TCJ! Thanks to Justin for finding this.
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New review of #2 by Optical Sloth & An Expression of Woe

We have another review of our 2nd volume of Good Minnesotan over at the Optical Sloth written by Kevin Brammer, mad drinker of a billion hours of workahol. Kevin says: "If you like your anthologies diverse and thought-provoking, you could do a whole lot worse than this" To read that sucker in full DO click on above link. Thanks Kevin!

Now something a bit more silly for y'all. The quality is a bit shotty, due to youtube's trade of accessibility for shotty quality. Oh well, oh bloody hell! The video, shot by Shaun Feltz is without sound butt enjoy it anyways-cause I sez so!


Today just shot another goofy short with Shaun Feltz. Much love to that fellow beard. I'll throw that up here at a later date along with some other stuff. Tomorrow Meghan and I are off to APE! Maybe we will see you there?
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GMN #2 Gets Filed Under Other

YaY! Nice comments about GMN #2 from reviewer Shannon Smith. He is the voice of mini-comic wisdom at File Under Other.

Shannon says, "Like Episode 1 before it, Good Minnesotan Episode 2 is an example of how great a fine hand crafted minicomic can be. This book is a truly beautiful thing to read, look at and hold. The first issue was really strong and the second improves upon that good start.

If you, my file under other reading pal, have not been able to hold an issue of Good Minnesotan in your hands then you really should make the effort. As I always say, the computer scans can't do the book justice. It is simply a beautifully crafted minicomic anthology that needs to be held in your hands to be appreciated."

To find out which GMN #2 comic story was his favorite and other opinions of interest read the entire review here. THANK YOU, Shannon!
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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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GMN #1 gets Filed Under Other

"As a whole, I would say that the Good Minnesotan gang's visual strengths outweigh the storytelling at this point but it is only a first issue and as far as first issues go this one is a gem," writes Shannon Smith in his review of GM1. In his mini-comics blog he aptly calls File Under Other, Shannon described my comic work as "eerie yet charming", Raighne's as a "good mystery or riddle unfolding" and Justin's Revenge Fantasies as the most traditional yet still "avant garde". He also wrote that the good feel provided by the Elli Poo paper would be a deciding factor for him when making purchasing decisions at a convention or store. Read the entire review here.

Shannon Smith of Castlewood, VA is a mini-comics creator as well as a reviewer. He is also a member of the Small Press League and was recently the subject of one of their online interviews. Currently he is working on Sleepwalker, a collection of his mini-comics, which he will make available in the spring of 2008.
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GMN #1 reviewed in Optical Sloth

Kevin Bramer of opticalsloth.com has published the first online review of Good Minnesotan #1. He requests, "More like this please! [T]his book as a concept is exactly what's needed to keep this medium going strong: regional anthologies."

How did he grade it? "Overall a pretty solid collection." Kevin was in agreement with the majority of feeback we've heard from other readers when he said, "There's the strongest piece of the book, also by Raighne Hogan, called Teddy Bears And Time Travel." For those who are wondering more about the stories in GMN #1, Kevin provides a good summary. Read the entire review here.

Reviewer Kevin Bramer hails from Columbus, Ohio. Optical Sloth is a Kevin's website for small press comics. Anyone who enjoys mini-comics should peruse its reviews, online store, and forum.
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Raighne featured in Expressive Comics Vol. 2

Excerpt from Vol. 2 "raighne produces some of the most exciting and visually interesting and stimulating pages that you'll see around." Check out the article here.
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Reviews

2009

• Krauss, Richard. Manny + Bigfoot by Meghan Hogan. Comic Related. 1 Aug 2009.

• Dick, Matthew. 2d Cloud mini comics roundup - Beard Growing Contest & Manny plus Bigfoot. Exquisite Things. 17 July 2009.

• Krauss, Richard. Yearbooks by Nicholas Breutzman, Shaun Feltz, and Raighne Hogan. Poopsheet Foundation. 8 July 2009.

• Dick, Matthew. March of the Moonbat-Yearbooks by Breutzman, Feltz, and Hogan. Exquisite Things. 7 July 2009.

• Bramer, Kevin. Breutzman, Nicholas. Yearbooks (with Shaun Feltz and Raighne Hogan. Optical Sloth. 28 June 2009.

• Nyland-Hoke, Shawn. Yearbooks by Nicholas Breutzman, Shaun Feltz and Raighne Hogan. SIZE MATTERS: The Mini Comic Blog. 23 June 2009.

• Clough, Rob. Yearbooks: The Betrayal of Dreams. High-Low. 12 June 2009.

• Clough, Rob. Mini-Comics Round-Up: Sayers, Dinski, M.Hogan, R.Hogan, Trivial, Carcieri. High-Low. 17 April 2009.
  

• Morean, Sarah. Manny + Bigfoot by Meghan Hogan. The Daily Cross Hatch. 26 March 2009.

• Krauss, Richard. Good Minnesotan #3 edited by Raighne & Meghan Hogan. Midnight Fiction 2009.

• Bramer, Kevin. Various Good Minnesotans: Good Minnesotan #3. Optical Sloth. 11 Jan 2009.

2008

• Hoke, Shawn. The Good Minnesotan Issue Three by Various Artists. SIZE MATTERS: The Mini Comics Blog 11 Dec 2008.

• Hoke, Shawn. Good Minnesotan Issues 1 and 2 by Various Artists through 2D CLOUD Publishing. SIZE MATTERS: The Mini Comics Blog 8 Dec 2008.

• Krauss, Richard. Good Minnesotan Episode 2. Midnight Fiction 2 Dec 2008.

• Krauss, Richard. Good Minnesotan Episode #1. Comic Related 29 Nov 2008.

• Clough, Rob. Anthology Round-Up: Good Minnesotan 3, Papercutter 8, Fluke 6. High-Low #222. Sequart Research & Literacy Organization 10 Nov 2008.

• Bramer, Kevin. Various Good Minnesotans: Good Minnesotan #2. Optical Sloth 22 Oct 2008.

• Smith, Shannon. GOOD MINNESOTAN EPISODE 2. File Under Other 10 Sept 2008.

• McBroom, Rob. Scatological Review of GMN #1. myspace.com 28 July 2008.

• Clough, Rob. Mini-Anthologies: Nerd Burglar and Good Minnesotan. High-Low #169. Sequart Research & Literacy Organization 25 July 2008.

• Smith, Shannon. Hogan and Skarhus GOOD MINNESOTAN #1. File Under Other 10 March 2008.

2007

• Bramer, Kevin. Various Good Minnesotans: Good Minnesotan #1. Optical Sloth 26 Dec 2007.

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