My apologies for the lack of posts of late, but I just wanted to provide a quick update:

– The nomination process is still underway for the 2012 awards. The nominating committees still have another month or so to deliver their selections for the various categories, and we are still planning to announce them in early April.

– Lots of upcoming events that will no doubt keep many people quite occupied — in March there’s the Toronto ComiCon. In April there’s the FDBDFQ in Quebec City, the Wizard World Toronto Comic Con, the Kazoo! Fest in Guelph, Fan Expo Vancouver, and the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. May sees Free Comic Book Day, TCAF, the new Ottawa Comic Con, and Anime North. Chances are I’ve missed some! The ones in bold are the ones I’m going to try and go to this year, a couple of them I’ll be there for sure, as I’ll be working on them.

– There’s been a lot of talk about what is and isn’t allowed for creators using licensed characters  I’m more inclined to suggest patience and that if you are concerned that perhaps you are violating a publishers copyright and trademarks that you seek some clarifications where possible, and if you don’t get them that you concentrate on using your own creations or use generic subjects and/or public domain characters, or those characters where there are no permission issues. Better to err on the side of caution, even though it may be a non-issue.

– Sequential mentions that a possible library strike has the potential to derail TCAF in May, let’s hope that a solution is found and that this is averted. With all of the planned launches around that event in early May, I sincerely hope that there is a back-up contingency plan in place in case it does happen. Knowing the folks who organize the event, I would surmise that this is under control.

– Don’t forget that this is a leap year — Wednesday, February 29th is also new comics day! Enjoy the special day by going in to support your local retailer.