Whew.

Sorry. I really don't have much news for Ice Pick. All I can do is promise that it will come back soon. I started my first full time job last week and haven't had any time to work on the comic. We should be back somewhere next to normal in August. My summer break will take place during this month. Even though I will still be working, I won't have any homework to do when I get home. This should make things go a little easier. I hope to get back on a buffer again, but life makes fools of us all.

As for the 2012 Drunk Duck Awards, the judging has started. We could still use a couple more judges or presenters to tie up some loose ends. It isn't as bad as it was last year, but there are still some gaps that need filling and I can't do them all. I probably took on more judging and presenting assignments than could be considered sane. I might foist some off on Ryan. He has about the same schedule as I do, though.

My goal is for Ice Pick to be nominated for several categories next year, so I hope you continue baring with us and be forgiving on how life changes within a second.

The next page has all the inking done and one and a half panels flatted. There are about 5 or 6 panels in this page though. I'm quite glad that the fight scene is almost over though. I had to get really creative with the coloring and effects to be able to show the movement exactly right. We will soon be heading back inside the bar to introduce a new character to the cast. We have already seen the character before, but now it is time for the introduction. There aren't that many pages left in chapter 1 and Jamie has already submitted all of the pencil drafts to us. I can't promise a regular update schedule, but I will release pages as soon as they get done or within one week of each other whichever comes second.

I was originally going to take a month off between chapters 1 and 2, but it doesn't look like it is going to happen. As long as I have drafts I will continue to work on the comic. The comic will most definately go on a scheduled hiatus between chapters 2 and 3. This will make sure that there will be penty of buffer so that this doesn't happen again.

I can't wait to continue to release the comic and show you what we have in store.