This is very short notice, but the Big Wow ComicFest at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, CA this weekend, May 19-20, will have Juanjo Guardino, the artist of the Blacksad comic albums, as one of its featured guests, for his first appearance in the U.S.

A dozen prints and portfolios of his art, as-yet-unseen in the U.S., many including his Blacksad and other anthropomorphic characters, will be on sale.

Anime/manga fans will be interested in another of the Big Wow’s featured guests: Toshio Maeda, creator of the XXXXX-rated Urotsukid?ji and other X-rated titles like La Blue Girl. Not anthro, unless you count the sex-crazed human/demon hybrids in Urotsukidoji, but still of some interest...

Two galleries in downtown San Jose will be hosting open-to-the-public furry art shows concurrent with Further Confusion 2012, from January 12 (Thursday) to 21 (Saturday).

The stated objective of these shows is to get high-quality furry art out in the public, and to introduce San Jose's downtown gallery scene to the wealth of furry artwork. Local news media representatives will be invited to visit.

There is an open call for artwork, including con-badges, which will be printed by the show; the submission deadline is December 31. The shows are being organized independently of Further Confusion by its Art Track events lead, B. Root, creator of webcomic The Dawn Chapel.

The KALEID gallery and comic book publishers Slave Labor Graphics are hosting the shows.

The December edition of the newsletter includes holiday wishes from the chair, special guests and events, the end of pre-registration on December 30, an updated pet policy, notice of changing hotel room rates, a call for submissions to FC: Unleashed, updated dealer information and instructions, a request for volunteers, and notice of the next staff meeting on January 7.