This piece started back in March as a vague assignment from the A&E editor (and good friend) at Seven, Cindi Reed, when I went to Seattle for Emerald City Comic-Con. She basically told me, “If you have something interesting to write about, send it to me.” But I don’t think I did. Or, at least, I didn’t at the time. I sent a sort-of rushed, half-assed 500 words to her, nothing worth reproducing here, and the response was something to the effect of “maybe something more than a blog post?”

I decided it wasn’t really worth revising. But then something struck me as spring wore on: What about a feature about the struggles of becoming a comic writer tied into San Diego Comic-Con, littered with suggestions and stories from those who’ve endured such struggles? I pitched it, Cindi liked it, gave me twice the space, and off I went. I talked to a number of writers and editors of all levels, put together a nice piece, turned it in way early, and … now I had gone too far from the “blog post,” completely cutting out the personal.

So the piece you now have the pleasure of reading is the hybrid of my own experiences and those of others, compressed into about 1100 words. Sadly, due to the revisions, some folks I interviewed had all their quotes cut. Those folks interviewed, by the way, include writers Steve Horton, Paul Tobin and Brandon Jerwa and editor Jill Beaton, all of whom are awesome people who deserve your money or cupcakes. I’m thinking about revisiting the more objective approach and beefing it up with the massive amount of unused interview material for a longer piece to pitch to a more writing-specific outlet.

You know, when I’m not spending time making comics.

p.s. You should check out the cover story by pal and Seven music columnist Jarret Keene about artist John Bell, because John Bell is awesome and I think you should buy me one of his paintings for Christmas.

Due to a combination of other obligations and financial restrictions, Sara and I missed the preview night of Comic-Con (Wednesday) and the opening day (Thursday). We drove down in the AwesomeMobile Thursday afternoon, arriving at our hotel, a Courtyard by Marriott about 15 minutes from downtown San Diego, about 6 p.m. That’s the view from our room up above. Thursday night we took a winding drive on a search for food through University City and La Jolla, eventually ending up in Del Mar. Just in time to catch a pizza joint just as it was closing. Because in Del Mar, apparently pizza after 9 p.m. is just unheard of.

On Friday morning, after a stop at the corner Starbucks, we drove to the park-and-ride at Qualcomm Stadium (I think a football team or something plays there) to catch a trolley to the San Diego Convention Center. Parking at SDCC is far worse than at any convention in Las Vegas, where at least the casinos nearby offer free, nearly unlimited parking, and a number of remote lots at the actual convention center. Meanwhile, SDCC is locked right downtown in San Diego near Petco Park (I think some baseball team or something plays there), so your best bet is not to bring a car anywhere near there unless you don’t mind paying $30 to $40 a day for parking. Our 2-day transit pass was a bargain at $9.

As you can tell by the photo above, the crowds at Comic-Con this year were insane. The last time I was there, in 2007, I don’t remember having to wait in line just to get to the crosswalk. But this year, uh, yeah. It was pretty thick. The inside of the convention was like a giant, crowded geek nightclub, but instead of go-go dancers, there were people in sometimes-awesome, sometimes-ill-fitting costumes everywhere. And people stopping dead in the middle of a stuffed aisle to take their picture every five seconds.

Otherwise, Friday at the Con was pretty good. I didn’t make it to any panels that day, but did hit the floor for about four or five hours, meeting up with friends such as Jill Beaton (Oni Press) and Paul Horn (Cool Jerk) as well as meeting in the flesh for the first time internet pals such as Kevin Church (The Rack, Lydia), Rick Lacy (Labor Days) and David Hahn (All Nighter), at least a few of whom I’m be pestering to work with in the near future. I also took care of business, placing copies of The Utopian and Pop! Goes the Icon swag at the freebies table, talking to distributors and generally shaking a lot of hands. Sara and I did try to get into the Big Bang Theory panel, but alas, we were not prepared to wait outside the big room for two hours.

After leaving the con, we took a few trolleys back to Qualcomm to get our car, headed back to the hotel for a short nap, and then dared to drive back downtown to grab a bite to eat before the Oni Press/United Talent Agency/Electronic Arts party to which we were invited. After finding a parking lot that cost less than $20, we headed into the Gaslamp Quarter to find somewhere reasonable for food — a challenge for time, cost and quality on a Friday night during Comic-Con. We ended up at a tapas joint called The Marble Room, in which Fantastic Four cartoons were playing on the flat screen at the bar and servers were dressed somewhat in geeky costumes. The food was pretty good, the view (and breeze) from the window-side bar table was refreshing, and we managed to get in and out within an hour.

After wandering the streets a bit, we headed to the party, which was being held on the rooftop of the Western Metal Supply Co. — also known as the northwestern edge of Petco Park. The atmosphere wasn’t much different than every other party we go to in Vegas. Open bar with accompanying lengthy lines. Appetizers floating around on trays. DJ spinning mix of hip-hop and ’80s pop. People gathering in small groups but not mingling much. None of the above is a bad thing (especially not the hosted bar), but aside from the great view (see above photo), perfect weather and higher-than-usual geek content, a party is a party is a party. Except this one featured attendees such as Zachary Quinto, Masi Oka and Joss Whedon. Actually, the best part of the party was, oddly, hanging out with people I either already knew or just met, half of whom also live or have lived in Vegas, including the aforementioned Jill and her husband/high school buddy/writer Frank Beaton, awesome artist Warren Wucinich and his lovely lady companion Linda, and an assortment of other people such as that Rick Lacy guy. (Again, some of those above people should be expecting/already have received e-mails soliciting their awesomeness.)

Saturday, Sara and I decided to sleep in a bit, as there were no panels I had to get to until the early afternoon. After a so-so late breakfast at our hotel, we headed downtown about noon. Instead of taking the trolley, she dropped me off by the convention before driving off to explore less insane parts of San Diego, leaving me to fend for myself amongst the geek hordes. I lasted on the main floor about an hour before hightailing it to the somewhat-calmer upper level, where most of the panels were being held (as well as autograph signings and the freebie table, where I unleashed more copies of The Utopian to waiting crowds — the free comic pickings up there were slim!). While waiting in line for a panel on webcomics featuring the creative forces behind such popular strips as PvP and Sheldon, I ran into another Vegas-ite, cartoonist and journalist F. Andrew Taylor (and his son, Duncan). We happened to both be attending the same panel. We also both happen to be on the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival planning committee. It’s a small world out there, even 300 miles from home.

After that, I got away from the crowds with a relaxing solo lunch at Whiskey Girl, where I worked on layouts for next week’s Utopian pages. On my way back to the convention center, I came upon some roller derby chicks performing stunts for onlookers. Somehow even my poor excuse for a phone-mounted camera caught this jump mid-air:

I was headed back to SDCC for one last panel, where former New Line Cinema production executive and comic book writer Jeff Katz unleashed his new publishing and intellectual property development house, American Original, unto an audience equally composed of fans and industry pals. American Original has strategically partnered with companies such as Top Cow, Longbox and Titmouse to produce original content across multiple media. Katz’s approach is basically this: Hollywood has been raping and pillaging geek culture for too long, and his company will reverse that by having the geeks in control. Should be interesting to see what comes out of that.

That panel was both the end of the day and the end of my stay at SDCC for the year. Sara met me downtown (somehow she found free, street parking within a few blocks of the convention!), we had a great dinner at this cool place called Sidebar (I believe every city is required to have one), and then … well, we pooped out. Headed back to the hotel and stayed in for the night, turning in early with the hopes of getting a decent start the next day.

On Sunday morning, we swung by the same Starbucks again, and then started driving north toward Encinitas, where I intended on visiting one of my favorite SD-area eateries, Swami’s Cafe, but as usual, there was a long line and we didn’t feel like waiting, so we headed down the street to Luxus 101 Bistro. The service was slow and the food was mediocre, but the bathrooms were nice, so … there’s that. Afterward, we walked off our brunch at another favorite, the meditation gardens as the Self-Realization Fellowship Temple. It’s a beautiful, immaculately maintained collection of flora and fauna perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific. And people really do sit on benches hidden all around the property meditating. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend stopping by and gaining some perspective.

We meandered up the coast a bit more before crossing over to the I-15 and heading north toward Las Vegas. If you’ve ever done the weekend drive between SoCal and Vegas, then you know Sunday afternoon/evening is a bad time to be leaving Sin City, as every L.A. visitors drives home south on the 15, but it’s a fine time to head into Vegas. Except this past Sunday. There was a giant vehicle fire mid-afternoon between Primm and Jean, and though it was cleared up long before we got there, for some reason traffic was still playing catch-up by the evening. A few miles outside of Jean, we were stuck, moving a few inches every couple of minutes. It must have taken about an hour and a half to move all of one mile. Even worse, as evidenced by the photo above, The Fog was coming for us! There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and on top of it all, I had to pee like a mofo. But we made it through. We made it home, to a house full of packed boxes and two very excited Pekingese dogs.

And there you have it. I still haven’t gone through the bag of graphic novels and comics I bought in San Diego (mostly from friends — I take care of my peeps!), and I’m just now getting caught up on e-mails, assignments, etc. It’s still up in the air whether I’ll return to SDCC in 2010. I was planning on renting table space for PGTI next year, but so much of the focus of the convention has moved away from comics (and more importantly, people buying comics!) and toward movies, video games and toys, that I feel as though my time and money is better invested in smaller cons such as Emerald City or Alternative Press Expo. But at the same time, for mere exposure, four-and-a-half days of face time at the country’s largest celebration of the popular arts couldn’t hurt. Well, not much.

As I’m heading to San Diego for Comic-Con International tomorrow, there will be no new Utopian pages posted next week, but I’ll be back with Part 5, “Revelations,” the first week of August. Which is, coincidentally, 33rd Annual International Pj Week. Bring your party hats.

I’m sure I’ll have all sorts of news for you after I get back from Comic-Con, but until then, chew on the latest article I posted on Examiner.com about Nevada Ballet Theatre’s fall season, and keep your eyes out for tomorrow’s Las Vegas Weekly, in which there should be a Pj-penned article about fast-rising Vegas electro-core band This Romantic Tragedy.

Oh yeah, if you want to be really amused, check out Cracked.com’s “Worst Webcomic” forum, in which the forum trolls dwelling there do their best to ooze snarky criticisms all over The Utopian. Of course, since someone started posting links to my webcomic over there, traffic on my site has increased hundredfold, so I guess that goes to prove, once again, there’s no such thing as bad press. If I get really bored one of these days (because, you know, that happens), I might address each of their complaints in a blog post in my own refined and delicate manner.

And to end on a more positive note, how about good press? Internet pals Kevin Church, Benjamin Birdie, Max Riffner and others get some love for their webcomics over at NPR.com, which is about the most awesome sauce you’ll ever taste.

Unlike Las Vegas, San Diego does not have more than 100,000 hotel rooms within minutes of the convention center. Hell, it barely has 50,000 in the metro area. Rooms get reserved quickly and the ones left are pricey. I reserved mine back in the early spring, maybe even winter, and even then, the closest I could get to the center for less than $200 was a Courtyard by Marriott near the airport. By comparison, our last trip there in the spring got us a room five or six blocks from the bay with a towering view of the city for about $125/a night.

But I digress. While I was able to get my professional credentials for this year’s geekfest, I missed the deadline for a small press or Artist Alley table reservation. So, as described over at Pop! Goes the Icon, I’ll be wandering around the convention halls with a bag full of goodies, including the items found inside this box:

Yep, extremely limited-edition (only 50!) Comic-Con exclusive print samplers of The Utopian, ready for the unsuspecting public. These will be handed out for free to whatever suckers want them in San Diego, so if that’s you and you’ll be down there, I highly recommend letting me know ahead of time, and I’ll hold a copy for you to grab from me there. Otherwise, if you want a print edition of my ongoing webcomic, I recommend waiting for the official first issue this fall, which will have nifty bonus materials well worth the $3.50 cover price. More on that later.

Oh, you have been keeping up with the webcomic, right? Because some sh*t is going to happen next week you’ll need to be prepared for.

I will have other comic-related news to announce soon, including the next title from Pop! Goes the Icon. Stay tuned.

HEARTY DISCLAIMER: The girlfriend and I are in the middle of buying a house, and the lender is playing the shell game with the closing date. So there is a chance this whole trip could get borked, but I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen. If it does, I will make sure a deputy is down there to distribute materials, but I would like you all to pray to whatever god or demon you love that everything goes fine next week. Thanks for your support.

Unlike Las Vegas, San Diego does not have more than 100,000 hotel rooms within minutes of the convention center. Hell, it barely has 50,000 in the metro area. Rooms get reserved quickly and the ones left are pricey. I reserved mine back in the early spring, maybe even winter, and even then, the closest I could get to the center for less than $200 was a Courtyard by Marriott near the airport. By comparison, our last trip there in the spring got us a room five or six blocks from the bay with a towering view of the city for about $125/a night.

But I digress. While I was able to get my professional credentials for this year’s geekfest, I missed the deadline for a small press or Artist Alley table reservation. So, as described over at Pop! Goes the Icon, I’ll be wandering around the convention halls with a bag full of goodies, including the items found inside this box:

Yep, extremely limited-edition (only 50!) Comic-Con exclusive print samplers of The Utopian, ready for the unsuspecting public. These will be handed out for free to whatever suckers want them in San Diego, so if that’s you and you’ll be down there, I highly recommend letting me know ahead of time, and I’ll hold a copy for you to grab from me there. Otherwise, if you want a print edition of my ongoing webcomic, I recommend waiting for the official first issue this fall, which will have nifty bonus materials well worth the $3.50 cover price. More on that later.

Oh, you have been keeping up with the webcomic, right? Because some sh*t is going to happen next week you’ll need to be prepared for.

I will have other comic-related news to announce soon, including the next title from Pop! Goes the Icon. Stay tuned.

HEARTY DISCLAIMER: The girlfriend and I are in the middle of buying a house, and the lender is playing the shell game with the closing date. So there is a chance this whole trip could get borked, but I’m really hoping that doesn’t happen. If it does, I will make sure a deputy is down there to distribute materials, but I would like you all to pray to whatever god or demon you love that everything goes fine next week. Thanks for your support.

Me, bitches.

Will it get that pitch anywhere? Who knows. Part of taking first place is having the query read by David Boxerbaum, a senior literary agent at APA talent agency. So, maybe. Or not. If nothing else, it got that TV series pitch out of the growing pit known as my Google Docs account and in front of someone‘s eyes.

In the meantime, I’m on deadline for two stories at two different publications, trying to get caught up with The Utopian before San Diego Comic-Con sneaks up on me (in two weeks!), working with my band to find a producer with whom to record and closing on a house. Oh, and apparently, failing to get paid by What’s On magazine.

Speaking of Comic-Con, if you’re going to be there, I have semi-complete details on how to hook up with me there posted over at the Pop! Goes the Icon website.