Life in Dystopia

San Diego Comic-Con 2011: Day 0

2011-07-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

Just in time for San Diego Comic-Con, I have published a brand-new "Jayson" comic book containing key chapters from my upcoming graphic novel "Jayson Gets a Job." "Jayson Comics #1" is available exclusively through Prism Comics, which represents me at comic-book conventions and throughout the year. The title just went on sale at the Prism Comics website; check it out!

Prism Comics has also mounted a campaign to promote the creators it represents, including me. To view their awesome new video, click here.

Prism Comics will be at Booth #2144. I will have a dedicated space at the booth, where you can find me every morning and most afternoons hawking my "Jayson" books and Ralf König graphic novels. Stop by and pick up your personally autographed, Convention Exclusive edition of "Jayson Comics #1" for just $3, or free with the purchase of any of my graphic novels.

During the Con I will also be appearing on a panel called “Bent Comix: The Next Wave of Gay Cartooning," moderated by J.D. Glass and featuring Dave Davenport (Hard to Swallow), Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter), Brad Rader (Harry and Dickless Tom), Jody Wheeler (DoorQ.com), and Sean Z (Myth). Sat., Jul. 23 from 4-5PM in Room 4.

"I love your screenplay -- but I can't sell it!"

2010-11-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

After years of hearing producers, agents, managers, and other bottom feeders tell me that they love love love my screenplays -- with nothing to show for it -- I finally have some good news to share:

I optioned one of my screenplays to a Polish producer, who wants to make American-style romantic comedies that can enjoy international success. They are now translating the script and raising money for an expected 2011 shoot in Warsaw.
While attending Movie Night at Chalet Edelweiss, a restaurant that screens Swiss movies on Wednesday nights, I met the producer, who happens to be the brother of a woman I knew from 10 years ago. When he announced that he was looking for comedy scripts, I jumped at the chance to pitch him. He invited me to send him several scripts, which he sent to his reader, whose glowing coverage included the following: "This in my opinion was a great example of a romantic comedy... I would absolutely recommend it... It has the potential to be a great film." Here's hoping the producer agrees!
I just posted one of my favorite screenplays, which I've used as a writing sample for several years because everyone seems to respond to it (although no one seems to want to produce it), on Amazon Studios, a user-generated online development and production venture built around monthly contests and community feedback. They have a first-look deal with Warner. Bros., so please click the link today and give "The Work of Art" your highest possible ratings!

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 3

2010-10-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, our booth was swarming with customers who liked what they had heard the previous evening. Sunday was by far my best sales day, and I also received numerous compliments on the way I handled my hosting duties.

I even conducted two interviews: a print interview for Cue Pittsburgh magazine and a video interview for AOL, which is now posted on their Queer Sighted blog.

Sunday evening we met my old friend and former co-worker Julia and her husband Stephen for dinner, followed by a performance of “Million Dollar Quartet,” which co-stars my friend Levi Kreis, who won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role. This show is inspired by the true story of the time Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins met for a jam session at Sun Records. Levi steals the show as Jerry Lee Lewis. We even got to go backstage after the show to meet with Levi. Julia and Steven were starstruck when they met him in person, and he couldn’t have been sweeter to them. It was a wonderful way to end our trip to New York.

On the flight back, inspired to finish writing “Jayson Goes to Hollywood,” I knocked out two more chapters – just four more to go! As usual, my characters surprised me in ways that I hope you find entertaining when the book is published next year.

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 2

2010-10-21T17:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning, I finished writing my questions and designing the slides for the LGBT panel, before heading off to the convention. Our hotel was located just a block from the Javits Center, on a refreshingly quiet street. Unfortunately, it didn’t have a Business Center. So while I worked my booth, Bud took my PowerPoint file off to Kinko’s to print copies.

Good thing he did, too, because when it came time to set up the room for our panel, we could not get the file to project correctly onto the screen. Fortunately, I’m used to things going wrong, so I began to introduce the panelists while the technical team worked on the computer’s resolution settings. I looked out at the audience for the first time and couldn’t believe my eyes; we had a full house, and standing room only in the back! (I later learned that people were even turned away because the room had reached capacity.) I never expected such a turnout. The audience applauded each of the panelists as I introduced them, and as I launched into the questions, the technical problem resolved. The hour flew by way too fast, and we only had about 7 minutes left at the end for audience questions. The panel was a resounding success, and I plan to do it again next year. I just need to get the organizers to give us a larger room and more time!

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 1

2010-10-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

My first sale, just minutes after I arrived at my booth in the Small Press section, was to Tania del Rio, who toplined the recent manga-inspired run on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” for Archie Comics. She told me that Mike Pellerito, the President and Editor-in-Chief of Archie – the one who contracted appendicitis in San Diego – was at the Archie booth and that I should catch up with him before the “Archie Means Business” panel, which started at 3pm. She also told me that they talk about me at Archie all the time!

I ran over to the Archie booth and spied Nina Kester, the Communications Director who was so helpful to me in San Diego. She told me that Mike had not arrived yet but was expected shortly. So I introduced myself to two of the other creators, Fernando Ruiz and Alex Simmons, who were doing signings. They both said, “Oh, they talk about you at Archie all the time!”

Mike arrived and he was all smiles. We made small talk until the Archie business folks, including Mike, needed to make their way downstairs to where the panel was to be held. Since this was my first time at NYCC and I was not at all familiar with how the Javits Center was laid out, I just followed them, reinforcing that I belong with them.

At the Archie panel, they announced that because the Kevin Keller issue of “Veronica” sold out and led to the first reprinting in Archie Comics history, they were going to launch a four-issue Kevin mini-series in 2011. And if that sells well, he will get his own series. And if that happens, they will need writers – like me!

I have this thing about finding pennies at pivotal moments in my life – especially when things aren’t going well or I stand at a crossroads. I believe they are the way God speaks to me, and I call them my “pennies from Heaven.” My previous record, during a disastrous tech week on the “Jayson” musical in 1998, was the 18 pennies I found just a block from the theater, that gave me the strength go on with the show.

Friday evening Bud and I went to see a performance of the musical “Promises, Promises” with Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. On the way to the theater I spied some pennies on the ground as we were exiting the subway station. I picked them all up and shoved them in my pocket. “They’re dirty!” Bud cried. “This is how God speaks to me!” I snarled. As soon as we got to the theater, I washed my hands, and didn’t count the pennies until after we returned to the hotel. In my pocket were 41 pennies! I dare say that something great is about to happen. Oh, and the show was good too.

New York Comic Con 2010 - Day 0

2010-10-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

I am usually represented at conventions by Prism Comics, which does all the advance work, including setting up the panels. Since I knew Prism was not going to cover New York this year, I put in my bid a year in advance for an LGBT panel, which I deigned to moderate. I had never moderated a panel at one of these events before, although I’ve been a panelist, and I’ve moderated similar events at the Evil Aerospace Giant (EAG). Still, it was a move that paid off when the NYCC organizers accepted my panel. Now I just had to find panelists!

I titled the panel “LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters,” so that I could include straight cartoonists who were championing the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender content in their work. This paid off handsomely when Archie Comics announced the introduction of Kevin Keller, Riverdale’s first openly gay teen, in “Veronica” #202, which hit the stands in September. As soon as the news broke back in April, I invited Dan Parent, who created Kevin, to join my panel and he agreed.

To round out the panel I wanted to get as many East Coast creators as possible, since they don’t always make the trip to San Diego. Before long I landed famed underground comix creator and graphic novelist Howard Cruse (“Wendel,” “Stuck Rubber Baby,” original editor of “Gay Comix”), Abby Denson (“High School Confidential”), Tim Fish (“Cavalcade of Boys,” “Young Bottoms in Love”), Joan Hilty (“Bitter Girl,” an editor at DC's Vertigo imprint), Phil Jimenez (Eisner and GLAAD-nominated writer/artist for DC and Marvel Comics), and Tim Piotrowski (“Nitsy & Bitsy,” “Kool Aid Gets Fired”).

Since Prism Comics didn’t have a booth at NYCC, I agreed to share a booth with Tim Piotrowski and two other creators. Tim designed the whole space for us and printed a beautiful banner that promoted all of our work. I shipped my books to him in advance, and by the time I showed up at the booth on Friday afternoon, he had already set everything up. All I had to do was show up and make sales.

Everything in Moderation

2010-09-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry I fell out of touch for a while, but now I’ve got some news that will richly reward your patience. I will be moderating this year’s “LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters” panel at the New York Comic Con! Second-largest con (after San Diego) and still committed to comics (Goodbye, Hollywood!), NYCC will take place at the Javits Center on Oct. 8-10, 2010.

Open your eyes to the wide world of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters and creators in contemporary comics and graphic novels. Moderated by yours truly, the creator of the long-running gay-themed humor strip "Jayson," scheduled panelists include famed underground comix creator and graphic novelist Howard Cruse ("Wendel," "Stuck Rubber Baby," original editor of Gay Comix), Tim Fish ("Cavalcade of Boys," "Young Bottoms in Love"), Joan Hilty ("Bitter Girl," an editor at DC's Vertigo imprint), and Dan Parent (longtime Archie Comics writer/artist who created Kevin Keller, Archie’s first openly gay teen). Expect a lively discussion of this provocative subject with plenty of time for audience Q&A!

“LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters” will take place on Saturday, October 9 in Panel Room 8 (1A23) from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. Please join us!

My favorite rejection of all time

2010-08-18T16:35:00.000-07:00

In 1999, when I was still living in New York but trying to move to L.A., a British-based market research firm with a branch office in Manhattan was about to establish a second branch in L.A. My headhunter arranged for me to meet the head of the L.A. branch at the Manhattan office. The interview was cordial enough (he was jet-lagged, having just flown in on the red eye), but he soon informed my headhunter that he was really looking for “foot soldiers” to jumpstart the L.A. branch – although he might need someone more experienced down the road.

Two years later, after I had relocated to Los Angeles, I got a second opportunity to interview with the same firm, and the same man, arranged by the same headhunter. I was at the top of my game as a researcher, having performed my job successfully for 12 years – and still I came up empty. Making matters worse, this man offered only perfunctory feedback to my headhunter, leaving me to conclude that he just didn’t get me.

Four years later, after circumstances dictated my reinvention as a Processes and Standards guy at the Evil Aerospace Giant (EAG), I was so miserable that I phoned my old headhunter and asked her if she had any market research jobs in Los Angeles. She told me she was struggling to fill an opening at – you guessed it – the firm that had already rejected me twice. And the same guy was still in charge. I protested that he doesn’t get me, I’d be wasting my time – but she insisted that he wanted to talk to me, and I was weak enough to take the bait.

Having been away from the market research business for several years, I thought long and hard about how I might cast my EAG experience in the most advantageous light. I could talk about how I entered an industry I knew nothing about and came up to speed quickly – a beneficial skill when meeting new clients and trying to grasp their business. Or I could talk about how my EAG experience helped to understand how multinational corporations function, and how their marketing decisions get made. Or I could talk about how I won the respect, and ultimately the leadership, of a team that was already in place when I arrived – a coveted talent. Whatever the question, I was ready!

Throughout the interview, I drew upon my carefully prepared answers, weaving past and present experiences into one seamless bundle of positive attributes that rendered me perfectly suited for the job. Or so I thought. This time, the man’s feedback was swift and specific: “He talks too much… His answers were long and rambling… He’s bound to waste my analysts’ time talking when they should be working.” Interesting. Never mind that I possess an unassailable track record for quality, productivity, and focus – which he could have easily confirmed if he had bothered to check my references instead of fabricating excuses.

I will probably never know why this man so delights in rejecting me. But I do know that I will never give him the opportunity again.

My favorite rejections: Los Angeles

2010-08-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more of my favorite job rejections, Los Angeles-style:

In 1999, when I was itching to move from New York to Los Angeles, I interviewed with a major polling firm that had a branch office in Claremont, about an hour east of L.A. I had a breakfast meeting in New York with one of the firm’s principals; dinner in New York with the head of the Claremont office; and a final interview onsite in Claremont. The final interview was primarily an opportunity to meet the staff I’d be managing. I brought pastries to seal the deal. The interview went fine. The head of the Claremont office said that all he had to do was get Corporate approval for the hire, but that because his office was profitable, Corporate had always rubber-stamped his choices in the past. I sailed out of the building and plunked down a deposit on a nearby apartment. Two weeks later I learned that Corporate had rejected my hire outright.
Soon thereafter, I interviewed with an established market research firm in Glendale, just outside of L.A. They knew that I was a manager and what my salary was. They came back with an offer of an analyst’s job – the job of the people I supervised – for 33% less pay. I told them I wanted to move to L.A., but not at that price.
In 2000 I moved to L.A. to run the market research department of a dotcom that imploded a year later. Needing a job, I landed an interview at a renowned market research firm that made its name publishing initial quality ratings for the automobile industry. I was called back for three interviews, each of which lasted over three hours, one of which included an hour-long aptitude test. After the third interview I heard nothing. When I pressed them for a decision, they admitted that they didn’t have any jobs, but kept bringing me back because they found me interesting.

My favorite rejections: Atlanta

2010-08-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

When I earned my Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, I had precious few opportunities to interview for jobs. When I earned my MBA from Emory University, I had many more opportunities to interview, and therefore to be rejected, for jobs. Here are a few of my favorite Atlanta rejections:

I introduced myself to an executive from the international marketing division of a major soft drink company after he spoke to our marketing class. I asked if I could send him my resume. He agreed and handed me his business card. I mailed off my resume with an enthusiastic cover letter. A few weeks later I received my resume back in the mail, with all the active verbs circled. In the white space, the executive wrote “Good.”
During the final semester of my MBA program, I interviewed with a major American greeting card company. I thought it was a great fit because I had already worked in printing, writing, and cartooning prior to earning my MBA. The recruiter told me to give him a few weeks, but that I would hear from him one way or the other. I waited seven weeks. When I finally reached him by phone, he chortled, “Well, if you haven’t heard from us by now, surely you must have figured out that we’re not interested.”
After earning my MBA and still without a job offer, I landed an interview with a small marketing firm just outside Atlanta. I didn’t own a car and I had to rent one just to get there. The interview seemed to go well; I offered smart, solid answers to all the questions posed by my interviewer, the woman I would be working for. I arrived home that afternoon feeling like I had nailed it. The next day my rejection letter was already in my mailbox. Astounded, I phoned my interviewer’s assistant to ask her what had happened. She reported that my would-be boss was intimidated by me and afraid that I’d show her up.

Some kind of business

2010-08-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

After scraping by for four years in a series of dead-end jobs, I decided to take the plunge and pursue my MBA. My biggest fear was that I’d give up my already meager income for two years and graduate without a single offer. My friends all pooh-poohed this notion (“An MBA is the most marketable degree there is,” “It’s not like getting a liberal arts degree,” “You need more education to do the kind of work you want to do,” etc.)
Two years later I graduated at the top of my class from Emory University’s MBA program – without a single job offer. Oh, there were excuses (“The placement office is going through a transition,” “The economy is still reeling from the stock market crash,” “You’re so unusual!”). But the reality was, I had earned the world’s most marketable degree and had no job to show for it. I temped for over a year in a series of jobs that did not require an MBA, and worked with a parade of placement specialists – the au courant term for employment agencies.
My favorite placement specialist was the woman who said [insert southern drawl here]: “I see you just got your MBA, and you got it in some kind of business [italics mine].” She had a position I’d be perfect for, because the woman I’d be replacing “got her MBA in English.” The job turned out to be selling textbooks to universities. I didn’t make the cut. If only I had earned my MBA in English.

My ghetto summer

2010-08-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

In the third chapter of my upcoming graphic novel “Jayson Gets a Job,” Jayson visits an employment agency. This chapter is based on something that actually happened to me shortly after graduation, after my sure-thing job had fallen through and I was desperate for work. Despite everyone’s warnings that no legitimate agency takes money from the job seeker, I agreed to pay this agency a commission to help me find a job. Despite my credentials as a newly anointed Penn grad with a double major and stellar grades, my employment counselor, in attempting to sell me to potential employers, would describe me in a sing-songy voice as “a really nice guy…” No mention of my academic credentials, which began to make sense when I realized that none of the jobs she was submitting me for required even a high school diploma, much less an Ivy League degree.
I told her I wanted to work in marketing; she sent me to a rubber stamp maker. I told her I was interested in publishing; she sent me to Sir Speedy. Things hit rock bottom when she asked me if I was willing to sell shoes. I actually went on the interview. The store manager made the astute observation that with my background, I would hit the door the minute something better came along. He was right, but the rent was due and I needed a job. I finally landed at a ghetto print shop that paid minimum wage, which in those days was $3.25. After taxes I was clearing all of $100 a week. And I still owed the employment agency $625, which I paid off in weekly installments of $25. It was a long, hot summer.

Flirting with a pilot

2010-08-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

Years after I wrote my “Jayson” sitcom pilot, I was approached by a development executive about putting “Jayson” on TV. It was in 2006, right after I published the “Best of the 80s” and “Best of the 90s” collections and made my first appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con. Billy Cogar from Here! TV, a premium cable channel for LGBT audiences, introduced himself and asked for my press kit and copies of my books.

I figured I’d never hear back from him, or that I would phone and phone him until he finally broke down and served up a warmed-over rejection like: We’ve decided not to move forward on your project. But no, he actually got back to me within a week – and served up a piping-hot rejection. He told me that he loved the books, they made him laugh, he was going to keep them around the office for others to read but – there’s always a but – the material was dated and the situations weren’t sexy enough for their premium subscriber.

Dated? Well, the material is from the 80s and the 90s. It says so right on the cover.

Not sexy enough? Well, a running joke in the series is that none of the characters ever get any.

Billy invited me to write a “Jayson” pilot script anyway, bearing this feedback in mind. I told him I couldn’t write a pilot for these characters that met those criteria. But maybe I’d write something else for him that did. I never did.

But Billy’s feedback, along with the feedback I was getting at conventions, did inspire me to start writing new “Jayson” stories, culminating in my first graphic novel, “Jayson Goes to Hollywood” (2008), followed by “Jayson Gets a Job,” which I’m working on right now.

Dirty Frank's cleans house

2010-08-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time in Philadelphia, there really was a bar on the corner of 13th and Pine Streets called Dirty Frank’s. And Andrea Jartman, who inspired Jayson’s gal-pal Arena, really did live above it. I never lived with Andrea, but when I created “Jayson,” it made narrative sense to put Jayson and Arena under one roof. They were such behavioral opposites and such emotional trainwrecks that, despite being best friends, they were destined to clash if they ever moved in together. Which is one reason I never lived with Andrea.

Jayson and Arena have lived above Dirty Frank’s bar for almost 30 years now – or three years in cartoon time – and have never set foot in the place. Robyn bought the building almost 20 years ago and he’s never set foot in it either.

When I was writing the pilot script for the “Jayson” sitcom, it seemed obvious that the bar should be another setting where all the characters could hang out. But I didn’t want to invite comparisons to “Cheers,” so I put my spin on it by turning it into a laundry bar – a place where young singles could quaff a brew or two while they washed their clothes. I called it “Suds.”

The pilot script went nowhere. But as I started developing plotlines for my new graphic novel, I decided it was time to capitalize on the fact that all my main characters live above a bar – and that Robyn owns it! So just wait till you see what happens in “Jayson Gets a Job” when Robyn decides to put his own unique stamp on Dirty Frank’s!

"Job" Creation

2010-08-09T18:45:00.001-07:00

Several years before I launched “Jayson: The Musical,” I considered bringing my comic strip to another medium. For me, television was the most natural fit, as my strip was constructed like a traditional sitcom, with its own couch, door, and fourth wall. But this being the pre–“Will & Grace” era, there was no such thing as an (overtly) gay sitcom on TV. And since I had no experience and no connections in television short of a “Situation Comedy Workshop” I took in New York (more on that someday, I promise), I wasn’t in any position to go pushing on Hollywood’s envelope. Nonetheless, I took a stab at writing a pilot episode for “Jayson: The Sitcom.”

In my pilot script, I introduced two new situations to open up the series. First, I gave Jayson a job – a really shitty job. While the comic strip had always portrayed Jayson as being unable to land or keep a job, my own reality was that I’d always had to work – meaning that I had to take whatever job I was offered. And the worst job I ever had was in telemarketing. So, to depict Jayson’s rapid descent from lofty college perch to hardscrabble reality, I put him in a shitty telemarketing job. With a fucked-up boss lady who had the hots for him. And no way out. (Always write what you know, folks.)

The sitcom obviously never went anywhere, but I save everything I write, and I repurpose it whenever possible. So when I started work on my new graphic novel, I reread that pilot script. Though I found room for improvement, I also found inspiration in the telemarketing scenes. So in the opening chapter of “Jayson Gets a Job,” out-of-work Jayson lands a temporary assignment as a telemarketer for a Lillian Vernon–style catalog merchant called “Lily Rose.” This is hardly the last job Jayson will have in the course of the book, but it’s great way to set the stage for the adventure to come.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the other situation from the pilot script that has found its way into the book.

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign

2010-08-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

On my drive to and from work at the Evil Aerospace Giant (EAG), I usually listen to “70s on 7” on my Sirius-XM radio. Sometimes I shake things up by spinning the dial to The Blend or The Strobe, but I always end up back on 7 -- the musical comfort food I grew up with.

One night while I was in the middle of Campaign Archie, I began to doubt whether I should really be making a fifth -- and final, I swear -- run at writing for Archie Comics, Kevin Keller notwithstanding. That night I did something I rarely ever do: I prayed for a sign.

The next morning I braced myself for another soul-crushing day at EAG, started my car, and pulled out of the garage. My Sirius-XM radio sparked to life and began to play. The song on the radio was “Jingle Jangle” by The Archies. Not “Sugar Sugar,” the big hit that everyone remembers, but the follow-up single that today would only be recognized by Archie aficionados like myself.

What’s that, you say? “Jingle Jangle” was released in 1969? You’re right, grasshopper. The night before, when I was dialing back from The Blend or The Strobe, I aimed for 7 but must have landed on 6 by accident. Unless you don’t believe in accidents.

You may recall from a previous post that I consider “Jingle Jangle” the worst song The Archies ever recorded. But now that it qualifies as a sign, it’s starting to grow on me.

Comic-Con 2010: Post Mortem (part 2)

2010-08-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

On Preview Night, right after I set up my own space, I raced to the Archie Comics booth -- the first one they’ve had at Comic-Con in 12 years! Mike Pellerito wasn’t at the booth, and I didn’t know any of the people who were. So I sought out Dan Parent, who had his own table in the Exhibitors’ area, to find out what he knew. He told me that Mike wasn’t feeling well, that it might be food poisoning, and that he wasn’t going to make it to Preview Night. So I ended up chatting with Dan for a good long time about Kevin and all things Archie. He’s a great guy with a great love for Archie, so we had a lot to talk about.

The next day I learned that Mike was still sick, it might be E. coli, and he might just go home. I learned this from Nina Kester, one of Archie’s newer hires. She’s officially responsible for New Media, but also helps out with publicity and with -- lucky me -- submissions. She told me I was taking the right approach and that Mike was the right guy.

By the third day, Mike had appendicitis and traded his hotel bed for a hospital bed. Bummer for him and bummer for me. But at least I didn’t have to spend the rest of the Con chasing him around or, worse yet, reeling from a rejection. In fact, I found it liberating to spend my free time networking with other comics professionals like Howard Cruse (“Stuck Rubber Baby”), Rich Koslowski (Archie inker; “The Three Geeks”), and Maggie Thompson (editor, “Comics Buyer’s Guide”).

The biggest thrill was meeting the legendary Scott Shaw! on the final day of the Con and discovering that he’s a fan of “Jayson.” We both live in Los Angeles, and before I knew it, Scott invited me to be his guest at next month’s Comic Art Professional Society meeting in Burbank. For someone trying to move into the mainstream of comics, this was the perfect ending to Comic-Con 2010.

Comic-Con 2010: A Post Mortem

2010-08-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had two missions heading into this year’s Comic-Con: Sell my books and sell myself to Archie Comics.

Like last year, I had a dedicated space at the Prism Comics booth. Traffic and sales were lower than last year, but acceptable given the state of the economy and the fact that I didn’t debut any new books. Last year I had made my money back on the booth rental (and then some) by Saturday, and I was exhausted, so I blew Sunday off. This year I had not made my money back by Saturday, and I was exhausted, but I showed up on Sunday anyway so I could squeeze every last drop out of the Con. Also, the Archie Comics creators’ panel was on Sunday afternoon, which brings me to my second mission.

Ever since Archie Comics announced the introduction of openly gay teen Kevin Keller, I’ve been pitching myself to them as an authentic voice with a proven track record of writing gay characters in the teen humor genre. I pitched Archie President Mike Pellerito by mail, email, and Facebook. I landed a three-part interview with influential Archie blogger Mark Haney, which ran in First Comics News in the days leading up to the Con. I even persuaded Archie writer/artist Dan Parent, who created Kevin Keller, to appear on the “LGBT Comics, Creators, and Characters” panel that I am hosting at the New York Comic-Con in October. My mission was to close a deal at the Con to write stories for Kevin Keller, and eventually all the Archie characters. How did I fare? Toon in tomorrow!

Kevin Keller coming out soon

2010-08-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

When I created my Jayson comic strip back in 1982, it was in large part because I loved Archie Comics but never saw myself represented in them.

So when the news broke that Archie Comics was introducing an openly gay teen character named Kevin Keller, I had to check my calendar -- nope, it wasn’t April Fool’s Day. As a lifelong Archie Comics fan, I was stunned, thrilled, and more than a little worried about backlash from conservative parents. Other comics publishers like Marvel and DC have introduced gay and lesbian characters over the years; but those magazines are targeted to older readers, and those characters are adults. But a gay teen in Riverdale? This can’t end well.

Yet the response, from both the press and from readers, has been overwhelmingly positive. It looks like for every reader they might lose over this decision, they’re going to pick up ten new ones. So unless you’ve been hiding under an Amish quilt, you already know that Kevin Keller will debut in “Veronica” #202, which comes out in September. You can pre-order your copy today at archiecomics.com.