OMG YOU GUYS: Tomorrow’s the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival! I know I’ve been drilling this into you for MONTHS now, but come on, this will be cool! I will be out there at the Clark County Library from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with my boys Hernan Valencia and Mark Zeilman to sell stuff, sign stuff and schmooze it up. Come down! It’s free! And it’s the only place you can get this badass 11×17 poster by Hernan:

Heck yeah! If you bought a copy of The Utopian #1 in print*, you’ve seen this at a small scale already, but not in large, glossy glory! And Hernan will even rub his paws all over it for you.

And don’t forget about the issue release party on Sunday. Good times, people, good times!

*If you haven’t, you suck and must redeem yourself by clicking here.

Yes, I am officially posing more questions than answers. This should keep you around for a while. And while I am posting this a good nine days ahead of schedule, I’m running out of page layouts from my catch-up jaunt afforded by my recent Orlando trip. So I may need to slow down and draw the next couple of pages before I get behind again. But the good news is that I actually have fully plotted out the next ten or so pages (as opposed to the loose “in this chapter, stuff happens” writing I usually do), so … yeah, this is only news to me.

Either way, if you’re reading this, it must be at least Nov. 4, which means you’re all geared up for coming to see me at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Saturday, right? And if that’s not enough for you, I’m doing the Utopian issue release party at Yayo Taco on Sunday. You really can’t miss either way.

This is the most fun page I’ve ever drawn. I was literally smiling the whole time I inked it.

Fun and weird stuff is coming, kids. I’d better be careful, or else we’ll lose our standing as “America’s Most Emo Comic Strip.”

Also, if you want to read the never-before-seen four-page story that inspired the Utopian, well, there is only one place to do so.

I know I’m going to get asked this: “What does the text message say, Pj — don’t you know we can’t read that on our tiny little computer monitors?”

What, you can’t read 3-pt. text condensed to 72 dpi?

It reads “Student’s body found in lot across street – come see me!” I was going to leave it partially unreadable and ambiguous, but I’ve been accused (subtly) in recent days of not being clear enough with my narrative, so there you go.

Though things are going to get real unclear starting … Friday. Look out.

Yeah … the day after we make our (mini) con debut at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, we’ll be celebrating The Utopian’s print debut with tacos, tequila and … tormented comic characters at Yayo Taco (4632 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas) at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. There will be giveaways (comics & swag, natch), $5 Corona buckets and … me. Yep! And it’s free! So tell your friends, come on down, and have a beer with me. I’ll sign your cast or kiss your baby or whatever too. Yayo has the yummiest tacos ever, even vegetarian stuff for non-meat-eaters like me, so make a dinner out of it. Oh, and if you’re on Facebook, please RSVP to the event so Yayo knows for how many of you suckers to accomodate.

Oh, Sean, you just couldn’t wait to pounce on that juicy bit of gossip, could you?

You know, when I started this thing, I was very careful to keep scenes restricted to two pages max, so that in any given week, you had a complete piece of the story to digest. But as the story has developed, it’s become harder to do so. I’m going to try in the future, really, to get the online presentation a bit more streamlined again. But not for at least the next 10 pages. Sorry.

And we’re back! It’s been a very hectic couple of weeks around the ol’ Utopian corral!

First, there was that whole Florida thing. As in, I was there. And it was hot. And humid. And I sweat a lot. And came back with a cold.

But I also came back just in time to get the first print issue of The Utopian out to those of you kind enough to have pre-ordered the book. If you missed the pre-order period, you can of course still get your hands on a copy by clicking the “buy” link above. It won’t come signed, but if you track me down at an upcoming convention, I’ll scribble all over it for you. I’ll be at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Nov. 7, and the Emerald City Comic-Con on March 13 & 14 for starters. Stay tuned for more on either.

Also, if you live in Las Vegas, I have it on good authority (mine) that both the standard and deluxe versions are available at Alternate Reality Comics (4800 S. Maryland Parkway). So there’s that.

Oh, and my alma mater’s newspaper ran a lovely profile of yours truly last week. Go read it!

Check back in Friday for more exciting quad conversation between Michelle and Sean! I know, right?!

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the title (which helped pay for the initial print run and supporting materials). If you missed the pre-order, no worries: Visit the “Buy” page, where you can still order the deluxe and standard editions of issue one directly from IndyPlanet. If you want to get signed copies, you’ll need to track me down at a convention. Like maybe the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Nov. 7 or Emerald City Comic-Con on March 13 and 14, 2009.

Of course, if you’d prefer to just nix the shipping nonsense and pick one up at your favorite comic shop, please click the image below, print out the coupon and put it in the hands of your local shop owner:

Thank you for your support. Stop back next Wednesday for the start of Part 007, “Odyssey.”

That’s it for me, kids. I’m off to Florida. If you need anything, leave me a comment or two.

OK, I think we have finally officially earned the self-proclaimed title of “America’s Most Emo Comic Strip.” Wow. Bleak stuff.

And sorry, but the next episode is not going to be much happier. But you know what they say, right? Always darkest before the dawn?

In other happier (I hope!) news, if you still want one of those limited-time signed copies of the first print issue, featuring all sorts of goodies you CANNOT get anywhere else, you only have until Oct. 13 to pre-order. On Oct. 14, the comic hits the streets and internet sales move over to plain, ol’ boring, unsigned copies without the nifty shipping discount. So quit stalling.

Also, we’ll be on hiatus next week. Not that any of you read this text below the comic to even know that, so I’m sure I’ll get messages on Facebook or Twitter or whatever next week wondering where are the new pages. HIATUS, kids. We’ll be back with Part 007: Odyssey on Oct. 21.