Check out our exclusive preview of the first three pages from the darkly comic story by Alex De-Gruchy and Robert Durham, “Odd Job,” coming to the pages of our new anthology series, Omega Comics Presents, in February 2010. Just click on the thumbnails to view in EPIC size!

Want to find out what happens next? Pre-order Omega Comics Presents #1 now!

As a good chunk of you may be aware, Pop! Goes the Icon attended its first comic book show a few weekends back, the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival. Held at the Clark County Library in Las Vegas (of course), this intimate show ran for only five hours but saw a lot of foot traffic, likely thanks to panels featuring guests such as Mark Evanier, Matt Wagner, Steve Englehart, Michael Uslan, Gary Groth and much more.

Your humble Utopian creator here (that’s me, right, with a lizard from the Discover Mojave booth) spent the day chatting with new and old fans, random passersby and Utopian cover artists Mark T. Zeilman and Hernan Valencia. We barely had time to sketch, eat or breathe between all the activity — and sales! We actually sold a lot of stuff, including the very popular mini-poster based on Hernan’s pin-up from the last page of The Utopian #1.

It was fun times, we’ll definitely do it again, and really appreciate all the hard work Suzanne Scott and all the volunteers did to put on a fun little show! Now look at some pictures:

The Utopian crew mans the PGTI table. Sweet T-shirts, fellas.

Local writer Matt Kelemen peruses the finest literature of our age.

The wait is over! Pop! Goes the Icon’s winter 2010 publishing schedule has been posted, and that means the first details about the debut issue of our new anthology series, Omega Comics Presents, are now available. Yes, the line-up for the first issue of the quarterly, black-and-white compilation has been finalized, the cover artist has been wrangled and all that’s left is for you to stash away your $3.50 for its February launch.

Oh, and there’s also the second print issue of our weekly webcomic, The Utopian, which will not only collect the fifth and sixth chapters of that august series, but also feature two new covers, new splash page art and other unseen surprises. Hitting stores and the web in January, don’t miss out on the comic that the Las Vegas CityLife’s Jarret Keene declares “owes more to teen adventure series like ‘The Bloodhound Gang,’ ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ or early issues of ‘Amazing Spider-Man.’”

Stay tuned for exclusive previews from the three stories featured in the first issue of Omega Comics Presents and special pre-order offers, as well as never-before-seen cover artwork coming soon!

To top off a Las Vegas weekend that starts with a signing party at Frankie’s Tiki Room on Friday for the Drunk anthology and includes the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, Pop! Goes the Icon is celebrating the release of The Utopian #1 with an exclusive party at university-area favorite Yayo Taco (S. Maryland Parkway) on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m.

Hosted by Utopian creator Pj Perez, everyone is invited to share in this bash featuring $5 Corona buckets, the best tacos you’ve ever had, and door prizes including comics, posters, Retro Bakery gift certificates and more surprises. It’s free, open to the public, and you want to be there. What else are you going to do on a Sunday evening?

If you’re our friend on Facebook, then you probably have all the details. If not, what the heck is wrong with you? Only our Facebook pals get behind-the-scenes glimpses at upcoming projects, candid photos and first dibs on just about everything we do. Get with the program, Chet!

It’s mid-October, and that can mean only one thing: The Utopian #1 has made its debut! (Actually, it could mean a lot of things, but this is the one thing we’re concerned with right now)

Yes, the pre-order period has ended and copies of both the standard and deluxe editions of The Utopian’s premier print issue started shipping on Oct. 14. If you missed the pre-order period, no worries: You can now order Pop! Goes the Icon products directly from IndyPlanet, where you’ll find “a whole new world of comics.”

We’ve fulfilled orders for retailers through Haven Distributors, so the comic should be available in at least a few comic shops out there, but if yours is not one of them, be sure to print out this coupon and hand it to your local shop owner ASAP. If you live in Las Vegas, both editions of The Utopian #1 are available at Alternate Reality Comics (4800 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite D).

While you’re thinking about it, get to know Utopian creator Pj Perez a little better in this nifty profile that ran in UNLV’s The Rebel Yell last week. And then go buy some comics. They’re good for you.

After months of building momentum on the internet with a flurry of hints, announcements and twice-weekly updates of our premier webcomic, The Utopian, Pop! Goes the Icon is making its public debut with an appearance at the second annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Saturday, Nov. 7 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Comic Book Fest is part of the larger Vegas Valley Book Festival, being held at a variety of venues across Las Vegas from Nov. 4 to 8.

Publisher Pj Perez will be on hand with freebies such as buttons and postcards, as well as copies of The Utopian #1, the first print collection of his semi-weekly webcomic series. Also the inaugural print release from PGTI, The Utopian #1 is a 36-page comic featuring never-before published material and new artwork as well as stories previously only available online. Two versions, a “standard” black-and-white edition and a “deluxe,” full-color edition, will be available for purchase, featuring respective covers by local artists Mark T. Zeilman and Hernan Valencia (who are also tentatively scheduled to appear at the PGTI booth). Pre-orders are also being accepted online at www.theutopiancomic.com, and the books are slated for Oct. 14 release.

Next year, we’ll begin publishing Omega Comics Presents, a quarterly, black-and-white comic book anthology series featuring three 8-to-10 page stories per issue, both standalone and serialized. Omega Comics Presents‘ goal is to showcase unknown and underexposed writers and artists, and will be available in both print and downloadable editions. Submissions for the anthology are still being accepted online and will be accepted at the PGTI booth at the Comic Festival.

The wait is over! We are proud to be able to reveal the variant covers for the first print collection of The Utopian webcomic — heck, for the first Pop! Goes the Icon print comic! The Utopian #1 collects the first four chapters of the ongoing web saga, but that’s obviously not incentive enough. So we’re tossing in a bunch of extras into this 36-page debut: New splash art, new pin-ups, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes material, and those exclusive covers by Vegas-based artists Mark T. Zeilman (standard) and Hernan Valencia (deluxe).

The comic ships in October, but if you pre-order the comic now, creator Pj Perez will personally desecrate your copy with his grubby autograph. And you’ll probably get some extra goodies as well. But don’t delay! This pre-order special is a limited-time deal, and once it’s over, not only will the signed copies go away, but you’ll probably pay more.

And if you happen to be a comic retailer reading this, The Utopian #1 is available for your customers through Haven Distributors. Make sure you get your orders in for item #UTOPPOP001, and help support original, independent comics!

Remember titles such as Marvel Comics Presents and Dark Horse Presents, which brought to you every month (or week!) multiple stories featuring various talents and characters, both existing and undiscovered? We sure do. Wondering where the pamphlet-sized, serial anthology went?

Right here, kids. Pop! Goes the Icon is proud to announce plans to launch its second print title, Omega Comics Presents. This quarterly, standard-size, black-and-white series will feature three 8-to-10 page stories per issue, both standalone and serial, from a variety of up-and-coming creators working in diverse styles. While we’re determined to expose the hidden (and not so hidden) talent from our home base of Las Vegas, we’ll also be showcasing talent from around the globe. OCP will tentatively launch the first quarter of 2010.

So you know what’s next, right? If you’re a cartoonist or part of a creative team and are interested in having your work showcased in a bold, new venue, we want to hear from you! Please visit our Submissions page for more information on how to become a part of this venture. And if you’re not, well, check back soon for more details on the progress of Omega Comics Presents, coming soon-ish to a comic store and web browser near you!

That Pj Perez is a tricky guy. Every week without fail since April 15, he’s dropped two pages of his online comic series, The Utopian, on patient readers who have gotten to know teenager James Douglas as he covertly takes action to enact change in his high school community. On July 24, school paper reporter Michelle Matterson unearthed James’ secret identity — and then Perez took off a week for some reason, leaving readers with a dangling cliffhanger.

Well, The Utopian is back. Part 005, “Revelations,” launched today, and this chapter promises to change forever your notions of what the strip is all about. Or so we’ve been told. It’s probably best if you just get caught up and get on board.

While you’re at it, show some love for The Utopian and vote for it over at Webcomicz.com. Because you care.

Are you heading down to San Diego from July 23 to 26 for Comic-Con International? So are we …

Kind of.

OK, Pop! Goes the Icon missed the deadline for vendor registration (hell, for Artist Alley registration). But we have a special treat for you if you’ll be at the annual geekfest. The Utopian writer/artist Pj Perez will be wandering around the convention floors with a bag full of EXCLUSIVE goodies from PGTI, including this:

And these:

That’s right, kids. The long-rumored/hyped/etc. 16-page Utopian Comic-Con exclusive “issue zero” is a SUPER LIMITED run (only 50 copies!!). And if you want one, you’ll have to keep an eye out for this guy:

The comics and buttons are totally FREE but they will disappear quickly, so if you want either, well, you’d better start following Pj on Twitter, where he’ll be updating his location and lovingly receiving your tweets. And surely he’ll have some sort of signing device on him should you want your comic — or body part — autographed.

Pop! Goes the Icon: We do things differently. Like Apple, only way less sexy.