Is Pj Perez a Renaissance man or just a workaholic? The high quality of his latest effort, the debut issue of The Utopian, a full-color comic book originally serialized online and now available for purchase at better comics shops, suggests the former. Perez has a long history in indie publishing and commercial magazines; he’s the former editor of Racket and a freelance writer. Now he’s picked up pencils and ink to craft the story of James Douglas, a frustrated young man hoping to upend the brutal caste system of Sagebrush High. It’s a system populated by a football-frenzied principal, a girlfriend-slapping jock and a teacher too timid to do anything about it. Fellow comics addict Jarret Keene recently sat down with Perez before his Nov. 8 launch party at Yayo Taco (4632 S. Maryland Pkwy.) to probe the artist’s influences and intent in fashioning a protagonist many will dismiss as a trench coat Mafioso.

CityLife: Although billed as “America’s Most Emo Comic Strip,” The Utopian doesn’t read anything like a My Chemical Romance lyrics sheet. It owes more to teen adventure series like “The Bloodhound Gang,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or early issues of “Amazing Spider-Man.” But I understand you need a tag line, and it’s fun to riff off Fantastic Four’s “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.”

Pj Perez: Well, the “emo” thing has been a self-mocking joke all along. From the start, I wanted to temper the semi-seriousness of the situations and narration with biting, self-referential humor. I think most people get that, but someone posted links to the Utopian webcomic in a “Worst Webcomics” forum and by their comments it was obvious they both didn’t get the metaphorical nature of the strip nor the self-mocking tone. So I decided to play it up with the tag line.

Not to belabor the point, but I’m glad you brought up “Buffy.” In writing, I’m hugely influenced by great TV and movie script writers, and Joss Whedon is definitely in that group—and I’m also honored you’d even make the comparison. You know how the demons and monsters on “Buffy” were really just allusions to common dilemmas experienced by adolescents coming of age? So many of the Utopian’s situations are the same: All allegorical and symbolic and stuff. But I try to make it entertaining by punching up the dialog. Sometimes it fails, but when it works, it works.

CL: How much of The Utopian’s righteous attitude lies in Pj Perez?

PP: A lot. In my much younger years, I wrote a series of essays and poems not just raging against the system, but calling for a new world order. I was certain that as we approached the turn of the century, the world was going to devolve into chaos and surely something better would come along. Sounds like a Tool song or something, huh? But as most people know, I’m also an unabashed socialist, and the leveling of power is something in which I’m very interested.

CL: Michelle Matterson is a character we haven’t figured out yet. She could be James’ Vicki Vale or his Catwoman. Give us a hint?

PP: Michelle is the avatar for the reader. She’s our voice. When you read the comic and ask yourself, “What does James really think he’s going to accomplish?”, two pages later, Michelle asks him the same thing. A lot of readers don’t like or trust her. I’m hoping the origin sequence I wrote for her changes some people’s minds, because she’s not going anywhere.

CL: How did serializing The Utopian online help or hurt the final product?

PP: Well, I don’t think the one would be possible without the other. Doing The Utopian on a set schedule forces me to get it done. I’m terrible at working without deadlines. And since I’m my own publisher and editor, it’s up to me to self-regulate. And of course, without the web element, there would be no interest in the book at all. Well, maybe a little.

On the flip side, I think it does hurt sales of the print comic, of course, because a lot of people find no value in paying for something they can get free online. But I also know that I’m a person who prefers to read something on paper, in a collection, and I know there are people out there who waited until the print comic debuted to read The Utopian. So, it all works out, I guess.

CL: In the back of The Utopian’s debut issue, you include four pages from P-Man, a comic you created 18 years ago when you were just a teen yourself. How painful or inspiring was it to look at those pages for the first time in years?

PP: It was both painful and inspiring, I guess. I have a box filled with hundreds of handmade comics I wrote and drew from the ages of 9 to 15. We’re talking dozens of titles, hundreds of characters. And I just found this box again a few months ago. So much of it is terrible, but a surprising amount is quite advanced for coming out of the hands of a dumb kid. That first P-Man story has all the right elements, though simplified, including something I think was clever, the fourth-wall-breaking, wink-and-nod at the end. On the other hand, I’m actually a bit embarrassed that I even reprinted it. But it’s important to remember our roots.

CL: Who’s Hernan Valencia, and how did you get him to illustrate the deluxe-edition cover for The Utopian?

PP: Well, first, let’s talk about Mark T. Zeilman, who digitally painted the cover for the standard edition of the first issue. Of course, anyone who’s anyone in Las Vegas knows him as an artist and gallery owner, but I’m working with him on some possible future sequential-art projects as well.

Hernan I actually first met when we both worked at Kinko’s back in the day. One day at work, I found him doodling during some downtime, and I was bowled over by his illustrative style. Years later, I ran into him again and found out he was, of course, working as a graphic designer now and getting tied into the art scene here. We talked for a while about doing a comic project, and when the option to do a cover for The Utopian came up, he jumped at it. And knocked it out of the ballpark, I think. His alternate cover design ran as a pin-up in the first issue, and we’re making a poster of it as well. Hernan is going to be huge, mark my words.

CL: How easy has technology made comics self-publishing? You rely on Ka-Blam?

PP: Much like how technology has enabled musicians to take control of their music production, distribution and sales, it’s done the same for comics. Upside: A lot of talent who might have otherwise been overlooked is getting the product out there. Downside: There’s a lot more crap out there. But that’s OK. Art is art, and some people will like it, some people won’t.

Print-on-demand services such as Ka-Blam are great in that they allow the little guy to start publishing immediately with little or no financial investment at all. For the launch of this first issue, I am using Ka-Blam, and have been very happy with their quality. They run a partner site, IndyPlanet, which is basically an online comic-book store for their clients, and that makes direct sales so much easier for me. But for our future titles, we’ll probably be moving to a full-service printer to do larger print runs as momentum builds. Hopefully.

CL: Any advice for those of use looking to create and publish our own comics?

PP: Yeah: Do it. Just get it out there. I’ve always been a self-publisher. I started with poetry chapbooks and zines. I ran an indie music label from my bedroom. An artist who has a burning desire to get his or her creations into the world can just do it.

That being said, if you want to actually make a living from that art, you have to get a clue. Know what sells. Know how to market a product. Know how to network, promote, shake hands. I have the good fortune of having years of experience in public relations, marketing, graphic design, web development and journalism. Most people don’t. So learn from others, research best practices, and always put your best stuff out there.

Or be like me and just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Whatever.

Purchase a signed copy of Pj Perez’s The Utopian at 7 p.m. on Nov. 8 at Yayo Taco ($5 Corona buckets, door prizes, no cover) or by visiting www.theutopiancomic.com.