My favorite school assignment from kindergarten through college came in the fourth grade.

Mrs. Adams made her way down each aisle, placing a blank book on each student's desk. It was the definitive assignment for the year and ensured each of us would move on to the illustrious fifth grade. We were to take that which was most important to us and write it down. With illustrations.

We were to become authors of our very own novella, sharing with the world — or Mrs. Adams and class — that which would define the 10-year-olds we were to become. Some students wrote about their parents. Others, their siblings. Trips to the zoo or the first day of school — the possibilities were endless.

I didn't write about being gay. I didn't know it then,

I just knew that if Zack Morris wasn't going to try to make it work with Kelly Kapowski that he'd better call me. I did know I was different, like some of the friends I'd made, so I decided to write about them.

The X-Men.

My goal now, as it was then, is to write for Marvel Comics. It may not have been conventional, but I got an A on the book, and an air balloon-shaped post-it telling me to keep writing. That maybe I'd be published someday.

I always promised myself that I would present the book to Marvel's Editor-in-Chief , and when my boyfriend and I attended last week's inaugural C2E2 comic convention in Chicago, I did. He flipped through it, dropped a "fourth grade?" and signed it. He told me to hang onto it. I almost passed out.

I got the feeling that when I told him I was building my portfolio to work for Marvel, he believed me. That I wasn't some angry fan ("How could you do that to Spider-Man?!") and that while I was there with my boyfriend (who's always wanted to pencil for Marvel — tell me fate doesn't exist), I wasn't just some gay guy.

It was a validating experience. I've always identified as a writer before a gay man. After all, what you do is more important than who. Which is why I knew I had to snag an interview with comics author Jim McCann, also at the convention.

McCann began working for Marvel Comics in public relations, handling hordes of hagglers at conventions and even co-coining Marvel's current slogan, "Marvel. Your universe." He's written several one-shots and a limited series, New Avengers: The Reunion, and his first ongoing series, Hawkeye & Mockingbird, hits stands June 2nd.

He'll be the author of fan-favorite Dazzler's one-shot in May, and his creator-owned graphic novel, Return of the Dapper Men, hits shelves in November. He's also gay, but those are just details.

CL: It doesn't seem like your sexuality is an issue from a professional standpoint. Did you ever consider not disclosing that you were gay?

JM: The deaf and blind can tell. Fortunately, I wasn't in so much of a closet as a shoebox... and at Marvel, nobody cares. There's no glass ceiling at Marvel and there's also no pink ceiling. I thought about it for maybe a half a second.

CL: What are your thoughts on gay characters in comics?

JM: On Northstar [a gay X-Man, who after coming out was murdered], I knew they were going to kill him. I went to the editors and I said, "Please tell me you have a plan," because I knew there was going to be backlash. And they did. [Northstar was resurrected.] Nobody was using him and they wanted to give him a story. Being gay was not a story. My favorite gay couple is Wiccan and Hulkling [from Young Avengers] — the audience knows they're a couple but you don't have to say it. I feel the same way about gay characters as I do about brunettes in the Marvel Universe.

CL: What are your goals as a writer?

JM: To improve every day. When I'm writing my own characters, to stay true to my voice but to keep developing it. [For Marvel's], to come from a place of respect and honesty for the characters. To keep inspiring myself.

CL: What makes you have to write?

JM: I always said I would grow up and write comic books, [and] if I weren't writing, all the voices in my head would take over.

CL: Why would a comic reader want to read Hawkeye & Mockingbird? Dazzler? Return of the Dapper Men?

JM: They want to be cool, and they want to know what everyone's talking about.  Hawkeye & Mockingbird: Because it's a comic where literally anything can and will happen to the characters. I have a knowledge and affinity for the characters. I know their history, their ins and outs, and I'm trying to cater to both the longtime reader and the new fans. Dazzler: To show they have taste. [laughs.] No, there are two reasons: because they're already a fan or because they want to find out why she has so many fans.  Return of the Dapper Men: ...is going to be an interesting experiment. Some Marvel writers gave me some sound advice: do a creator-owned book that wouldn't be done at Marvel or DC. Fans are going to see an incredibly unique art style [from artist Janet Lee] and read a story unlike anything I've ever written. It'll remind them of what it's like to grow up.

CL: Why would a non-comic fan want to read the books?

JM: Dapper Men is the easiest sell to a non-comic reader. It's something for all ages, which is one of those terms, but think about Alice in Wonderland's original text. There was something for kids but also for adults to understand. The book is for everybody, it's more accessible and it has the flow of a fairytale book: down to the lettering. Dazzler: It's a book for anyone who wants to know what a diva is. You want to get on that train. Hawkeye & Mockingbird: It's a really fun and fresh book. It's the Mr. and Mrs. Smith of the Marvel Universe. You want these characters to be together. There's espionage, banter and identity disorder.

CL: What would a reader need to know prior to picking up the books?

JM: I try to make them as entry-level as possible. I like the reader to be in the character's head. The first few pages will catch the reader up to speed and they'll also be encouraged to go back and read back issues.

CL: Anything else you'd like to add?

JM: Do what you want to do. Don't let anything stand in your way. If you're halfway good at what you want to do — if you have the talent, you'll make it. And listen to others. Don't have an ego. Know yourself but know that you have so much to learn.

Afterwards I thanked Jim for the interview and told him I was interviewing him because I wanted his job.  "The corpse is barely dead and already the vultures are circling," he laughed. "No, I'm not a corpse."

I added that I wasn't actually a vulture — and as we laughed again, I learned why McCann's been billed as the nicest man at Marvel. His passion for the characters and desire to create shine through — and he's just really nice.

Like a fourth grader trying to decide what book to write, his sexuality doesn't affect his decisions. The fact that he's gay both matters and doesn't matter at all: he's a part of a larger community.

"The thing I love about comic books is that its readers are a community," McCann said. " We all read the same books, everywhere. You can be anywhere and anyone — and comics are welcoming."