THE FIRST call of concern came from the real estate agent.

She phoned Staci Pastis, who lives in Northern California, and spoke of the matter at hand both personally and professionally. The agent had read what was up, and sympathized with Staci, and also thought perhaps her realty expertise might soon be of service.

That’s because Staci is married to Stephan Pastis, the sometimes mischievous creator of the comic “Pearls Before Swine.” Which means her life is also intertwined with “Stephan Pastis,” the cartoonist’s meta-persona who appears IN “Pearls Before Swine.”

“Our real estate agent called Staci and said: ‘I have to tell you, I saw what you’re going through here … ,’ “ recounts the cartoonist. “For a moment, it took us aback.”

The agent had read the cartoonist’s January strips that had a running comic premise: Stephan Pastis — or rather, “Stephan Pastis” — was being forced out of his house by the never-pictured “Staci Pastis.” The cartoon couple was separating, and perhaps divorcing.

“We had to say to the agent: ‘No-no-no! That’s not real,’ ” the cartoonist tells Comic Riffs. Only Pastis’s comic alter-ego was suddenly single.

It might have ended there, but then: Last Sunday’s strip appeared. The first panel advances the fictional action: “Stephan Pastis’s wife has left him. As a result, he has started dating again.”

(STEPHAN PASTIS - Distributed by Universal Uclick )

GAZE AT that frozen moment from 1985 and you see most everything that’s essential about the two men and their towering public images. It’s almost as if they were posing for their personal narratives.

There looking vaguely feral in his looming, lean-in aggression is the great writer and anarchist of a graphic novelist, Alan Moore. This is a time before “Watchmen,” and he is poised over a Comic-Con microphone with a certain ferocity, glowering toward fans as if he had just glimpsed a future copy of “Before Watchmen.”

Then, as our eye pans to the right, we see Jack “King” Kirby in the limelight and yet in recessive view — looking too small for his massive influence, even accounting for the photo’s perspective. Like his own genius comic panels themselves, the distinguished-looking Kirby is forever in the frame yet, overshadowed, never quite getting his full due.

But perhaps most undeniable is that even in this most candid of images, they both stand as comics giants.

The photograph was taken by Jackie Estrada, a San Diego-based editor and educator who has attended comics conventions for more than 40 years. Decades ago, she photographed San Diego’s burgeoning punk scene, but she gradually turned her passion fully toward the comics scene. (Today, Estrada — who is married to highly regarded cartoonist Batton Lash — is a part-time employee with Comic-Con, for which she administers the Eisner Awards and produces the on-site Events Guide.)

From the thousands of photos Estrada has shot at comics events, she has decided to cull and curate a new book to be titled “Comic Book People.” And to make the publication possible, she has launched this as a Kickstarter project as she aims to raise more than $25,000.

Comic Riffs caught up with Estrada — who is also co-publisher of Exhibit A Press and a freelance book editor — to delve into her narrative vision for these 1970s and ‘80s photos as magical history tour:

Alan Moore and Jack Kirby, 1985. (photo by JACKIE ESTRADA - "Comic Book People")

MICHAEL CAVNA: For those of us who first attended Comic-Con decades ago, there are many windows into feeling nostalgic about the old Cons. One way, naturally, is the [difference in] sheer size of the Con in recent years, but there’s also the “feel” of the Con in the early years -- the intimacy of the room, and the casual feel between creator and fan. Can you speak some to how YOU have experienced it, Jackie — what is most strikingly different about the ‘70s and ‘80s compared with now?

IT’S THE MOST anticipated superhero movie you’ve possibly never heard of.

At least that’s how Marvel Studios is approaching its initial pitch for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” for which the first trailer debuted Tuesday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (which airs on ABC, which is owned by Disney, which also owns Marvel. Ah, synergy!)

“Guardians of the Galaxy” represents Marvel Studio’s first major role of the commercial dice after its successful Phase One plan that brought the Avengers to the big screen by first rolling out individual hero movies featuring such relatively well-known characters as Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America and Thor. Phase Two — and the countdown to “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in 2015 — has got off to a good start with “Thor: The Dark World” being a hit last year, and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” poised for similar success this spring.

But what about this Galaxy group of space rebels? Can Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and Groot have similar box-office numbers as other Marvel flicks without the same name recognition? And how do you establish that name recognition to begin with?

Well, Marvel Studios certainly made this first trailer for non-fanboys who may have been getting their first look at this comic-book outer space team during “Kimmel.” The trailer — which featured the team in a jail lineup, with each member being described individually with code names and brief background stories — comes off as Marvel’s decision to say: “Hey, maybe you’re not as familiar with these guys as you are with Iron Man, but just trust us on this one.”

It’s a smart move out of the gate.

IT TOOK a brick from the ‘50s to beat back an onslaught of retreads from the ‘80s. And after two weeks, “The LEGO Movie” continues to put the “block” in blockbuster.

The WB movie built around the classic and updated Danish toys grossed a record-setting $63.5-million domestically over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend, according to studio estimates released Monday.

Exceeding studio expectations, “LEGO Movie” had the biggest four-day total ever for a Presidents’ Day weekend, edging 2010’s “Valentine’s Day ($63.1-million), according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. (Note: Numbers not adjusted for inflation.)

As the biggest hit of the young year, “LEGO” — which features the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks and Will Ferrell — has now grossed more than $143-million domestically and $195-million worldwide.

Ostensibly a kiddie film, “LEGO” is “crossing over to all audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office company Rentrak, who called the brick flick’s likability “astronomical.”

FOR VALENTINE’S DAY, the latest home-page Doodle gives new meaning to “Google Glass.”

To mark the day celebrating love and devotion and molar-melting corn syrup, Google has teamed with public-radio host Ira Glass for an animated Doodle that delivers sweetness all its own.

Click on each of the six candy hearts and you’ll hear tales of love curated by Glass — some from the archives of his show, “This American Life.”

Team artist Jennifer Hom — whom Comic Riffs spoke with about a previous holiday Doodle — took the lead on this assignment, right down to the line-art animations.

[SEE: Jennifer Hom’s creative path to a finished Doodle]

Hom says that her favorite love story — titled “Puppy Luv” — involves a middle-school crush.

The other five anecdotes of love in various forms are titled “Crush,” “Mr. Right,” “First Kiss,” “4Ever Yours” and “Blind Date.”

Google has unveiled artful animations before on this holiday, including Michael “Lippy” Lipman’s heart-warming 2012 episode of playground passion, set to the tune “Cold, Cold Heart.”

[SEE: How a Valentine Doodle animation comes to fruition]

To learn more about how this latest Doodle came to be, check out this: