By the age of 15, Eric had already established and distributed a panel comic called "Ardie Bird," and a superhero-action book series called "Watubee." Throughout his life, he has attended a variety of art courses and schools, including Pasadena Art Center College of Design. You might even catch his name in the Spongebob movie credits.....

In the summer of 2003, Eric picked up panel-strip comics again. As before with his previous comics, the audience was his close group of friends. Between 2004 and 2006, Eric developed his hobby into a broader concept: a decent and marketable comic series featuring a hapless young, gay man named Skippy (a nickname given to Schlegel for a character in a play). The series was to be a light-hearted satire of the gay community, with this good-natured sap trying to understand it all. The series was to be titled, simply, "Skippy".

In June of 2006, Eric's hard work payed off as the then-titled "Skippy" began to cultivate an internet fanbase. In July of 2006, he was invited to attend and sign autographs at Comic-Con by Prism Comics, a nonprofit organization which supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered comics, creators, and readers. In the fall of 2006, a line of merchandise was released, followed shortly by the debut of an official website.

Schlegel was approached by several executives in regard to translating the comic to an animated series, and it seemed like feature publication was just around the corner. However... In January of 2007, Eric was contacted by the estate of Skippy, Inc., and made aware of a comic series from the 1920's also titled "Skippy". Though devastated, Eric agreed to voluntarily relinquish the title "Skippy" as well as his web domain... as there was no relation to the former, nor did he want to be compared or associated with any other comic. Merchandise was also temporarily shelved until the comic strip was redesigned with a new title.

In April of 2007, the retitled comic series, "Skipping Out," was announced, alongside revamped myspace and Prism Comics profiles, and of course... www.skippingoutcomic.com. The good-natured sap, Skippy Green, remains intact to the delight of his devoted following.