Marc, Mike Carey, the writer of Lucifer, describes a similar path to his success at Vertigo. He had a pitch for Vertigo, happened to find a sympathetic editor, and he was hired. He also had some experience in writing comics for 2000AD, which no doubt helped - he had experience in the industry. But despite the ssuccess of Lucifer - it does middlin' well in sales and has received critical acclaim - he's yet to break it into mainstream stuff (an offer for him to write Firestorm for DC was pulled).
I have some sympathy for editors of comics, who receive pitches. Nearly everyone I know who reads comics wants to write them. It must be overwhelming. No doubt this is part of Epic's appeal.
