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well, because the red haze of panic was gripping me. “Holy shit,” I thought. “I’ve pissed off Harlan, somehow. Dear Jesus.” I remember hang ing up the phone, numbly, and turning to Mimi and saying, “I’ve pissed off Harlan, somehow. Dear Jesus.” Shine it on, she’d said, and tried to cheer me up, but I gotta say, that nearly ruined my honeymoon. But we went on to LA, anyway, and after a day and a half or so, got to a hotel where we could check our email. Even in 1996, the cavemen back then, gentle reader, still connected.I was stunned to have email from Joe Straczynski and David Gerrold and other luminaries all basically saying the same thing: HARLAN NEEDS TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT AWAY. I called him back, and he explained I’d awakened him out of a sound sleep. He’d thought I was another guy he’d worked with years before, who’d been married several times so it wasn’t a big deal he’d married again. The next morning, he and Susan realized that the guy calling was their comic book pal from San Francisco, and they mobilized the troops to make sure Mimi and I came to see them. So instead of a nice little lunch and a chat and a handshake, Harlan and Susan had us over to their house. Susan made us waffles, and Harlan showed us around, and the both of them were absolutely charming and warm and hospitable and basically just treated us like lost relations. It was absolutely one of the most memorable times of my life, and I’ve never really ever said so to the man. The moral, here? If there’s someone whose work you enjoy, or who’s made a difference in how you view the world, or who’s acted as a good role model or positive influence or has just been noteworthy and decent to you, don’t wait to tell them. Harlan, if you ever need anything, man, you let me know. Thanks for every thing. Didn’t See That One Coming April 1, 2005 It's no lie to say that I wouldn't be publishing comics today if it wasn't for this one book, Sin City. It came out in '93, right around the time I was try ing to figure out what I was going to do with my accumulated comic book knowledge. And Frank doing his thing without interference really made me see you could have things your way if you worked hard and had a little pluck: every once in a while, somebody shows up out of nowhere and shakes up the party. When I was a boy, comic books were everywhere; the Here's a quick one.

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