Desert Words

Warren Ellis dropped by Atomic Comics in Mesa last night, on his way to other locales to rest and recover from Comic-Con.

He brought a microburst with him. One that was perfectly aimed at key areas of Mesa. I don’t know how he managed to conceal a weather tracking and targeting system in his cane, but that’s only my best guess as to where it might be.

It’s the only explanation that makes sense to me… he had mentioned not wanting to burst into flames when he arrived here, and having some rain cool the place down a bit is a perfect way to avoid that. It barely rained in some other areas, but it was torrential in the area around Atomic Comics, and in the hour leading up to when his signing event was to begin.

Country Club (Rt 87), the major road going to that strip mall, was partially blocked in 2 areas south of Route 202 (3 northbound and 3 southbound lanes whittled down to 1 lane in each direction), and continuing southbound it was completely blocked off because a trestle underpass was completely flooded out… blocked by fire trucks. The side roads to take to get to other major roads were swamped under. The parallel major roads were either partially blocked, or barely moving because of redirected traffic (sometimes by both).

So getting to Atomic Comics from the north was a bust, and looping around to approach from the south was no better.

The major highway nearby, Route 60, was diverting all traffic onto Country Club (this is south of said mall) because the area where the highway passed under Country Club was flooded out. All evening rush hour traffic was being forced onto an already choked street. One intersection I sat at was reminiscent of the traffic jam caused in the remake of “The Italian Job”… no movement for any green light for several cycles!

Flooded roads, cars in parking lots suddenly under water, mayhem ensuing in the aftermath? Force of nature in action, all converging on Warren’s very location in Mesa. And I’m sure he did it all with a secret button in his cane. Or maybe his hat. I don’t have proof, and I’m not sure I want proof. That could end up going to scary places where I’m not prepared to look yet.

All in all, what should have been a 40-minute drive from work to the comics shop took a total of 115 minutes. But I got there, dammit… I was on a mission, and no force of nature or interference from the universe was going to thwart me.

This went way beyond wanting him to sign my copies “Global Frequency”… this was a rare chance to show a bit of appreciation to someone who made me cry laughing during a rather dark time in my life. Have you ever read his Ripping Yarns essay? If not, go do so now… I’ll wait.

About a month ago, Brian told me he was coming to town, and I knew I had to do something beyond just asking if his schedule would allow him to drop by the studio for an interview. So I asked the very talented Cheyenne Wright if he could come up with some artwork that appropriately reflected the tone and dark humor of that essay, and he exceeded my every expectation.

Because of that I was able to present Mr. Ellis with a unique piece of art commemorating that essay properly. And of course Brian and I got him to sign copies for us, Michael and Cheyenne.

note: Later, if Warren says that I can send that image out into the wild for everyone to share, I will. I have also sent him the digital version, so if he wants to post it himself, he is able to. It’s not my call, unless he says it is.

All in all, it was a good thing. The rain would have prevented us being able to interview him in the studio and get him to Atomic on time, and I don’t think any amount of good scotch would have been able to make up for that faux pas.

I think asking him for an interview on “Cover to Cover” about his book is a very good idea, and fun to boot.