So Silenn was not only documenting your life, but saving it. She had a bigger hand in helping pull you up than she’s letting on?
Miller: Yes.
Thomas: That’s kind of him. But I wouldn’t have been able to do it alone.
Frank, were the troubles you faced something that built gradually over time? You mentioned alcohol helped your creative process. Was that always a part of it?
Miller: There were many years early in my career where I didn’t drink at all. I mean, I could barely afford food. Alcohol is expensive! I’m not a psychologist, but my own self-exploration leads me to think that the attention I got in the world of comics contributed. Going to far away places and being the most famous thing in a fishbowl was definitely very heavy. It made for situations that certainly made it much, much easier to indulge in what was already inside me.
You’re a rock star in the comics world. In your early years, you even looked like a rock star with your long black hair.
Miller: [Laughs.] It all fell out.
But you were living that kind of lifestyle, traveling the world. Thousands of adoring fans who want your autograph at these conventions.
Miller: It was a confluence of events, because the comic book industry rebounded back to life. I’d be making an appearance with Alan Moore [creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta], and it would be like the Beatles met the Rolling Stones.
Thomas: It definitely changed comics for the rest of time. Frank needs a little bit of protection. He will stay with everybody until he’s beyond tired. Or he will let certain people in that do not have his best interest at heart.
Do you have a hard time saying no, Frank?
Miller: Sometimes it’s really easy, but it depends on who’s asking.
Was there more to your addiction than alcohol? Did you feel you had to use other drugs or other stimulants on top of it?
Miller: Not really, no. I find addicts tend to hone in on the one thing they like, and that becomes their dark mistress.
Fans noticed a physical change in you. You got very skinny, seemed to age a lot in a few years. Did you recognize this happening at the time? Or were you not aware?
Miller: Okay, this is the scary part. I did not. One of the things about being in your cups, so to speak, is that you become astonishingly unaware of yourself. You’re aware of your moods, your emotions, your desires. But your rat-mind is taking over.
Thomas: It was definitely scary, because it was very abrupt. We had to react quite fast because it was really… I think the body catches up to express it externally before it’s too late.
Did you fight Silenn and your family when they were trying to alert you to what was happening? Did you accept that kind of criticism the way you did when Neal Adams told you as a young artist, “You need to redraw these images?”