One reason I enjoy working with Top Shelf is that they generally give me a very long leash: I give them a basic idea of what the story is about and they either say yes, that's something they'd like to see me do or not. More or less the only time they see the "finished" product is when it's done. I say "finished" in quotes because that's when the arduous process of proofreading, corrections and editorial suggestions start. The latter generally falls into the category of Chris Staros telling me scenes that are confusing or could be stronger if this character said this or whatever. What I like is that these are suggestions, and I'm free to ignore them if I disagree. Obviously, stuff like typos or other results of my oft sloppy lettering are things I want fixed. 
Which brings us to the dad/did section of our program. After Chris and Rob (who proofread it) marked it as a mistake, I explained to Chris what I was going for. He understood, but didn't think it really worked. I understood, but figured it was my book so I was willing to take a chance. He understood, but given the number of typos which managed to slip through the cracks with my other books he might've been worried people would just see it as Another Top Shelf Typo, or maybe he just thought it was clumsy and heavyhanded. Basically, we went back and forward over the space of a phone call. 
It was me, actually, who came up with the idea of a diclaimer. I figured if it was in the fine print in the back or in the indicia, who would notice? And if they did, it might be kind of funny, in a Dave Eggers kind of way. I would get what I wanted and Top Shelf gets to look like the good guy deferring to the judgement of their pretentious artist. I was a little surprised when they agreed and asked me to write the disclaimer, but what the heck. 
After the book came out I joked with Chris Staros that we would sort of survey the readership to see who they agreed with and if (knock wood) there was a second printing either the typo or disclaimer would go. While ideally I would've liked to have skipped the disclaimer altogether, and have the typo run without comment, I'm surprised at the negative reaction it's gotten. Not thousands of angry telegrams or anything but enough e-mails where people have said (especially since it's the last bit in the book) that it left a mild bad taste in their mouth. As much as I like the heavy handed foreshadowing, I regret if the whole business interfered wth anyone's enjoyment of the book. 

Hmmm, that wasn't as spoiler filled as I thought. I guess I don't need to cut. Never mind!