It was the controversy in the story lines, not superheroes, that earned Sim and Gerhard mountains of awards, admirers — and enemies.

"I don't have fans," Sim said on his Web site shortly before coming to Salt Lake City, "I have readers."

Sim refers not only to the readers who love him but those who loathe him. Many who have read Sim's work would like to shake his hand, while others would like to break his arm off at the shoulder and strike him across the head with it.

His views on feminism, which surfaced in the middle of the saga, made him a marked man by those who disagreed with his opinions. He knew what he was introducing into the comic world was anything but comical.

Yet, Sim is not the scoundrel critics make him out to be. During a discussion over dinner before his book-festival appearance, Sim came across as a gentleman and a gentle man who cares about people and society.

Certainly no ogre, he is a bright and humorous individual but, yes, he does hold his opinions close and tight. Through it all, he is a man who appears to be at peace with his God and his fellow beings.

"It's not women I have a quarrel with," he explained at dinner, "it's feminists." He pointed to former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as a person who accomplished great things without having the system weighted in her direction.

The biggest difference between Cerebus and other comic characters? From the beginning, Sim said that he saw Cerebus as a figure who, unlike any other comic creation you can name, aged and evolved as he was bashed about by the ups and downs of life.

Aging and its challenges are not realities of life found in comics. Picture Dagwood Bumstead, after 30 years in comics, with kidney failure. Imagine "Peanuts'" Charlie Brown recovering from a rocky marriage with Lucy that ended in divorce. How about Dennis the Menace serving 15-to-life in a state institution?

These kinds of changes and challenges not only were to be found in Cerebus, they provided the fuel that won "Cerebus" and its creators the highest awards the comics industry offers.

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E-mail: craig@desnews.com